00:00
Building An Ally Through Transitions. The following video features individuals seated in an office conference room speaking to the camera about their experiences with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind or MCB. They are each talking about the subject of “Building An Ally Through Transitions” as an MCB Vocational Rehabilitation or VR client navigating through life transitions. Speakers include, in order:
Nicole Ross (Optometrist, New England College Of Optometry)
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs (MCB VR counselor)
Sarah Regan (parent of two MCB clients)
Brendan and Elena Regan (MCB clients)
Tim Leahy (Parent of an MCB client)
James Leahy (MCB client)
00:53
Nicole Ross: I always encourage my patients to bring family with them at any part of the steps, whether it's meeting with me, MCB, or any other professional they might be interacting with. It's just helpful to have somebody there to also hear the same information, because a lot is coming at you at once, and to sort of help encourage them on their…this path.
01:13
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: A lot of families don't know what to expect, and they don't know how many successful blind people there are.
01:22
Sara Regan: I didn't know what we needed, I didn't know what to ask for. So they really guided us into knowing what kind of services the school should be providing, and advocating in that way.
01:33
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: If I can get a parent to engage and understand that the services that we provide are ultimately what are gonna make their child more successful in the end, and more independent, that's when it works.
01:46
Elena Regan: So we kind of had to take a look at where I am, but also where me and my vision might be in the future. And it's very important that I be an advocate for myself, to tell them exactly what I need, how I'm going to get it done, and why I'm the best for the job. And you just got to have that confidence. I felt like MCB did a very good job of kind of choosing the things that were most important for me to do at the time.
02:13
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: Kids will always rise up to the bar that you set.
02:16
Brendan Regan: I had just a lot of conversations about where I see myself in the following years, and they'd been really supportive of the life path that I've chosen to take.
02:31
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: So you just try to find out what the students interests are, and then try to match services based on their areas of interests.
02:37
Sara Regan: I felt like they were going to ensure that we got the services, they were going to help us get the right ones that were specific to each kid too, so it wasn't a one size fits all.
02:48
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: We can figure out how to work together to provide the services that are going to make the most sense.
02:53
Tim Leahy: Knowing the resour-…that there was a resource, the Mass Commission for the Blind, that was very important for my wife and I, you know, from the beginning, knowing that we would have help and support in helping James.
03:07
James Leahy: Before I went blind, I was a physics major in New York City. And so I had to learn how to be in school again, because there are a lot of different technologies and strategies to use as a blind person in the classroom. But I know that the Mass Commission is always at my back ready to help.
03:23
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: Keeping in touch and keeping engaged with their counselors is the most important thing. There are tons of opportunities for students with disabilities.
03:33
Elena Regan: More recently, I've transitioned to adult services, and we're really focused on how to get me through this next four-year period of college and then on to be employed in the future. And I had the support behind me from MCB, my parents, all my support system that really helped me get through those first couple of weeks. And now I'm just going to keep going, chugging along, doing what I can do.
03:57
Sara Regan: Even though it's an overwhelming time when there's so much information coming at you medically, technology, academically, as well as all the emotions, I feel like MCB functions a little bit at the epicenter of all of that, because I don't think there's any agency or anybody else that we interacted that understood this holistic view of what was happening.
04:22
James Leahy: The Mass Commission will be able to help me solve a problem or find the people who can. And so the future doesn't scare me.
04:29
To learn more about and contact the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, find them online at mass.gov. Or call 800-392-6450.