Hope is the spark that ignites the flame of possibility.
- Hari Srinivasan
Showing posts with label Possibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Possibility. Show all posts
Contemplation, one insight a day
Optimism is the lens that allows us to see the world through the eyes of possibility.
Linear and Non Linear Thinking
Linear thinking and non-linear thinking refer to different cognitive approaches or styles of processing information and solving problems.
Linear Thinking is a sequential and logical way of processing information. It involves following a step-by-step progression or a straight line of thought to reach a conclusion or solve a problem. Linear thinkers often focus on cause-and-effect relationships, rely on logical reasoning, and follow a structured and organized approach. They tend to analyze information systematically, break problems down into smaller parts, and approach tasks in a methodical manner.
Non-linear Thinking is characterized by a more holistic and divergent approach to processing information and problem-solving. Non-linear thinkers often make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts. They may engage in creative, out-of-the-box thinking, see patterns or possibilities that others might not notice, and generate multiple solutions to a problem. Non-linear thinkers may think in a more intuitive, associative, or visual manner, allowing them to make leaps in thinking or approach problems from different angles.
Both have strengths. Linear thinking is often effective for tasks that require logical analysis, step-by-step reasoning, or adherence to a specific process. Non-linear thinking, can be valuable in creative problem-solving, pattern recognition, generating innovative ideas, or seeing the bigger picture.
Autistics are known to exhibit a wide range of thinking styles, and some may excel in non-linear thinking processes. Our ability to make connections, see patterns, or approach problems from unconventional perspectives can be a unique strength.
However, traditional IQ tests often emphasize linear thinking and may not fully capture or assess the strengths of non-linear thinking in the autistic population.
Linear Thinking is a sequential and logical way of processing information. It involves following a step-by-step progression or a straight line of thought to reach a conclusion or solve a problem. Linear thinkers often focus on cause-and-effect relationships, rely on logical reasoning, and follow a structured and organized approach. They tend to analyze information systematically, break problems down into smaller parts, and approach tasks in a methodical manner.
Non-linear Thinking is characterized by a more holistic and divergent approach to processing information and problem-solving. Non-linear thinkers often make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts. They may engage in creative, out-of-the-box thinking, see patterns or possibilities that others might not notice, and generate multiple solutions to a problem. Non-linear thinkers may think in a more intuitive, associative, or visual manner, allowing them to make leaps in thinking or approach problems from different angles.
Both have strengths. Linear thinking is often effective for tasks that require logical analysis, step-by-step reasoning, or adherence to a specific process. Non-linear thinking, can be valuable in creative problem-solving, pattern recognition, generating innovative ideas, or seeing the bigger picture.
Autistics are known to exhibit a wide range of thinking styles, and some may excel in non-linear thinking processes. Our ability to make connections, see patterns, or approach problems from unconventional perspectives can be a unique strength.
However, traditional IQ tests often emphasize linear thinking and may not fully capture or assess the strengths of non-linear thinking in the autistic population.
Doing things no one can imagine
Like moi? Deja Vu!!
Who could have imagined I could get to do what I'm doing now. I've finished 1 year of Grad School.
I'm still in awe and wonderstruck.
“Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of, who do the things no one can imagine.” (Alan Turing)
Asset-Framing
Is this applicable to Autism. YES!!
According to Shorters, Asset-Framing involves three key elements:
- Shifting the focus from problems to solutions: Instead of focusing on what's wrong or broken, Asset-Framing encourages individuals/communities to focus on their strengths and assets and how they can use them to address their challenges.
- Highlighting the value of lived experiences: Asset-Framing recognizes that individuals and communities have unique lived experiences that shape their perspectives and abilities. By valuing and leveraging these experiences, people can better understand their strengths and use them to achieve their goals.
- Emphasizing the power of community: Asset-Framing acknowledges that individuals are interconnected and that their strengths are often amplified when they work together in supportive communities.
Joy is the hope that comes with the belief that anything is possible
Contemplation, one line a day. #MentalHealth
Hope for 2023
Hope for an awesome 2023
I wonder what 2023 will bring?
In the Possibility of Me.
Dare I hope from others
....Surrounded by folks who are patient, encouraging & empathic towards my disability
... Make kind friends outside the classroom
Slow purposeful strides, an elephant I want to be.
