This Tuesday, I spoke to a group of Social Work students at Carleton University here in Ottawa as part of a panel about family and disability. The panel consisted of me and an older man who had become a quadriplegic after a diving accident at the age of 19. Between him and the professor, I think I learnt as much as the students did!
For my part, I spoke about living with a disability, focusing on family, being independent, and Joubert syndrome. People were very interested to learn about Joubert, and asked several good questions about getting diagnosed later and what my family members and I thought of it.
Overall, everything went well. Though, I forgot to mention the blog when I had the opportunity. Guess I've got to work on self-promotion a bit.
After the class, the professor asked me if I wanted a letter, for proof or a keep-sake. At the time I declined, feeling that it would be too forward to ask for something. Later though, I sent him an email asking for one at his convenience. I had decided it would seem more professional to have something like that.
Speaking of professionalism, this speaking opportunity has convinced me that I need to step-up my game a bit. When I get the letter, I'm going to combine it with the articles I've written, some of my longer blog posts (the ones about bullying, words, the conferences, etc.), and maybe a
résumé for speaking and writing into a portfolio of sorts. I'm also going to start looking for more paid opportunities.
Cheers!
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