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A Success Story: The Transitioning Journey of Alycia Howard
Transitioning from High School to College is a journey says Alycia Howard. She has graduated from high school and attended an Adjustment To Blindness training center, The Minnesota State Academy 18+ prep program and is now attending Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
Being ready for college and knowing what you want in a college is a great start in the transition process. Ashlyn Cahill joins us to explain what State Services is for transition age students and when they begin working with them.
Alycia talks about each step along her journey and some of the events that made a big impact on her along the way.
Join us as we travel through her journey and feel her confidence as she shares her transition experience.
You can find out more about State Services for the Blind on the web.
Or call the main office at 651-539-2300.
Outside of Minnesota? Check out the State Agency Directory on the American Foundation for the Blind web site at www.AFB.org
You can find out more about Vision Loss Resource on the web at visionlossresources.org
Check out the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind on the web at msab.msa.state.mn.us
See Complete Transcription Below.
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Transcription:
A Success Story: The Transition Journey of Alycia Howard. (Transcription Provided)
Alycia:
Also start looking into our other jobs in that field available after you graduate.
You certainly don’t want to go to school for something that when you graduate there aren’t any jobs.
Jeff:
Transitioning from high school, to college, to the workplace.
Alycia:
Because I really wanted to make sure that I was going to have just as much of an opportunity to succeed as everyone else.
I use a little bit of both, I’m definitely someone who likes to have choices when it comes to screen readers and screen magnification, because there are certain projects and certain assignments that I may need one or the other for.
[Music]
Blind and Socially Savvy is the name of the group and at those sessions we have been learning everything from table etiquette and manners to how you answer a door, how you introduce somebody to somebody else, also job interview skills and networking for jobs, we have learned so much over the past year.
[Music]
Alycia Howard, a l y c i a h o w a r d.
Jeff:
Welcome to Blind Abilities, I’m Jeff Thompson.
Today we’re gonna be talking to a transition age student who has gone from high school to some extensive training and to a training center and into college.
We’ll also be hearing from an expert on transition from State services for the Blind, so if you plan on transitioning from high school to college to the workplace, or if you know someone be sure to contact your State services for the Blind and see what they can do for you.
I asked Ashlyn Cahill, a counselor at state services what can they do for transition age students?
Ashlyn:
So when they come to State Services they’ll get a counselor, most likely myself if their transition student but they could get another counselor.
The great thing is is that all counselors here when they’re working with a student, we work closely with anyone they’re working with at their school, so we work with their BBI teachers their ONM instructors, special education teachers, we really work as one unit and as a team to help that student achieve their goals.
Jeff:
And when do you get in contact with transition age students?
Ashlyn:
We get in contact with them as early as age 14 that’s when we can start beginning to work with them, so students who know about our services will come to us that early, however there are some students who don’t know about our services until later on, so sometimes we don’t start working with them until they’re 16 or 17.
Jeff:
Ashlyn, I’ll be talking to a transition age student in just a few minutes and what advice would you have for someone who was transitioning from high school to college to the workplace?
Ashlyn:
I would really say do your research on your own as much as you can before you pick a school.
Look into the different career options you have.
One career option you might want is going to have totally different education requirements than another career option you may have, so those are things to look into before you choose a school and also start looking into our other jobs in that field available after you graduate, you certainly don’t want to go to school for something that when you graduate there aren’t any jobs.
I just think it’s really important to start researching as soon as possible to get a really good idea of what you want to do after high school and then it just makes it easier to choose what school is best for them.
Jeff:
That’s great advice for a student, so if you’re out there transitioning from high school to college, be sure that you’re connected up with your State Services and see how they can assist you on planning for your future, and now let me introduce you to Alycia Howard, she’s a transition student who graduated from high school, and is now attending Minneapolis Community and Technical College in the heart of downtown Minneapolis.
She’s also attended Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in their transition program, and she’s a graduate of Vision Loss Resource, an adjustment to blindness Center in Minneapolis.
Alycia Howard, I’d like to thank you for taking your time and coming onto Blind Abilities, how are you doing?