... Relish learning and knowledge coupled with endless curiosity
... Use Advocacy & Research to add more pebbles that widen ripples in the pond of change.
... Giant leaps on the journey to emotional equanimity (mood continues to be tough nut)
... Learn to better manage & cope with the vagaries of my unpredictable disability.
In the Possibility of Me.
Dare I hope from others
....Surrounded by folks who are patient, encouraging & empathic towards my disability
... Make kind friends outside the classroom
Slow purposeful strides, an elephant I want to be.
... Relish learning and knowledge coupled with endless curiosity
... Use Advocacy & Research to add more pebbles that widen ripples in the pond of change.
... Giant leaps on the journey to emotional equanimity (mood continues to be tough nut)
... Learn to better manage & cope with the vagaries of my unpredictable disability.
An Awesome Year
An Awesome Year
A sobering reality: I continue to have a ton of autism challenges and have not made much headway on those year after frustrating year much to my sorrow. They do consume a good part of my day; almost 95% of my life. I do wish that we as a society find solutions to those - both on the non-medical and medical front. However I also want to focus on the positives in this post because those give meaning for me to keep going even as I hope and search for solutions on other fronts. So here's the 5% awesome part even as they are tempered by the other 95%.Awesome 2022
2022 was an awesome year.
An awesome year it was.
Like the tortoise (in Hare & Tortoise), I took slow strides.
Each autistic step - a belief in the Possibility of Me.
#redefine_the_table, #Hari_as_possibility
From Possibility comes Opportunity
Meeting the President and the Vice-President
2022 was the year I got to go to DC. Twice.
First time to meet with VP Kamala Harris at the Naval Observatory.
A second time I went to the White House where I got to shake President Biden's hand.
What an incredible incredible honor.
First time to meet with VP Kamala Harris at the Naval Observatory.
A second time I went to the White House where I got to shake President Biden's hand.
What an incredible incredible honor.
Who could have imagined stuff like this for me.Getting an invite to the White House.Meeting the President of the USJust how awesome is that!!
I graduate from UC Berkeley
I'm a college graduate in year 2022. It feels so good. This was a kid that was not even expected to get a high school diploma. My lot was to be in special education and not aspire for much more. Education was the candy in the candy store with me firmly told to be outside.
This was a degree ++ with dollops of unexpected extra bonuses. I absolutely am relishing it.
How awesome is this?I am just so darn proud of that yearned for degreeYoung man, you must be doing some stuff right.Cuz. along with degree there was even moreAdditional appreciation in the most unexpected forms.
University Medal Finalist, I sit on Commencement stage with Chancellor & a Nobel LaureateDepartmental Citation, I give the Department Commencement SpeechHighest Distinction (other universities call this Summa Cum Laude)Phi Beta Kappa, Psi Chi and 4.0 GPAAwesome icing on a Berkeley degree
Undergraduate Research
As a Haas Scholar I not only got funding and mentoring for a year long research but I got to be part of a sagacious community, amongst aspiring change makers in myriad fields. The research was so varied and interesting and I listened in awe as students presented on topics from illegal trash dumping in Oakland to Prison Reform to circular RNA and the spread of dengue virus.
A special shout out to Leah Carroll who runs and is the glue that holds the Haas Scholars program together. She kept us to timelines and managed resources to help us get our resource done. And there was a lot of resource management logistics involved, like getting those participant gift cards out through Bear Buy.
I presented my research at 2 Academic Colloquia (Jan & April), and a SPSS (Society for Personality and Social Psychology) Poster Presentation in Feb. And I continue to work with Prof Keltner to get 2 papers (on awe and empathy) to publication.
I had a wonderful an encouraging mentor for my research in Prof Dacher Keltner.
A special shout out to Leah Carroll who runs and is the glue that holds the Haas Scholars program together. She kept us to timelines and managed resources to help us get our resource done. And there was a lot of resource management logistics involved, like getting those participant gift cards out through Bear Buy.
I presented my research at 2 Academic Colloquia (Jan & April), and a SPSS (Society for Personality and Social Psychology) Poster Presentation in Feb. And I continue to work with Prof Keltner to get 2 papers (on awe and empathy) to publication.
