Written by Dr. Dasaratha Rama
As we come to the end of the six weeks of the entrepreneurship summer camp, the thought that stands out for me is that entrepreneurship can be an important step towards self-advocacy and eventually greater independence for individuals with developmental disabilities. Entrepreneurship may be particularly important for individuals like our son who tends to get overwhelmed and disengage when the learning environment does not match his learning style and needs. Entrepreneurship as taught in the E4i curriculum provides many tools for these individuals to advocate for themselves and to stay engaged in any environment. I see the following as the key benefits of the E4i experience: (1) enhancing perspective-taking, (2) developing self-awareness, (3) engaging parents/mentors, (4) developing a viable business, and (5) setting the stage for self-advocacy.
Enhancing Perspective-taking
By definition, entrepreneurship takes into account an individual’s strengths and interests even as it tries to create value for others. This type of perspective-taking that lies at the heart of entrepreneurship can be challenging for individuals with autism because of the difficulty that these individuals face in communicating with others. Entrepreneurship can serve as a vehicle both for making individuals with disabilities aware of their strengths as well as to help them see ways in which they can leverage these strengths to do something for others.
Developing Self-awareness
Through the E4i summer camp experience, we have planted the seed for self-advocacy through enhancing self-awareness. An entrepreneurial perspective on self-advocacy has subtle but profound differences from notions of self-advocacy rooted in what an individual cannot do. The E4i slogan “Do what you love, love what you do” captures this essential difference. The starting point for the E4i journey is what the individual can do and loves to do. The goal is to transform what the individual already does to something that could be a foundation for independent living. This philosophy when translated into practice results in ongoing conversations to help individuals think about and express what they love to do and how that could be transformed into something of value for others.
Engaging parents/mentors
Parents and other mentors to individuals with disabilities have a critical role to play in the E4i process. Parents and mentors who have known the individual for a long time can help nudge the individual’s interest towards creating something for others. More importantly, E4i provides tools for parents to transform how they engage individuals with disabilities as these individuals move towards greater independence.
Our son has a strong connection to the arts. He learns the piano, violin, and dance. As we started the program, he started with the idea of dance being the interest that could potentially transform into a business venture. While this might be possible in the long run, I nudged him towards another interest - folding circles. I have found that folding brings something unique to the process of organizing ideas that no other tool does. Thus I nudged our son towards “Fold, Color, and Talk” as a possibility for a business venture.
The E4i program has been extremely helpful for me in figuring out how to nudge our son’s interests and help transform them into a potentially viable business. The participation of parents on the E4i network is a step in the right direction. I hope Picasso Einstein continues to strengthen parental involvement over time.
Developing a Viable Business
Last week I learned about an animation tool (www.powtoon.com). It struck me that this tool would be of immense value to my son since it is difficult to effectively communicate the value of the Fold, Color, and Talk approach that uses movement, touch, and observation to anchor learning through words. I think it is difficult for everyone but particularly so for individuals like my son. Animation allows us to effectively tap into visual and other elements while explaining Fold, Color, and Talk. We spent many hours over the last few days transitioning to Powtoon and Prezi as the tools for delivering Fold, Color, and Talk products and services. Again, the E4i summer camp played an important role in this process. The fact that students had to make a presentation this week served as a catalyst for us to work on this quickly!
I also nudged my son towards the idea of “Foldtoons” as Fold, Color, and Talk’s signature product. A practical reason was that I found that words like workbook and workshop did not resonate with my son. When many ideas were being discussed in the summer camp, I found him unable to retrieve these words. I realized that we had to find a name that was memorable for him!
Setting the stage for Self-Advocacy
As we worked on the business description, mission statement, and other elements on the way to the presentation, my son and I had opportunities for structured dialog on converting years of experience into a business. For the first time we discussed how what we have worked on for years can benefit others, especially those with autism and other developmental disabilities. Over the years, I have had this conversation with many parents and educators. Now our son is an active part of this conversation thanks to the E4i program. As he continues his educational journey, an awareness of what works and does not work for him, and engaging any learning environment with that awareness will better prepare him to learn in varied environments.
In six weeks, we have made tremendous progress on this journey towards self-advocacy and independence. Until now, I have been the primary advocate for him as I have home-schooled him for many years. It is time to gradually transfer that role to him so that he feels more empowered to continue his journey towards independence. The E4i program has been very timely for us. I have recognized the need for transferring the advocacy role to him; E4i has provided me many tools for achieving this goal. We look forward to continuing our entrepreneurship journey with Picasso Einstein over the upcoming years!
Monday, August 18, 2014
Perspective on The Entrepreneurial World from a Person with Disabilities!
