WEBVTT 00:01:06.286 --> 00:01:09.206 Success is how you define it. 00:01:09.206 --> 00:01:14.156 It's deciding where you want to go in life and finding a way to get there. 00:01:14.156 --> 00:01:16.436 For some of us, including people with disabilities, 00:01:16.436 --> 00:01:19.606 there may be obstacles to overcome. 00:01:19.606 --> 00:01:25.966 Everyone has challenges, everyone has choices, everyone can find their own path to success. 00:01:25.966 --> 00:01:29.216 And almost everyone has some help along the way. 00:01:29.216 --> 00:01:33.136 Sometimes, technology provides that help, playing a role in personal, 00:01:33.136 --> 00:01:36.236 academic, and professional goals. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:38.736 And sometimes it's people. 00:01:43.736 --> 00:01:47.496 Nate, a high school senior, knows a lot about finding support. 00:01:47.496 --> 00:01:50.326 You've got to constantly ask questions, 00:01:50.326 --> 00:01:53.196 you've got to self advocate, like they say, all the time. 00:01:54.196 --> 00:01:56.006 And that's what he does. 00:01:56.006 --> 00:02:00.436 Nate's learning disability makes some classes difficult, like Spanish. 00:02:00.436 --> 00:02:02.426 So he goes to tutoring after school. 00:02:08.426 --> 00:02:11.486 When Nate was very young, it took a while for anyone 00:02:11.486 --> 00:02:14.999 to realize what a struggle it was for him to learn to read. 00:02:14.999 --> 00:02:17.576 Even his family didn't understand. 00:02:17.576 --> 00:02:21.986 They'd be like, "Oh, well, you're faking, you're playing around, 00:02:21.986 --> 00:02:24.616 you're just not trying hard enough or something." 00:02:24.616 --> 00:02:26.456 But I was trying. 00:02:26.456 --> 00:02:30.596 Besides having a learning disability, Nate changed schools several times 00:02:30.596 --> 00:02:32.956 between kindergarten and second grade. 00:02:32.956 --> 00:02:34.836 So it made it hard for me to get things down. 00:02:34.836 --> 00:02:38.376 And I would be missing this and I would be like, "Oh, so how do I do that?" 00:02:38.376 --> 00:02:41.226 and the teachers would be like, "Oh, you don't know that?" 00:02:41.226 --> 00:02:46.126 And then they would just, you know, just pass me or something like that. 00:02:49.126 --> 00:02:50.546 Nate's mom wanted to help him, 00:02:50.446 --> 00:02:54.866 but conferences at his school were discouraging back then. 00:02:54.866 --> 00:03:00.806 I remember one time them saying that he was mildly retarded. 00:03:00.806 --> 00:03:06.776 And I remember just breaking, I mean breaking down at that meeting and saying, 00:03:06.776 --> 00:03:11.906 "You can't put that on his record because my child is not mentally retarded." 00:03:11.906 --> 00:03:18.166 Fast forward past grade school and, eventually, a correct diagnosis. 00:03:18.166 --> 00:03:23.146 Support from his mother, his teachers, and his church kept him trying to succeed. 00:03:23.146 --> 00:03:26.486 And Nate himself began to take charge of his future. 00:03:26.486 --> 00:03:33.726 Once he decided, "I'm going forward regardless of my learning disability," 00:03:33.726 --> 00:03:37.886 his grades shot up, I mean just tremendously. 00:03:37.886 --> 00:03:42.956 It started in the middle of ninth grade, and it's been like that ever since. 00:03:42.956 --> 00:03:46.986 Nate went beyond going to tutoring and asking his teachers for help. 00:03:46.986 --> 00:03:49.326 He did some research and found a program 00:03:49.326 --> 00:03:52.576 that would encourage his dreams of a college education. 