I had a wonderful an encouraging mentor for my research in Prof Dacher Keltner.
How awesome is it......to research awe in autistics....be mentored by an expert in the science of awe.
Just how awesome is that?
Senior Honors Thesis
This research was also part of my Senior Honors Thesis. Every week I sat with my fellow students in the Honors class lead by Prof Linda Wilbrecht. I learned about what my fellow psychology students researched. I was surrounded by fellow researchers both within and outside the field of psychology.
I submitted my thesis on awe to the department in April - all 66 pages of it.
This was a faculty comment about my thesis
I submitted my thesis on awe to the department in April - all 66 pages of it.
This was a faculty comment about my thesis
- This is truly an excellent honors thesis! The research topic is incredibly important and interesting, and it is unique to probe the autistic experience of awe in comparison with that of neurotypical individuals. The results are very cool, interesting, and complex. Although this is brand new research and more empirical data are needed, the preliminary results, which argue against the emotion deficit view of autistic individuals, are potentially groundbreaking. I hope you will pursue this work further and I hope we will see the work published in a psychology journal in the near future.
How awesome is that?
I think back to when early educators did not want me in their classrooms and every evaluation report and IEPs were a litany of my "lack of accomplishments," or "lack of progress." In fact during my first special ed kindergarten placement, the teacher sent home a note which essentially said that she was concerned at my lack of progress in the first 6 weeks in her classroom. This was to be a repeated story in the all the multiple special ed classrooms I was shuffled around in.
Think, just how awesome it is for me now, to get comments from educators that rate me as excellent. I'm so so relishing it.
Autism Decal
Spring semester was my 7th and final semester of Autism Decal. Creation of this impactful class at Berkeley is one of my proudest accomplishments during my undergrad. Just how awesome is it to hear that material from this class was influencing a grad student in Europe in her research. A class that grew from 17 to 50. It even was honored with mention on a US President (President Obama's) Instagram. Just too Awesome.
The Daily Californian
I wrote my last column for the Daily Cal and waxed nostalgic (understandably).
What a wonderful experience Berkeley has been for me. It was my Golden Bear Song.
PD Soros Fellowship.
I got the call on Jan 7 from Daisy Soros - I'm a PD Soros Fellow. This is a very prestigious fellowship and the chances of getting in were slim. So to get through was rather surreal.
The news was only to be released in April when 30 scholars graced a full page of the New York Times.
The fellows met at a 4 day conference extravaganza in New York in October.
Daisy Soros sure is a powerhouse at 94 - I am in awe!!
We fellows chatted, met with famous alum, toured New York and more - the Met, a Broadway musical, a Jazz club and a formal cocktail hosted by Daisy Soros. The conference sure was a lifetime experience and what an amazing cohort to be in.
The news was only to be released in April when 30 scholars graced a full page of the New York Times.
The fellows met at a 4 day conference extravaganza in New York in October.
Daisy Soros sure is a powerhouse at 94 - I am in awe!!
We fellows chatted, met with famous alum, toured New York and more - the Met, a Broadway musical, a Jazz club and a formal cocktail hosted by Daisy Soros. The conference sure was a lifetime experience and what an amazing cohort to be in.
Getting into Grad School
I'd applied to grad school last fall.Results in early spring.Decision deadline Apr 15.Headed to Vanderbilt for a PhD in Neuroscience in Fall.
Can you believe this guy from grade 8 special ed now actually headed to grad school?
Media Coverage
There was a ton of media coverage around the PD Soros fellowship, my Berkeley graduation and Vanderbilt grad school admission.
I got multiple mentions in various UC Berkeley sites. Daily Cal covered me (a turnaround as I usually write the articles). I even made it to an article in Forbes. There was coverage in many Indian American newspapers and at Vanderbilt too.
All the coverage felt a little overwhelming yet I am totally grateful for all this acknowledgment of my accomplishments. (It helps counter the years and years of trauma build up with the reports of, will never amount to anything, claims)
I got multiple mentions in various UC Berkeley sites. Daily Cal covered me (a turnaround as I usually write the articles). I even made it to an article in Forbes. There was coverage in many Indian American newspapers and at Vanderbilt too.
All the coverage felt a little overwhelming yet I am totally grateful for all this acknowledgment of my accomplishments. (It helps counter the years and years of trauma build up with the reports of, will never amount to anything, claims)
From California to Tennessee.
