Blake's talk

In the United States, a typical way to measure a student with disability's progress is the Individualized Education Program (IEP). An IEP sets goals for the future which are updated every year. Although Covid-19 can affect students and may change the way IEP meetings are conducted, the meetings remain crucial. In this blog post, I… Continue reading The IEP And Coronavirus

  audio version (opens in a new tab) This week, the Who's Who in Delaware series features Kathryn (Kat) Bottner who is DeafBlind. I have known Kat for years. We have both been members of the Delaware Statewide Independent Living Council and the Division for the Visually Impaired (DVI) Independent Living Advisory Committee. On a… Continue reading Who’s Who in Delaware: Kat Bottner

audio version (opens in a new tab)   For my blog post this week, I interviewed Arte Mays. I have known Arte for several years because he is a friend of my supervisor. He is great to talk to and clearly enjoys helping people. For example, he helps administer an adult advocacy group on Facebook… Continue reading Who’s Who In Delaware: Arte Mays

audio version (opens in a new tab)     With this article, I am commencing a long-running series called Who's Who in Delaware. My focus is on Delawareans with disabilities and those who provide services to them. This week, I am profiling Todd Webb. As of this writing, he works for the Delaware Department of… Continue reading Who’s Who in Delaware: Todd Webb

audio version (opens in a new tab)   July 26, 2020 is a momentous occasion! The date is of great consequence because it marks 30 years since the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) became law. As an American with disability, I want to celebrate through this article. Last week I attended two virtual celebration events.… Continue reading Celebrating 30 years: The Americans With Disabilities Act

audio version (opens in a new tab)   Technology plays a vital role in the world today. In the era before the coronavirus pandemic, technology enabled connections between people and access to information. Those technological functions have taken on even greater significance during Covid-19. In this article, I will discuss the role of technology in… Continue reading Technology During Covid-19

audio version (opens in a new tab)   I have focused over the past several weeks on skills such as self-advocacy, assertiveness and self-confidence. I consider it equally important to express appreciation when someone helps you out. Appreciation is something I have put a high value on for decades. It shows that it was worth… Continue reading Appreciation

audio version (opens in a new tab)   During the past several weeks, I have been discussing advocacy skills. As I stated in my article about assertiveness, it is important to remain calm when advocating. Calmness can also help in dealing with stressful situations, such as stress caused by the current worldwide health situation. In… Continue reading Staying Calm Under Stress

audio version (opens in a new tab)   Assertiveness is another part of self-advocacy. I will give an example to demonstrate. I spoke with someone recently by telephone to share some information which he had known but not previously shared with me. I could have said "Why didn't you tell me?" which would have been… Continue reading Assertiveness 101

audio version (opens in a new tab)   Self-confidence is an important skill for people to have. In my article last week about self-advocacy, I wrote about advocating for myself regarding a personal matter. In order to do that, I needed to be sufficiently confident in my ability to communicate and share relevant information. Therefore,… Continue reading Self-Confidence 101