Written by Christian Mejia (Founding Class member of Marino College Entrepreneurship Program)
WHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
The idea of Entrepreneurship is developed in the mind of human beings that are tired of being held in the patterns of the routine of everyday: Waking up, going to work, making the usual $8.00 an hour, eating lunch, going home, sleep, and waking up the next day to do the same thing all over again. Entrepreneurship, the need to problem-solve and the desire to master something, is something that the human being is born with.
Entrepreneurship is important in life because you begin to grasp what goes on around you, and appreciate how the big companies made it through tough times and yet stuck to their dreams and eventually became successful. We all have dreams, but entrepreneurship doesn’t allow for those dreams to stay as dreams but rather turns them into a reality of your life.
LOVE & PASSION
I think and feel deep in my heart that people with disabilities should be entrepreneurs because it all comes down to one word: PASSION! I often write about this word passion, because my entrepreneurship instructor once told me, “if you are going to do something and get paid for it, do it for something you love.” Passion is what stirs up your heart into the right direction in life. It’s unfortunate however that the world, doesn't give people with disabilities a chance to really prove themselves, and more importantly, pursue their passions. People with disabilities end up fighting to get what they want out of life and are forced to be relentless to get even the simplest things out of life.
FASCINATING MIX
The Education of Entrepreneurship is quite interesting. But, when talking about people with disabilities and entrepreneurship, it’s fascinating. There is a skewed idea in the world of what a person with a disability is. People in general think of someone that won’t be able to make it in the real world. How wrong of an assumption. A person with disabilities also has a natural thirst and search to fulfill what they have within themselves and long to ‘climb’ mountains.
It’s very important for people with disabilities to see and view entrepreneurship as something achievable because they hold all the potential within themselves to be happy, and to be successful. I think it’s fascinating to read about entrepreneurs that have disabilities. I found out recently that one of these entrepreneurs is Ludwig Van Beethoven. Beethoven was one of the greatest musicians to ever exist; yet for the later part of his life, he was deaf. In his early life, he became a very famous pianist. He had a mysterious ability that led him to create famous compositions, one after another. After he was 28, he started becoming deaf and his personal life wasn't as good anymore. In his lifelong journey, he composed various famous sonatas such as Waldstein and Appasionata .
Another fascinating entrepreneur is Caiseal (Cash’l), author of bestselling fantasy novels. He is of Australian and Irish descent. He also composes and records music, with 13 albums recorded. He is well known by his books and album covers, designed by him. When he was a child, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which was highlighted in his autobiography called “A Blessing and a Curse”; Autism and Me (2007).
DON’T FORGET
Dreams are for everyone, even for people with disabilities. It’s necessary for people with disabilities to plan out their future and set goals with a due date for each one. Once you have that due date, set your abilities to work towards those goals. Life is the outcome of what you make it. If you need a little push, make sure there will be people around that will support you and help you. And most importantly, the people around you must always assume you CAN do something, focus on your abilities, and not on your disabilities, focusing so much on what you cannot do.
Success starts with the attitude you have towards life. Ask yourself: What do you want? When do you want it? Where do you want to be? And last but not least why do you want to be there? It’s only a matter of decision-making and decision-action. You alone hold the power in your hands to become and be anything that you want to be. Dreams are for everyone, even for you,.
THANK YOU ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship has changed the outlook of my life and my future because it has opened my eyes to see beyond who I am. It has allowed me to understand the full potential within me, and has led me to believe in myself more than anything else in my life. Entrepreneur is who I am, not what I do.
WHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
The idea of Entrepreneurship is developed in the mind of human beings that are tired of being held in the patterns of the routine of everyday: Waking up, going to work, making the usual $8.00 an hour, eating lunch, going home, sleep, and waking up the next day to do the same thing all over again. Entrepreneurship, the need to problem-solve and the desire to master something, is something that the human being is born with.
Entrepreneurship is important in life because you begin to grasp what goes on around you, and appreciate how the big companies made it through tough times and yet stuck to their dreams and eventually became successful. We all have dreams, but entrepreneurship doesn’t allow for those dreams to stay as dreams but rather turns them into a reality of your life.
LOVE & PASSION
I think and feel deep in my heart that people with disabilities should be entrepreneurs because it all comes down to one word: PASSION! I often write about this word passion, because my entrepreneurship instructor once told me, “if you are going to do something and get paid for it, do it for something you love.” Passion is what stirs up your heart into the right direction in life. It’s unfortunate however that the world, doesn't give people with disabilities a chance to really prove themselves, and more importantly, pursue their passions. People with disabilities end up fighting to get what they want out of life and are forced to be relentless to get even the simplest things out of life.
FASCINATING MIX
The Education of Entrepreneurship is quite interesting. But, when talking about people with disabilities and entrepreneurship, it’s fascinating. There is a skewed idea in the world of what a person with a disability is. People in general think of someone that won’t be able to make it in the real world. How wrong of an assumption. A person with disabilities also has a natural thirst and search to fulfill what they have within themselves and long to ‘climb’ mountains.