00:03:52.576 --> 00:03:56.486 I had looked on the Internet before that, and then my mom, like I told her I was going 00:03:56.486 --> 00:04:01.956 to just see if they had any programs out there or internships that had to do with people 00:04:01.956 --> 00:04:06.546 with disabilities, with any type of disabilities. 00:04:05.946 --> 00:04:09.536 And so I started looking and I looked up and I found DO-IT. 00:04:18.136 --> 00:04:21.926 DO-IT, at the University of Washington, offers Summer Study sessions 00:04:21.926 --> 00:04:26.456 and year-round support and mentoring for college-bound students with disabilities. 00:04:26.456 --> 00:04:32.096 Nate approached his teachers for references, applied to the program, and was accepted. 00:04:32.096 --> 00:04:34.446 The overall program was really challenging to me, 00:04:34.446 --> 00:04:38.766 like it just, it really opened my mind, like. 00:04:38.766 --> 00:04:42.126 In a DO-IT field trip to observe gorillas at the zoo, 00:04:42.126 --> 00:04:47.326 an instructor shared both scientific knowledge and her own personal story. 00:04:57.326 --> 00:05:01.636 When she spoke, and when she talked about her disabilities and her life struggles, 00:05:01.636 --> 00:05:05.286 that's what really opened me up, because.... you know, believing in yourself 00:05:05.286 --> 00:05:07.596 and just knowing that you can do it. 00:05:14.596 --> 00:05:16.856 Nate looked for support and found it. 00:05:16.856 --> 00:05:20.916 He met inspiring adults and connected with mentors in DO-IT. 00:05:20.916 --> 00:05:25.116 He recognized his own strength, and he learned how far it could take him. 00:05:25.116 --> 00:05:30.736 At the beginning and everything, I never thought that I would be in any type of position 00:05:30.736 --> 00:05:33.806 to even make it through high school at first. 00:05:33.806 --> 00:05:39.216 And so, you know, now that I'm just believing in myself more and you know, 00:05:39.216 --> 00:05:46.126 just having that support behind me, it's just making everything worthwhile to keep going. 00:05:46.126 --> 00:05:48.256 And I may keep struggling, but just keep going. 00:05:48.256 --> 00:05:51.236 And that's the most important thing. 00:05:54.236 --> 00:05:58.566 You've heard it before: the longest journey begins with the first step. 00:05:58.566 --> 00:06:00.636 Jessie is just getting started. 00:06:00.636 --> 00:06:05.246 I go to Ballard High School, I'm a senior, 00:06:05.246 --> 00:06:13.996 I'm graduating 2006.....I have a sister named Morgan who's tall and who goes to UW, 00:06:13.996 --> 00:06:19.616 and I have my mom Linda and my mom Stephanie; and I have my little dogs, 00:06:19.616 --> 00:06:25.916 that one named Ginger, the other one's name is Rosie... and they like to get in trouble. 00:06:25.916 --> 00:06:30.956 Jessie's mom Linda, a carpenter, built independence into their home. 00:06:30.956 --> 00:06:32.586 This is my bedroom. 00:06:32.586 --> 00:06:37.846 This is called the blue room, 'cause I like the color blue. 00:06:37.846 --> 00:06:49.306 And over here is my sink and the toilet, so I have my own bathroom in my room. 00:06:49.306 --> 00:06:56.756 That's Lauren Jackson, the tallest Storm player in Seattle, and I like her because she's tall 00:06:56.756 --> 00:06:59.936 and she's a really good basketball player. 00:07:01.936 --> 00:07:03.886 As Jessie grew up, Linda found 00:07:03.886 --> 00:07:06.966 that she was helping her daughter more than was needed. 00:07:06.966 --> 00:07:10.836 And letting Jessie explore her abilities was much more stressful 00:07:10.836 --> 00:07:12.716 than it had been with her older sister. 00:07:12.716 --> 00:07:21.116 With Jessie it has felt to me that it was cruel to not help with all the daily tasks. 