How Will You Achieve Your Resolution for 2009?

The new year brings us a fresh start, a "do-over" card, to try and do things better, make a difference and reach for higher goals. My goal last year was to start an online blog and site dedicated to assistive technology. I feel good about the goals I reached, but I am already looking at what I could have done better, where I got lazy and how to improve in this coming year.
I see parent advocates, dedicated teachers and specialists everyday in my work and I know that at this time of year, we all begin to ask ourselves, "Okay, what am I going to do better this year?" Once you have been able to answer that question, the next one is, "How am I going to stick to this resolution and accomplish it?"
Let me give you a few ideas based on reading and on my own strategies, which have helped me. Maybe they will help you too...

1. See your end goal each day as a done deal. This is important. You need to affirm daily in your mind that you have already accomplished the thing you intend to do. Be thankful that it has been accomplished. Imagine how it feels and what it looks like when that goal is accomplished. Just spend a couple of minutes everyday letting that child-like imagination take over and dream a little bit. Having the faith to see a thing done and being thankful for it are huge pieces in this step.

2. Break the goal down. If I look at the big picture of a goal I have, it can be overwhelming. I have to break it down into "baby steps" so I can take it in bits and pieces. If I begin to accomplish each piece and those pieces lead to the whole, then eventually I will get there. The key is to plan out the steps and devise your strategy which will lead you to success.

3. Stay committed. If you have a goal and have thought out the steps to accomplish it, you are already much closer to success than a lot of people. If you have the passion and energy to see and imagine your end result as completed, then there really is only one thing left to do...commit to do one thing a day (even if it is a little piece of a step) to work on your strategy/plan and not give up until the goal is reached. Stay committed and keep your focus. 99% of the folks who fail, do so because they don't follow through and stay committed to finish. They get preoccupied and distracted and pretty soon the vision is dead and they are back to the same old routine and they have lost the vision. Don't do that! You can achieve your goal if you stick with it. As I have read great authors and teachers of success principles, the standard opinion is that achievement of your goal is 90% attitude, thought and committment and about 10% actual action.

There are more elements to these strategies, enough of them that people have written books on them - and I suppose I could too - but I think the simple strategies above will really help you get started. One of My favorite writers and speakers is Jack Canfield, the author of the Chicken Soup series. He has written "The Success Principles" and has been an inspiration to me. If you can latch onto an author or speaker who is inspirational to you, you can use their writings or CD's to spur you on when your determination grows thin.

Whether you are looking to raise funds for a new program, see new levels of learning with your child or class, push for greater services, achieve greater success in your own career or take on a more personal self-help challenge, I would encourage you to try out the 3 steps above. I know I plan to use them as I spend some time this week setting new goals and planning out my year to come.

All the best in 2009!

Lon



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Closing the Gap Conference: Offer More with AT Services

This post is a personal invitation to come say hello to me at "Closing the Gap" in Minneapolis this week if you are attending. I am presenting a one hour workshop on building free online blog tools that support AT service delivery.
I will be sharing my online tools and some sites that give muti-media, web 2.0 and social networking potential for AT in different areas. We will talk about matching the design of a blog and the widgets you use with the purpose for the tool.
The session will be Friday, the 17th in Edina Sheraton from 12:30 to 1:30. Bring your lunch and join us.
No Limits 2 Learning Website is Live and in Process:
I have posted my handouts and some tutorials on my companion web site No Limits 2 Learning, under the Training section. I have been working to get my website up and get materials on there for free download. I have a resource area that I haven't had time to build yet, but will house all the links to free tools, software downloads, trials, etc. I have started an archive to my Blog Talk Radio Show under "archive" and have a few up. My goal is to get all my shows up there for download and have transcripts available.
I have recently finished a report - Action Steps to Advocacy, based on observations in my work on what makes successful advocacy. This report will be linked for a download from this blog and my website here in the next couple of weeks. The release will coincide with a focus on advocacy and AT interview of me by the Family Center on Technology and Disability Site and a discussion thread I will be co-moderating in November. There will be more info coming as that all gets going next month. Should be fun!

I haven't forgotten about sharing the Promethean Board tool. I will get to that this week as well.
I hope to meet some of you in person this week at Closing the Gap - come say "Hi" if you can.