Grad School has meant a move across the country from Berkeley CA to Nashville TN.
It is a new place to adjust too! Transition and autism are not the best of bedfellows.
It is a new place to adjust too! Transition and autism are not the best of bedfellows.
I miss the extracurriculars and friends back home. I miss the view of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge from my California bedroom window.
It's pretty hot here in summer, a little too hot. But it's also green and lush with lots of rain. The grass is green even in winter due to the rain. Rain-starved California sure could use some of this rain (just not this week as I hear there are Bay Area mudslides due to heavy rains!!).
It's pretty hot here in summer, a little too hot. But it's also green and lush with lots of rain. The grass is green even in winter due to the rain. Rain-starved California sure could use some of this rain (just not this week as I hear there are Bay Area mudslides due to heavy rains!!).
I'm not missing the annual wildfire smoke of California. One year the sky turned orange from the smoke and the entire town of Paradise was burnt down. And looks like I narrowly missed some recent big earthquakes in the Bay Area.
But there are other natural disasters to content with here - like my first tornado spent anxiously in the basement. What if you are traveling on an open road?
Winter is wet and cold with some snow. I'm not so sure I like this level of cold. I experienced my first snow and was housebound for 4-5 days over the winter break till the slick black ice on roads melted away. Being housebound for even a few days was a little scary but of course it's nothing compared to the plight of folks caught in the Buffalo snow blizzard.
Nature is lovely here - a walk in the nearby Percy-Warner park under the shade of the massive trees reminded me of the tall redwoods in Yosemite. The best part is the daily wildlife show. People travel to see such shows. Turkey and deer grace my backyard, with the occasional fox. I watched baby deer frolic around and grow into adults. Myriad birds perch and practice birdsong on the woody vines that hangs from the tall trees. Wildlife with a backdrop of tall lush trees in summer, changing leaf colors in fall and the snow clad barren trees of winter are awesome sights to see.
Nashville is Music City and I hope to get to experience some of that music soon.....
Grad School @Vanderbilt from Fall
- Grad School orientation
- A Lab Coat Ceremony with my own Personalized Lab Coat
- A Neuroscience Retreat
- Lab Rotation at SENSE (Social Emotional Neuroscience Endocrinology) Lab
- Participate in the SENSE Theatre workshop.
- An own office space at the research lab with my name on the door.
- NISE Fellow at the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation at Vanderbilt.
- Did well on the academic front (Synesthesia, Multisensory Integration)
Survived first semester.....
A huge change, transitions that quite make the head spin.
Still adjusting, lots of figuring out left to do... a work in progress the next few years.
Fingers crossed that my unpredictable autism challenges let me travel this journey well.
And make useful contributions along the way.
But really, just how awesome has this year been?
Still adjusting, lots of figuring out left to do... a work in progress the next few years.
Fingers crossed that my unpredictable autism challenges let me travel this journey well.
And make useful contributions along the way.
But really, just how awesome has this year been?
Vacations
Got to visit Italy; Florence and Venice & Tuscany countryside over Spring Break.
India over the summer for my cousin Ved's Poonal ceremony
Memphis over Thanksgiving break.
And the 2 DC Trips and the NY Trip.
Hope for an (equally) awesome 2023
I wonder what 2023 will bring?
In the Possibility of Me?
Dare I hope from others
....Surrounded by folks who are patient, encouraging & empathic of my disability
... Make kind friends outside the classroom
Slow purposeful strides, an elephant I want to be.
... Relish learning and knowledge coupled with endless curiosity
... Use Advocacy & Research to add more pebbles that widen ripples in the pond of change.
... Giant leaps on the journey to emotional equanimity (mood continues to be tough nut)
... Learn to better manage & cope with the vagaries of my unpredictable disability which can feel like a leaky boat.
In the Possibility of Me?
Dare I hope from others
....Surrounded by folks who are patient, encouraging & empathic of my disability
... Make kind friends outside the classroom
Slow purposeful strides, an elephant I want to be.
... Relish learning and knowledge coupled with endless curiosity
... Use Advocacy & Research to add more pebbles that widen ripples in the pond of change.