It’s very important for people with disabilities to see and view entrepreneurship as something achievable because they hold all the potential within themselves to be happy, and to be successful. I think it’s fascinating to read about entrepreneurs that have disabilities. I found out recently that one of these entrepreneurs is Ludwig Van Beethoven. Beethoven was one of the greatest musicians to ever exist; yet for the later part of his life, he was deaf. In his early life, he became a very famous pianist. He had a mysterious ability that led him to create famous compositions, one after another. After he was 28, he started becoming deaf and his personal life wasn't as good anymore. In his lifelong journey, he composed various famous sonatas such as Waldstein and Appasionata .
Another fascinating entrepreneur is Caiseal (Cash’l), author of bestselling fantasy novels. He is of Australian and Irish descent. He also composes and records music, with 13 albums recorded. He is well known by his books and album covers, designed by him. When he was a child, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which was highlighted in his autobiography called “A Blessing and a Curse”; Autism and Me (2007).
DON’T FORGET
Dreams are for everyone, even for people with disabilities. It’s necessary for people with disabilities to plan out their future and set goals with a due date for each one. Once you have that due date, set your abilities to work towards those goals. Life is the outcome of what you make it. If you need a little push, make sure there will be people around that will support you and help you. And most importantly, the people around you must always assume you CAN do something, focus on your abilities, and not on your disabilities, focusing so much on what you cannot do.
Success starts with the attitude you have towards life. Ask yourself: What do you want? When do you want it? Where do you want to be? And last but not least why do you want to be there? It’s only a matter of decision-making and decision-action. You alone hold the power in your hands to become and be anything that you want to be. Dreams are for everyone, even for you,.
THANK YOU ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship has changed the outlook of my life and my future because it has opened my eyes to see beyond who I am. It has allowed me to understand the full potential within me, and has led me to believe in myself more than anything else in my life. Entrepreneur is who I am, not what I do.
The Corporate Inclusion Learning Curve: Much More Than a Bell
All too often the good intentions of a business desiring to be more inclusive, coupled with the frantic approach to employment for individuals with disabilities, mutes the dire need for corporate inclusion training and preparedness.
I am not talking about the common “sensitivity” training that is often injected into the “inclusion” context. I am talking about the business aspect of training and preparedness. Deep thought and strategy need to be in place prior to the hiring of persons with disabilities, otherwise the employment of these individuals, becomes more of an experiment, than a person-centered plan based on independence and life-long sustainability.
THE INCLUSIVE BUSINESS
Are you entertaining the idea of hiring individuals with disabilities? I hope so! If you answer is yes, you might ask, what next? Simple; Get educated, trained, implement strategy and engage a corporate-wide discussion on disabilities now! Let’s break down each on of these and see how you can begin.
Inclusion Education
Inclusion Education needs to be more than just a talk about what’s offensive to persons with disabilities, how to ‘refer’ to them using person-centered language. There is a saying I once heard that goes: The whole world is concerned about how to refer to someone with disabilities, except those with disabilities. Persons with disabilities care much less about using ‘person-centered’ language and care much more about receiving the dignified treatment and respect you would show to anyone, with or without disabilities. Inclusion Education must be about how to create support systems that build emotional connections between employees, create foundational interaction that allows your current employees to learn more about disabilities from a person with disabilities, than from a training usually given by someone without a disability. Ironic, I must say.
What Inclusion must be.
Inclusion must be about demystifying public perception about one’s abilities. It must be about reinforcing the value-proposition persons with disabilities already bring to the workforce. It must be about establishing the fact that persons with disabilities are no less capable, and no less willing to work. It must be about getting an entire corporation to ALWAYS ASSUME COMPETENCY, and understand the risk when you assume otherwise. Often we find that through real-life case-studies, documentaries, and books, entire corporations shift their perception about disabilities, and most importantly, their reaction to persons with disabilities.
Inclusion Training
What is the different between education and training? The word “Training” is closely connected to works like ‘action’ & ‘exercise.’ Thus inclusion training cannot be a lecture-based experience, instead it must include group activities, innovation opportunities and most importantly, role-playing. It is via these methods that employees are able to absorb the enormity of the undertaking, yet appreciate the part they can play in the lives of the special individuals. We find that activity-based learning (ABL) using our trademark “Teaching Vowels” method, allows the education to sink in, and humanity to emerge.