Alycia:
I’m doing good thanks for having me.
Jeff:
You are very welcome, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?
Alycia:
So I am currently a college student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
I am 21 years old and currently my major is communications.
I am planning on going on to pursue an education to go into the field of music therapy.
Jeff:
And when did your journey start with SSB?
Alycia:
My journey with SSB started when I was 16, and in high school and it’s been a great journey.
Jeff:
And how will you first introduced the State services for the Blind?
Alycia:
I was introduced to SSB by my vision teacher who felt very strongly that I could benefit from their services, which I definitely have, and yeah I was introduced to them and able to succeed and definitely able to have more opportunities because of their services.
Jeff:
Alycia, when you first decided that you were gonna attend college, how did State Services help you out in that decision?
Alycia:
SSB was great helping me there, they had a lot of different workshops for high school-age students where, and I’m also job fairs, the workshops consisted of people from certain colleges coming to speak about their programs or disability services centers and then they also had programs where different colleges would be there and you would be able to ask them questions about their degrees, and about what they offered for students, and about their programs for especially blind and visually impaired students.
Jeff:
Can you tell us a little bit about the transition program that you attended at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind?
Alycia:
Yes, and that was an amazing experience.
I attended the Academy for the Blind for their 18 plus program, so I started when I was 18 and I finished when I was 20.
So I spent two years there and I was able to attain a lot of great skills, anything from cooking to home management and O&M or travel skills, they have definitely helped me a great deal along the way.
Jeff:
Yes, quite the experience, especially the Academy, I mean they get out at all these events around the metropolitan area, and in the you know five state region for like Goalball and other events such a great program.
Alycia:
Yes they do, the most recent one that the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind that took part in along with Blind Inc, one of the other centers, was the national white cane day event that was held at the Capitol at the beginning of October and that was an amazing event where everyone got to come together and just celebrate the white cane.
Jeff:
Alycia has spoke at many events around the metropolitan area, it never surprises me whether I’m at a state rehab council meeting, or in a convention, or some other event and Alycia is at the podium speaking about her experiences.
[Crowd noises]
Alycia:
After finishing the A+ program at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind, I had gained a newfound independence and confidence in myself.
Once I was done I knew that I wanted to further that independence and confidence boosting and chose to attend Vision Loss Resources or VLR as it’s known in Minneapolis Minnesota.
I started in October of 2016 and finished in March of 2017.
While there, I took classes in Braille, Orientation and Mobility, as well as Technology.
I don’t really have a favorite class because every class that I took was amazing for various reasons.
Braille was a skill that I somewhat knew but didn’t really have, I knew the Grade One Braille code or the alphabet but that was about it.
Walking out of VLR I knew the full Braille code and I would say I was pretty proficient in reading.
Orientation and Mobility was amazing because I was able to learn how to travel in various weather conditions and environments around the city of Minneapolis, I was able to gain that freedom of being able to be my own traveler instead of having someone else drive me around.
Technology I loved because I was able to learn the ins and outs of computers, and screen reading, and magnification software’s that I would be using in my everyday life.
I left knowing exactly what I needed and having my needs met so that I would be able to start the long college road ahead.
[Applause]
Jeff:
So Alycia, what made you decide on MCTC and what kind of process did you utilize in choosing your college?
Alycia:
That process was a very long process for me, it took a lot of just thinking and even soul-searching to kind of figure out where I wanted to go.
SSB was a great help in the sense of those job fairs and college fairs that they had, really helped me to make my decision, I was able to interact with people from Minneapolis Community and Technical College along with plenty of other colleges at those fairs and that definitely helped me in making my decision.
Jeff:
Did you take in consideration the Disability Services office at the college’s?
Alycia:
That was one of the very first things I did because I really wanted to make sure that I was going to have just as much of an opportunity to succeed as everyone else in the college and I was very impressed by what I saw and heard.
Jeff:
When you decided on MCTC, was transportation a consideration?