... Giant leaps on the journey to emotional equanimity (mood continues to be tough nut)
... Learn to better manage & cope with the vagaries of my unpredictable disability which can feel like a leaky boat.
Wishing everyone an
AWESOME 2023 full of POSSIBILITY
Dare to Grow
The sign all over campus so applicable to disabled life
"Dare to Grow"
Its the Vanderbilt Motto
I just love it.
"Life is a Challenge. Meet It!!" - Sri Satya Sai Baba.
Yes I dare to grow,
and grow and grow
and then grow some more
even in the midst of barriers laid by societal naysayers.
even in the midst of the challenges of a far-from-easy disability
Yes I dare to grow,
and grow and grow
and then grow some more
Will you dare to grow?
and then grow some more?
I dare to grow
My mind urges so.
Seek paths of solutions, possibilities and opportunities
Key ingredient - empathy
Limits higher than the sky
For me and so many more
I dare to grow
It is just, it's a right!
We all can grow
Onward!
Degree
Guess what came in the mail. My official degree certificate.
Highest Honors and Highest Distinction
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Guess what came in the mail.
My degree
more than a piece of paper, a signature, a golden seal
opportunity of education and knowledge
open avenues to contribute.
paper of accomplishment .... an acknowledgement of me
soul satisfying
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They Can and They Will
On my facebook feed
Well said Paul - "... have a child or young adult with autism -ANYTHING is possible! Don’t let any teacher , family member “ friend” or anyone say your child can “ never” do x y or z . They can , and they will."
You Never Gave Up on Me
Dedicated to the EXTRAORDINARY MOMS and DADS and PARENTS out there,
on behalf of your extraordinary child.
You held me in your arms, oh mother mine
When I was a mere wrinkled newborn babe
You gazed at me with love and joy
Just as all young mothers do.
I walked my first step and said my first word
With pride, you watched my every move
You expected me to walk the predictable path
Just as all young mothers do.
You watched me slip and slide away
Wondering why I didn't do what other kids do
I stopped making eye contact with you
And stopped the spoken words too
A well of sadness entered your eyes
The smile not always in place
Perplexed and puzzled
Do I know this child of mine at all?
But, you rolled up your sleeves
You never gave up on me
You took the other fork on the road
The one without the map
You struggled and searched for solutions
You fought endless battles for me
You put your fists up and took a stance
And you never gave up on me
Lost in the desert of sadness
You changed your perception of things
You summoned new strength and courage
From the unfathomable deep
You changed your whole life for me
And, you never gave up on me
You coaxed every small victory out of me
Pride overflowed from your eyes
Steps of this extraordinary child
Of quite the extraordinary mom
You do the job of a dozen people
And you never gave up on me
Exhausting is the journey you're on
Exhilarating only some of the time
I am not the typical child you thought you'd raise
New challenges lie in the path every day
To the extraordinary mom who holds my hand
And who never gave up on me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wrote this poem sometime during high school. But I feel it is still so relevant even today. This poem is dedicated to all those wonderful and amazing moms and dads and parents out there who did not give up on their disabled child. Thank you for your dedication and fortitude, in rolling up your sleeves and taking on the world for us, without even knowing how to go about it.
I think back to the story of the frog who climbed to the top of the well amidst discouragement from the crowd that the task was impossible; turns out the frog was deaf so had not heard the discouragement, so made it all the way to the top.
This is what parents of the children seen as having more challenging disabilities face every day. From the get go, they are nudged to tone down expectations of their children, not to expect much. Lady Liberty did not hold up her torch of the American Dream for that child.
Over the years, I have seen many of my peers disappear one by one into the void of the system (out of sight and out of mind of society), as the once eager and enthusiastic parents reach a state of burnout and exhaustion, with this constant barragement of discouragement and lack of support. Other adult peers who have aged out of the special education system are sitting at home with their aging parents as adult day programs want “easy to manage” adults (sheep!!), even as there is a dearth of support systems for the ones with “behaviors.” It is like a battle for the classroom placements and supports during the school district years, starting all over again in adulthood for many.