All the best to you!
Lon




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Advocacy Can Come From the Most Unexpected Places!

I have been writing and sharing about advocacy on my blog since I started it almost a year ago. Over this past year I have written some posts that I turned into articles on Ezine Articles (See the sidebar on my blog for links to these articles) about advocacy tips and have been working on a free report: Action Steps to Advocacy (ASA Report) that is almost ready to put up for folks to access.
I had an email and follow-up call recently asking me if I would moderate a national online discussion on "Family Advocacy and Family-School Partnerships." I am honored to be asked and have agreed to moderate, but at the same time I am humbled when I think of all the resources out there and experts in the field. I just have been working from practical observations and common sense as I have seen what has worked and what has failed for parents as advocates. I see the angry ones, the lost ones, the frustrated ones and the collaborative ones, the veterans and the newbies.
I am thankful that I believe I have an extra dose of compassion in that I understand somewhat what it means to be thrust overnight into a world of being an advocate with no experience because your newborn was born with a severe impairment or even multiple disabilities. A parent can send a child to football practice one day or, in my part of the country, out to ride a horse after school, and end up with a head injury - next thing you know - you are looking at rehab and assistive technology.
I was reading a discussion thread from a parent on a site the other day and they shared that they believed if they would have waited for the school to initiate something for their son, he would still be floundering and behind. The fact that they as parents, saw themselves as the only advocates, and that they were initiating the discussion and pulling in outside advice and professional expertise into the picture - added up to a better response from the principal and the school towards developing a plan of action.
I know in my own world, I have many needs surrounding me throughout our region. I am trying to keep up with all of them but I find that the parents and schools that are most vocal, most on top of the situation in getting requests, reports and ideas to me, etc. are the ones that get the most service. It's not that I don't care about all of the situations around me . All of them get met to a certain degree, but the ones I enjoy the most are the ones where everyone is positive, pro-active and ready to do whatever it takes.
In all these cases, it always points back to someone that was a powerful advocate for that child. Sometimes the advocate isn't necessarily the parent. Sometimes it is the principal - I have some right now that are the biggest advocates you could want for a student. Sometimes it is the teacher - I have seen parents who literally frustrate and try and block any positive progress - even to the point of denying equipment and services offered by the school - even though they agree to and have their child on an IEP. Yep, try and figure that one out! If it weren't for a teacher that continues to push for the best for these children in these cases, a child would not be getting anything.

I see advocacy as having many faces and many styles. It is great to see AT company reps that genuinely want the best for a student even if it isn't their company product getting purchased. I had an AAC rep tell me a story recently about a request for help. This rep actually wrote a request for funding letter out for a parent that asked even though they were getting another device from another company - that's advocacy!
Don't ever underestimate where it can come from.

All the best to you!
Lon



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ASHA Advocacy Leads to Release of Speech Device Insurance Funding for Autism By Blue Cross

I received an email from our West Coast Tango representative today linking me to the ASHA (American Speech and Hearing) website to read an article from April 15, that will effect the Pacific Northwest and Blue Cross Insurance funding AAC devices for Autism. It has positive ramifications that might effect you too.

Here is the article: "Regional Carrier Covers AAC"

It discusses the reversal of an exclusionary practice of not accepting the use of AAC devices for autism because Autism isn't clinically a "speech disorder". The insurance carrier considered the practice "investigational" and were not considering it as a reimbursable claim. Due to the successful advocacy efforts of ASHA, that decision has been reversed by Premera Blue Cross of Washington and Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska.

I wonder what this will mean for other states or other insurance carriers that have been exclusionary too concerning this. If AAC for autism has been an issue with most insurance companies, then maybe this will start a trend that will begin to break down those exclusionary barriers. I see speech devices as a huge support to folks with autism and I am glad to see some victories for those that need AAC devices.

Reminders!

Our Assistive Technology Blog Carnival is accepting submissions on "Synthesized Speech" through Friday P.M. , May 23rd. It will be up on the AT Blog Carnival blog site Monday, May 26. If you have a post for us please submit it to me at:

lonthornburg@nolimits2learning.com

Start a Blog Contest is on...entires will be in a drawing sponsored by "Learning Magic" to win a free program of your choice from their catalog of products. Check out the rules above on the side bar here on the blog and send me your link to enter!

