00:00
Working Together Toward Future Success. 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 “Working Together Toward Future Success” and how MCB Vocational Rehabilitation or VR works with students ages 14 to 22 to prepare for life after graduation. Speakers include, in order:
Lynn Shortis (Teacher Of Visually Impaired Students)
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs (MCB VR Counselor)
Sara Regan, (Parent of two MCB Clients)
Brendan Foley (Teacher Of Visually Impaired Students)
Elena Regan (MCB Client)
00:53
Lynn Shortis: A lot my students are classified as legally blind and registered with the Commission really as infants or very early on, so that the children's worker starts off with them. And then there's just a nice smooth transition into the voc rehab piece once they turn 14.
01:09
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: At 14, they're supposed to be invited to their own IEP, and they're supposed to write their own vision statement of what they want. There's a transition planning form that's supposed to be created between either a school personnel or the teacher of the visually impaired. And the student so kind of starting there and just, like, this is your voice, this is your time to ask for what it is that works best for you, and just reminding students all the time that, like, your voice is the most important voice.
01:39
Sara Regan: I know that both of them would do a presentation to their teachers at the beginning of most school years, where they put together a PowerPoint and went through and explained: this is what Stargardt's is, and this is what I need, and this is the technology that I use.
01:52
Lynn Shortis: Establishing the relationship early on with Mass Commission for the Blind and maintaining that relationship, keeping them in the know of what the student is doing, any struggles they have, you know, any positives they have.
02:06
Brendan Foley: They're going to hold the kids to a certain GPA and provide financial assistance to keep them in school. You're looking to produce a student who's confident and capable. And the confidence aspect isn't always going to happen in the classroom. So that's community experiences. That's getting Mass Commission for the Blind involved in getting them in the community with camps, and other things and recreation, which is very important.
02:29
Elena Regan: I started off doing summer camps at Carroll kids. And that was like my first time meeting other blind people, and I was 10 or 11. And then over time, I got put in contact with the Polis center. They do a lot of like career exploration work, where I got to go to different job sites, learn about all sorts of different careers and actually have some internships, which were really important for me in kind of determining what I want to do with my life.
02:56
Sara Regan: These questions around, what do you want to do, how do you see yourself working, and opportunities to gain skills along the way, build a resume, has been really critical, I think for them.
03:09
Brendan Foley: Once they leave my care or my…my services, if you will, it's going to be Mass Commission that's going to be helping them through their adult years and their working years.
03:18
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.
03:29
Sara Regan: During the high school years, we wanted to make sure that we did…we took advantage of everything so that that would set them up with as many services and skills to be able to enter that next phase. And I feel like they do have the skills and the knowhow so that they won't be held back by their vision impairment.
03:50
Elena Regan: Live your life to the fullest extent that you can, and don't look down on yourself and your abilities because you're just as successful and important as everybody else in the world.
04:03
To learn more about and contact the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, find them online at mass.gov. Or call 800-392-6450.