Thank you to all the extra-ordinary parents out there, for your support and embrace, when the world seems to abandon us at every new stage, not just when we were children but as adults and possibly even when we are middle aged. For many with more significant disabilities, our parents and siblings are likely the only family we will ever have. I wonder who will be there as this lifelong pillar, when we are senior citizens ourselves, where we are not just battling aging issues but also the nature of our disability may mean that not all of us reach a level where we are able to take care of ourselves and have to depend on the largesse of paid staff for a decent quality of life.
Parents, Yours is truly a dedication of a lifetime. Thank you.
Believe in the Impossible.
I really liked this quote from Alice in Wonderland
"I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast"
Much of what I get to do now was thought IMPOSSIBLE.
So we have to BELIEVE in the IMPOSSIBLE
Disability is Possibility
Disability is Possibility.
Sweep wide open.
The door of Opportunity.
Recognition, Visibility.
Disability is Possibility.
Disability is Possibility.
Sweep wide open.
The door of Opportunity.
Recognition, Visibility.
Disability is Possibility.
Disability is Possibility.
I am here and I....
Article written in Jan for the Jeena Yahaan 2018 Brochure.
-----
I am here and I...
I am here and I …am humbled.
What an amazing opportunity it is for me to go to UC Berkeley. Who would have imagined this significantly challenged autistic guy even going to college, let alone the #4 University in the world, a decade back.
I am here and I...am in awe.
I am surrounded by brilliant minds and learning from the best teachers in the world. UC Berkeley is steeped in history, tradition and world-changing accomplishments. Home of 16 elements of the periodic table (including Plutonium and Berkelium), 90 Nobel Laureates, even the site of a Nobel Prize Ceremony at Wheeler Hall.
I am here and I...am inspired.
To protest, question and demand change is an unquestioned prerogative of Berkeley Students.
This is where the Civil Rights Movement and where Free Speech Movement began. Berkeley is also the birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement. Ed Roberts started at UC Berkeley in 1962 even though they had no accommodations for the quite severely-affected-by-polio Roberts at that time. His efforts paved the way for others with physical disabilities and later individuals with developmental disabilities. He started the very first Disabled Students Program in the US right here.
I am here and I.. feel supported.
No one questions my intelligence or my capability to learn in a classroom with 1000 other students. A very significant shift from my special-education days. At Berkeley, I am met with courtesy and respect from Professors and students. Rather than a traditional narrow focus based on the confusing autism diagnosis, accommodations are made to work around my functional limitations and help me be successful. I am having fun too.
I am here and I.. am galvanized.
I took up Psychology as that is the study of the human mind and behavior. I plan to minor in Disability Studies. I want to use the knowledge I gain and channelize it into advocacy and research such that it will contribute towards improving the quality of life for individuals like me. Going to Berkeley will earn me a seat at the table. I can bring about shifts in attitude and change. I can be part of the decision making about us disabled individuals instead of others deciding our fate.
I am here and I... am the tiny minnow.
I would be lying if I said Berkeley was not stressful. Academic expectations are high and the work pace is frantic. The campus is a vast ocean to navigate and I feel like a tiny minnow being swept along. I have felt out of my depth many a time. I would like to do a lot more but I can often feel just overwhelmed.
I am here and I..thank the cosmic hand.
I really wanted Berkeley. Undoubtedly the cosmic hand is at play in my journey though many of the solutions are still shrouded in fog. I can only hope that the fog thins out so the road ahead is clearer. At the end of the day, we all wish to be productive and contributing members of society.
A Walk on the Braille Side
A Walk on the Braille Side
The ability to be "Change-Makers" is in all of us. Most take the access-ramp to volunteering for granted, available to them if they choose to volunteer. Being differently-abled puts a whole new light on this access. Most volunteering opportunities require social interaction skills and the ability to handle oneself without too much assistance. There are many nuances to this - you may have to travel somewhere, meet people, explain, physically assist and have decent fine motor skills. It is no wonder that people with disabilities are, more often than not, excluded from the arena of volunteering.
All of us want to feel productive.
All of us want to contribute.
All of us have bright minds that think.
I’m a high school junior and have had a diagnosis of Autism since age 3. In fact, I only learned to communicate via typing at around age 13. I have many of the issues that keep me from volunteering in the classical sense – social anxiety, motor issues, and limited speech. Making sandwiches for the homeless was as challenging a coordination task, as was the social aspect of volunteering with the children at the shelter. My sensory system would be overwhelmed and disorganized at, “clean the park” type of volunteering. I was not being productive and mere physical presence at such events was a far cry from being a satisfactory volunteering experience.