All the best to you!

Lon

Being a Successful Parent Advocate Series; Principle One: Knowledge & Research

For those of you that have been following this blog and listened to the first podcast, you know that I spent yesterday at a career showcase for middle school students. I said I would be recording the kids as they told me about their experience with other kids who have disabilities, what they know about assistive technology and their reactions. It was a fun day and I have some great sound clips and pictures to share. I am working on the editing for that podcast and hope to have it up next week. I have applied to itunes to have my podcast there where folks can subscribe as well as get it direct here. I will let you know when it is up on itunes for subscription. You will be able to get the podcasts there and put them on your ipod. If you don't know how to do it, I will give you directions when the time comes.

A Series on Being A Successful Parent Advocate:
I have had some interesting discussions lately with some "super parents". They are parents that don't take no for answer. Some do it in a peaceful way, some with a little more of a militant flavor and some exceeding the average by becoming medical research leaders in the area of their child's disorder.
Principle One: Knowledge and Research.
The way successful parents advocate is as different as their personalities, but what they do and how they do it is similar and worthy of some attention and documentation. When I hear parents begin to tell me of their battles to get what is best for their child, I am beginning to ask, "If you had to summarize what you have learned about being a parent advocate and had to boil it down to a few principles or points, what would they be?" I am getting some interesting comments and information.
One of the big ones is "study and read". Successful advocates scan the Internet for any new research on the illness or disability their child has. They get involved in groups and forums online. They also subscribe to journals and magazines if they are available.
One parent told me that she is fortunate that she can stay at home. Because of that, she has the time to read-up, research online, attend conferences and be knowledgeable. "A lot of parents don't have the time to invest in learning about this the way I can'" she said, "and so they don't know their rights or the laws that effect their children at school. They aren't knowledgeable about the new developments in support for their childs illness or disability. "
I was directed by a parent of a CP child to an amazing article written by Andrew Brereton who had a son with profound quadriplegic cerebral palsy. His son passed away 4 years ago from a series of brainstem strokes.
I think out of a sense of recovery from grief and a desire to help find treatment for children that have his son's disorder, Andrew began to go back to school and work on his degree in psychology. He went on to gain his Masters in cognitive neuropsychology. he has been involved in research projects that assist in understanding more of the inner workings of the neuro networks in the brain, and research in the development of communication skills.
There was a passage of his writing that I cannot summarize or put into my own words. You need to read them for yourself:

"Sadly, Daniel passed away four years ago last month. We miss him terribly and there will always be a massive hole in our lives. How do you get over the death of a child? However, the snowball of enthusiasm and interest, which he created in me, - interest in helping to solve the problems many children face, rolls on. Using all of the knowledge, which my son passed to me,(despite all my qualifications and research experience, he remains my most astute tutor), I am in the process of setting up a child development consultancy called 'Snowdrop.' It is in its infancy, but it aims to take all the knowledge and experience amassed over the years and to utilise it for the benefit of
children and families like ourselves."

You can find his website, Snowdrop, Here. I am also placing the link on my "Important Sites" list.
I cannot relate to this level of grief myself and hope I never have to, but I have the desire to help parents see the best for their children. That is why I do what I do at my job everyday and why I write this blog. My area is education and asistive technology - not as much the therapy aspect of it, but I am so glad to find resources like the one above that I can pass one to you. I am asking some of the parents I am working with to share with me as I develop some of our own resources to give you assistance in parent advocacy. I will be sharing more advocacy principles in this series, that are common traits of a successful advocate. I hope you will check back to read as I continue, and refer parents that you know to this too.
I am working on a free access assistive technology group forum/wiki I hope to have up in the next month or so. My hope is to have a central place that can be a "consumer report for AT" forum where you can add a review of a piece of technology and be part of a collaborative effort to be a resource on equipment for parents that have no idea what's out there and what it is all about. It will be organized by areas/categories of assistive technology so people can find a vendor and a piece of equipment easily. It will be hyperlinked to the vendor site for research and indexed also.
I am excited about the things that are happening here and if you see value, please show your support by passing the word on to others.
If you have any input on what you feel is an important principle of advocacy, you can email me at: lonthornburg@nolimits2life.com

All the best to you!