Inclusion Implementation
Now that everyone has been enlightened through educated and motivated in training, now it’s time to implement a strategy and integrate it into your current operational procedures. How does that happen? Well, many companies think that being flexible is good enough. Now, flexible is an absolute necessity, but it is not the key to a productive and sustainable employment experience for you and the person alike. What is needed is an operational framework; a corporate culture and human resource policies that encourage independence increase employee accountability & moreover, celebrate inclusion. Implementation is neither easy nor painless, but it is worth the experience and is without a doubt a life-changing course. Historically, companies and industries innovate the most when cultures merge for common goals, and work-life balance is increased within a workforce. All this can be accomplished by simply injecting humanity into how a business operates and promote a human resource policy that not only focuses on regulation, but also allows room for creativity.
Talk about Disabilities!
The more you persons with disabilities you know, the sooner you will realize that talking about disabilities with them, is not a precarious conversation. So, if persons with disabilities have an easy time talking about their disabilities, why not have them take part in the on-going education and training for your employees? We even suggest that you create peer group for corporate discussions about disabilities in the workplace. This will assist your place of business not only meet the status quo, but better yet, be a community leader in employing persons with disabilities. Get your managers involved, your employees involved and even your corporate partners and clients involved, and what you will see is an amazing transformation of your employees’ and most importantly, the overall business’ performance. Now that is a good reason for any business to be inclusive!
I am not talking about the common “sensitivity” training that is often injected into the “inclusion” context. I am talking about the business aspect of training and preparedness. Deep thought and strategy need to be in place prior to the hiring of persons with disabilities, otherwise the employment of these individuals, becomes more of an experiment, than a person-centered plan based on independence and life-long sustainability.
THE INCLUSIVE BUSINESS
Are you entertaining the idea of hiring individuals with disabilities? I hope so! If you answer is yes, you might ask, what next? Simple; Get educated, trained, implement strategy and engage a corporate-wide discussion on disabilities now! Let’s break down each on of these and see how you can begin.
Inclusion Education
Inclusion Education needs to be more than just a talk about what’s offensive to persons with disabilities, how to ‘refer’ to them using person-centered language. There is a saying I once heard that goes: The whole world is concerned about how to refer to someone with disabilities, except those with disabilities. Persons with disabilities care much less about using ‘person-centered’ language and care much more about receiving the dignified treatment and respect you would show to anyone, with or without disabilities. Inclusion Education must be about how to create support systems that build emotional connections between employees, create foundational interaction that allows your current employees to learn more about disabilities from a person with disabilities, than from a training usually given by someone without a disability. Ironic, I must say.
What Inclusion must be.
Inclusion must be about demystifying public perception about one’s abilities. It must be about reinforcing the value-proposition persons with disabilities already bring to the workforce. It must be about establishing the fact that persons with disabilities are no less capable, and no less willing to work. It must be about getting an entire corporation to ALWAYS ASSUME COMPETENCY, and understand the risk when you assume otherwise. Often we find that through real-life case-studies, documentaries, and books, entire corporations shift their perception about disabilities, and most importantly, their reaction to persons with disabilities.
Inclusion Training
What is the different between education and training? The word “Training” is closely connected to works like ‘action’ & ‘exercise.’ Thus inclusion training cannot be a lecture-based experience, instead it must include group activities, innovation opportunities and most importantly, role-playing. It is via these methods that employees are able to absorb the enormity of the undertaking, yet appreciate the part they can play in the lives of the special individuals. We find that activity-based learning (ABL) using our trademark “Teaching Vowels” method, allows the education to sink in, and humanity to emerge.
Inclusion Implementation
Now that everyone has been enlightened through educated and motivated in training, now it’s time to implement a strategy and integrate it into your current operational procedures. How does that happen? Well, many companies think that being flexible is good enough. Now, flexible is an absolute necessity, but it is not the key to a productive and sustainable employment experience for you and the person alike. What is needed is an operational framework; a corporate culture and human resource policies that encourage independence increase employee accountability & moreover, celebrate inclusion. Implementation is neither easy nor painless, but it is worth the experience and is without a doubt a life-changing course. Historically, companies and industries innovate the most when cultures merge for common goals, and work-life balance is increased within a workforce. All this can be accomplished by simply injecting humanity into how a business operates and promote a human resource policy that not only focuses on regulation, but also allows room for creativity.
Talk about Disabilities!
The more you persons with disabilities you know, the sooner you will realize that talking about disabilities with them, is not a precarious conversation. So, if persons with disabilities have an easy time talking about their disabilities, why not have them take part in the on-going education and training for your employees? We even suggest that you create peer group for corporate discussions about disabilities in the workplace. This will assist your place of business not only meet the status quo, but better yet, be a community leader in employing persons with disabilities. Get your managers involved, your employees involved and even your corporate partners and clients involved, and what you will see is an amazing transformation of your employees’ and most importantly, the overall business’ performance. Now that is a good reason for any business to be inclusive!
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