Alycia:
Definitely I, for a very long time lived in an area where transportation outside of my parents or Metro mobility was very limited and so I wanted to be in an area where there was a little more life and more opportunities to get to different places around there.
Jeff:
How is college going so far for you?
Alycia:
My classes are great we are just a little over halfway through my, or the fall semester, this is my first semester so it’s definitely been a journey.
I have had the amazing opportunity to make great friends and to really just succeed.
I have done some amazing things that I wouldn’t have been able to do without help from the college.
Jeff:
So for your computer are you PC or Mac?
Alycia:
I am a little bit of both, it kind of depends on the project and depends on what I’m doing for college so I am a Mac user.
Jeff:
On your PC computer what are you using for a screen reader, Jaws or NVDA?
Alycia:
I use a little bit of both, I’m definitely someone who likes to have choices when it comes to screen readers and screen magnification because there are certain projects and certain assignments that I may need one or the other for.
Jeff:
So do you use the iPhone?
Alycia:
I do use an iPhone yes, my phone has helped me a great deal in my everyday life.
Jeff:
Yes definitely, the iPhone has been a game changer in so many ways.
Alycia:
Definitely there are a lot of great ways to access the internet using my iPhone, I can use my iPhone for getting around, if I need directions, obviously I can call somebody or I can use an app to look at my location and get directions to where I need to go, every day transportation especially is, my phone is very handy for, I’m able to look up bus times, so that way I’m not, especially now that it’s getting colder standing out in the cold for minutes longer than I should be, and yes the phone is a very great tool in my tool belt to succeed.
Jeff:
I believe one of the first times I heard you speak was at the State Rehab Council meeting and you were talking about the successes and programs that you’ve attended, and one of the events that really stuck out to me was the Blind and Socially Savvy, can you elaborate on that?
Alycia:
Oh yes, so Blind and Socially Savvy is the name of the group, and there are these two amazing people, Cathleen and Eileen Rivera Ley were their names, they brought some amazing skills and an amazing skill set for us to all learn.
The first session took place in April of this year, so April 2017 and the next one will take place in April of 2018 and there has been another session in between that.
At those sessions we have been learning everything from table etiquette and manners to how you answer a door, how you introduce somebody to somebody else, also job interview skills and networking for jobs, we have learned so much over the past year.
Jeff:
It sounds like quite the experience?
Alycia:
Definitely, it’s been a great one, like I said, they were great skills to learn and it made it even better that I could do it with a whole bunch of my friends within the blind community.
Jeff:
Are you going back?
Alycia:
I am going back for sure.
Jeff:
Alycia, now that you transitioned from high school to college, what advice would you give to someone who is just starting to consider transitioning to college?
Alycia:
I would say definitely take advantage of what SSB has to offer because they will help you a great deal in everything from learning how to apply for college and jobs, to helping you decide which job or College is the right fit for you and also definitely advocate for yourself, always feel free to say that you need help, and when you need help with something always say something because SSB is always going to be there to help.
Jeff:
Well thank you Alycia, is there anything else that you would like to say to our listeners?
Alycia:
Always be yourself no matter what, no matter where you are in life there is always something new ahead.
Jeff:
Alycia I really want to thank you for taking the time out of your day and coming on the Blind Abilities and sharing your journey of transitioning from high school to college, and how State services for the Blind has been part of that journey, so thank you very much.
Alycia:
Thank you for having me.
Jeff:
I really enjoyed listening to Alycia Howard tell her story, about how she learned about State Services for the Blind and the services they provided before she graduated from high school so she could set the plans, get the ball in motion, and succeed.
Now she’s in college, she’s on the right track, another success story in the works.
So I hope you enjoyed this, a big thank you to Chi Chow for your beautiful music, that’s LChiChow on Twitter, thanks for listening and until next time, bye-bye.
[Music]
[Multiple voices]
When we share what we see through each other’s eyes, We can then begin to bridge the Gap between the limited expectations and the realities of Blind Abilities.
For more podcast with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on twitter at BlindAbilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that’s two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com, thanks for listening.