Hi everybody!

Reality has set in- I received my official Social Work License in the mail this week.  I’m official-it’s exciting and frightening at the same time.

In other news, I have recently been participating in job training. This has given me the opportunity to practice my interview skills and learn things that I sort of took for granted i.e. how to dress for an interview, how important eye contact and handshakes are etc.  I realize now how I can’t take for granted my initial impression with a potential employer.  Considering I have yet to have a typical 9-to-5 job in a formal work setting, this kind of training is invaluable.

Since I do not have as much experience as others my age that will be competing for the same jobs as I am, I find that I am a little apprehensive. In the job training program they try to teach us to focus on life experiences and how it can also prepare us to do a specific job.

Personally, I have had a lot of experience volunteering in different capacities at the Achievement Centers. They gave me my first opportunity to help with summer camp at Camp Cheerful, their overnight camp, and Champ Camp, their on-site day camp. This gave me my first real experience interacting with people with disabilities in a professional capacity. It was here that I discovered how much I enjoy working with people with disabilities, because my experience with the campers is one I will always remember.

While I may not have seen the impact that these summer volunteer opportunities would have on me, sitting here now, a licensed social worker looking for a job working with youth with disabilities, the effects have clearly been long-lasting.

I have also volunteered periodically throughout college and my young-adult life. These volunteer experiences are for a more specific and unified purpose. For example, I volunteered during the 2008 presidential election which taught me some techniques for community organizing which could help me in a potential social work situation.

More recently I have become involved with an organization called Odyssey Healthcare which helps people who are in hospice care. While with the patient I try to provide socialization and I believe that in doing so I am able to give them an attachment to the world outside of their care facility, much like if a family member were to come and visit.

I would encourage anyone to volunteer regardless of their work experience but especially if they don’t have the opportunity to participate in a typical job setting. Even if you’ve never “worked” before, volunteering gives you the opportunity to make a positive impact in the world while building up a resume that can show your capabilities to a potential employer. Volunteering can also serve as an educational opportunity for parents, and the Achievement Centers are always looking for new volunteers, especially in the Therapeutic Horseback Riding program at Camp Cheerful. Check out their website for more information!

My name is Steven Kyman and I’m a 23 year old recent graduate from Cleveland State University, graduating with a degree in Social Work.  I have Cerebral Palsy, which is a disability that restricts my ability to perform physical activities such as walking independently, using my hands to dress myself or write for myself, going to the bathroom without assistance, etc. Every recent graduate is concerned about the job market these days because of the current economy, especially in Ohio.   However, a job search for me is even more limited because of my disability.  Fear of failure, like all of my peers, is something that I now have to deal with on a daily basis.  This is a fairly unfamiliar feeling for me because, as I was growing up, school was a place where I could compete with my peers and succeed. I’ve always felt as though the playing field was level for me academically because, as long as I had someone to take notes for me and was provided with time accommodations for my tests because I need a proctor to write for me, I knew that I could succeed and be just like all of the other kids in my class. This allowed me to grow and learn in a friendly environment.   

One of the reasons for this successful experience was because the Achievement Centers for Children helped me and my parents navigate adapting to the school environment when I was little.  Through the technical assistance program, which went to my school and helped explain and educate the faculty and the students about my disability, the school system learned about what I would need in order to succeed in a regular education environment.   This is where I started to build my knowledge of acceptable accommodations and began to learn how to advocate for myself and others.  As I got older, the ACC provided me with the opportunity to go to Camp Cheerful, which is an overnight camp for people with disabilities.  It might seem a little dramatic but this is where I first learned how to negotiate my own care independently.   Before then I relied on my parents to express what my needs were wherever we were at the time. At overnight camp though, I didn’t have the luxury of relying on my parents to express what I needed, so I had to do it for myself.  Those experiences helped me be able to eventually live on my own in a dorm at Wright State University and will help me when I have to advocate for adaptations to a perspective employer or to the Bureau for Vocational Rehabilitation (BVR) which is a governmental organization that attempts to help people with disabilities find jobs.  I am somewhat limited as to the kind of job that I can even interview for, since I cannot just take a job where you have to do perform any physical task.  I do use an adapted computer and a computer program that allows me to type using my voice, which does permit me to do paperwork, email and any other research that might need to be done.  Because of my physical limitations, I will have less to choose from in terms of available jobs but hopefully with the right job coach from BVR and training I will be able to find something in Social Work in one of the non-profit or government agencies in the Cleveland area.             

Despite any physical limitations I have, I am still able to live a healthy and productive life because of various services and adaptations that I have received from a number of organizations, most importantly the ACC.  My journey is far from over but the lessons I learned when I was a child at the Achievement Centers for Children and my experiences at Camp Cheerful has helped me learn how to negotiate the “real” world outside of camp and school.  There aren’t many places that provide children and adults with disabilities the opportunity to do that.  Throughout the next twelve weeks I will be sharing stories with you about my journey into the job search process, the challenges that people with disabilities face doing every day things, and the experiences I have in the “real” world. I know, however, that I am not the only one going through this process, so I welcome anyone reading this to comment and get a dialogue started about the challenges that the disabled community faces and overcomes each day.