Hi everyone, and welcome to week 3!

This week I started preparing for job interviews at my designated job training center that BVR helped me choose. We talked about things such as the importance of appearance when it comes to interviewing, as well as skills and other attributes that employers ask for when they are interviewing an applicant. Right now, I’m taking a week long course which will end with a mock interview- I’m nervous but pumped to get the process started.

When I was going over the information on how importance appearance and eye contact and a firm handshake is in making a good impression, I remembered all of the therapists who told me that the therapy that I really didn’t want to have would some day make a difference in my life. As a child with a disability, I received a lot of different kinds of therapy. Despite how I used to protest because I thought it was boring (and honestly, what 6 year old wouldn’t?), this therapy would eventually unlock many of the skills I can use today to succeed in a job interview. It also helped me learn how to maximize my abilities so that I could have the best possible life.

Therapy cannot only teach movement, it also can give a person with a disability a sense of confidence that they are able to manipulate their body in ways that might not have been possible at other times. Without therapy I couldn’t even imagine doing things I can today like play video games or, more importantly, be able to keep my head upright during conversation so as to maintain eye contact.

I received my very first therapy at The Achievement Centers for Children when I began their Early Intervention program as a little kid. I received occupational and physical therapy, as well as speech therapy. Therapies sometimes, at that young of an age, consisted of things as simple as just trying to move my arms and legs independently by reaching for a toy or bumping a ball with my foot. This may not sound like much, but, in the long run, it definitely helped me learn how to move my body the best that I could. I believe it is important to start learning how to adapt your movement at a young age because when you’re young your brain is still developing and can therefore be impacted in ways that can’t be achieved later in life. There’s a window of opportunity and as much as you might not like going to therapy, you need to put up with it and go, so that you can live up to your potential later in life.

When I got a little bit older, therapy began to involve more complicated tasks, such as tracking a pen where the therapist would move a pen that I would then have to follow with my head- a difficult thing for me to do. Again, while seemingly simplistic, in the long run learning this as a child has given me the ability as an adult to confidently hold my head up and maintain eye contact with a potential employer during a job interview or in class with a professor, which can go a long way in making an impression.

I would encourage any family with a young child who has a disability to seek out some kind of therapy, or, at the least, begin researching what therapeutic approaches would best benefit your child. Remember, we might protest and throw a few tantrums (I know I did) because we don’t like them, but years later we’ll thank you when we’re able to accomplish things no one ever thought we would.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July, and I'll see you all next week!