Last year, I was invited to be a part of the team at AccessBraille (formerly Inclusive Volunteers), a new non-profit (www.inclusivevolunteers.org / accessbraille.org). Its founder, Nikhil Dilip is a high-schooler at Harker School in San Jose, CA. He had a disabled uncle who had not been permitted to volunteer at various organizations because he did not have the skills necessary to participate. Nikhil wanted to create an organization that would provide volunteer opportunities for ALL, irrespective of perceived abilities. It was a radical concept as everyone deserved to help out their community if they wished to do so. Inclusive Volunteers works with other non-profits to identify volunteer opportunities. Nikhil’s hope is that Inclusive Volunteers can eventually recruit people from all over the country and hopefully around the world. “If we can become a truly international organization, we will be able to do further volunteer work and help out the organizations that seek our help. In the near future, I hope that we can create a network of volunteers helping out organizations in need of volunteers and rather than we contacting organizations for work to do, we can build up enough trust in these organizations that they can recruit us”
Many of the opportunities would be virtual, which would suit not only suit the disabled but make it very convenient for the abled too. My generation is no stranger to the possibilities of “virtual!” Nikhil’s mother, Viji Dilip, already works for other non-profit, Benetech and Bookshare (bookshare.org) that is involved in a lot of free educational and technology programs around the world. According to Viji Dilip, “Thanks to the internet it is now possible for many people to volunteer from their home. Crowdsourcing has become an acceptable method for organizations to get their work done. This is a win-win situation both for organizations and for volunteers.”
A list of volunteer opportunities is available on the website. For example the Image-Description Activity (bookshare.org) is looking for high school volunteers. The task entails describing images in textbooks. These will later be audio recorded for the visually challenged / blind readers. In the past, images had always been left out of audio recordings. Essentially while you study Biology/History at school, you can volunteer by describing the images in a Biology/History textbook. Students can in essence turn studying itself into an act of volunteering. Currently there is a critical need for volunteers to describe images in Science and History Textbooks.
The volunteer activity closest to my heart, is putting together the periodical Braille Magazine. The Braille Access Project (brailleaccess.org) delivers mobile blind school kits to remote villages in Africa and Asia. Volunteers in those areas travel by van to remote villages and teach the visually challenged and their families to read Braille. Some areas are so remote, such as the mountainous regions of Nepal, that they are not van-accessible. So volunteers actually deliver the Braille Access Kits on donkeys.
Wouldn’t it be useful if, in addition, they had something interesting to read in Braille? That was the thought behind starting the free Braille Magazine. The Braille magazine, put together by the Inclusive Volunteers team, would accompany the Braille Access kits. Finally, my writing skills could be used to make a difference with my social and physical challenges no longer a hindrance.
We type the words with our fingers.
They will read our words with their fingers.
Reach out…. Our fingers touch theirs.
Imagination flows between the fingertips.
Unlock possibilities!
The magazine was appropriately named, “The Reading Finger.” The short articles were on a wide variety of topics - from poems to personal narratives to humor to travelogues. The authors have ranged from elementary to high school ages. Most significant of all, the articles came from both abled and disabled youth. It was truly “Inclusive!” You can help out by contributing short articles for upcoming issues of the Braille Magazine.
The articles are written in English, compiled and sent to a braille printer for printing in Braille. A page in English could well translate to as many as 3-4 pages in Braille font. Finished magazines in Braille, accompany the Braille Access Kits to their respective destination. Audio versions of the magazine are recorded, again thanks to volunteers, and are distributed. Every step of the process is done through the help of volunteers.
The very first issue of the ‘Reading Finger,’ last year, reached mobile (and non-mobile) schools in Liberia, Ghana, India and even the mountainous areas of Himalayan Nepal. Braille had reached, “The Top of the World,” - literally! The last issue this year carried a sports theme in honor of the Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The team is at work on the next magazine as we speak.
If you haven’t volunteered before, I urge you all to do so. Volunteering comes in all shapes and forms. The opportunity to make a difference can be just a mere keyboard away!
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And this was one my writing pieces that won an award.
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