00:07:21.116 --> 00:07:23.146 It's always felt like that. 00:07:23.146 --> 00:07:29.906 And now I'm trying to retrain myself that it's cruel to not let her go through those things. 00:07:29.906 --> 00:07:34.876 Because she's able to do them. 00:07:34.876 --> 00:07:38.526 It takes a longer time, but she can do them just fine. 00:07:38.526 --> 00:07:40.315 and she doesn't mind doing them actually. 00:07:45.926 --> 00:07:50.146 Jessie took a big step toward independence last summer, when she left home 00:07:50.146 --> 00:07:54.536 for two weeks to attend the DO-IT Summer Study program at the University of Washington. 00:07:54.536 --> 00:08:02.686 It was a new experience, because I've never been away from home that much... 00:08:02.686 --> 00:08:04.606 it's working out fine, though. 00:08:07.306 --> 00:08:11.546 It was quite a challenging experience for Jessie's parents. 00:08:11.546 --> 00:08:12.496 It was terrible. 00:08:12.496 --> 00:08:16.396 I felt like, when I walked out of the room, I felt like I was going to throw up. 00:08:17.296 --> 00:08:19.756 You know, it's so great for her, of course, 00:08:22.056 --> 00:08:24.506 but I just felt that it would be really hard for her. 00:08:24.506 --> 00:08:27.016 Jessie, on the other hand, fit right in. 00:08:27.016 --> 00:08:33.806 It's kind of fun for me to be around kids and grown-ups with different disabilities 00:08:33.806 --> 00:08:38.026 and wheelchairs, because I'm the only one in my family. 00:08:43.026 --> 00:08:46.506 Summer Study was two weeks of classes, discussions, 00:08:46.506 --> 00:08:49.586 entertainment, and learning how to take charge. 00:09:01.386 --> 00:09:06.956 I really think that DO-IT lit a little charge in her, and it's burning. 00:09:06.956 --> 00:09:12.766 And she came home from DO-IT really excited... and just started doing things for herself 00:09:12.766 --> 00:09:17.606 Like she would rush up and hit the paddles for wheelchair doors before I could get there, 00:09:17.606 --> 00:09:23.786 and started saying, "Oh, no, I want to put my own socks on today," 00:09:23.786 --> 00:09:29.436 and just a lot of things that were different. 00:09:36.436 --> 00:09:40.016 The biggest change was that Jessie took charge of her high school curriculum. 00:09:40.016 --> 00:09:42.086 She was determined to leave her 00:09:42.086 --> 00:09:46.416 "special education" program, which wasn't challenging enough. 00:09:46.416 --> 00:09:52.506 I was trying to get out of it so I could do more academic classes, 00:09:52.506 --> 00:10:02.726 so I could have homework...and just be out more in the hallways instead of trapped in one room. 00:10:06.776 --> 00:10:07.936 Jessie's Favorite classes include Spanish and math. 00:10:15.936 --> 00:10:20.696 Sometimes during the school day, when it's necessary, Jessie works with an assistant. 00:10:20.696 --> 00:10:26.606 She helps me get my books out; she helps me in the bathroom.....and she helps 00:10:26.606 --> 00:10:31.326 with getting me to the bus, helping me with my jacket, 00:10:31.326 --> 00:10:38.256 and pretty much just helping me get stuff that's too high for me or I can't do on my own. 00:10:38.256 --> 00:10:39.166 She's a good girl. 00:10:39.166 --> 00:10:44.176 She's got a lot of energy and she's just real happy in life. 00:10:44.176 --> 00:10:47.176 I'm not worried about her leaving school, cause when she leaves here, 00:10:47.176 --> 00:10:49.606 she's going to make friends, she's going to go on in life. 00:10:49.606 --> 00:10:51.196 She's going to do fine. 00:10:51.316 --> 00:10:55.616 Between her assistant and her friends, Jessie does quite well at school. 00:10:55.616 --> 00:10:59.506 But she's very aware of the physical barriers that prevent her and others 00:10:59.506 --> 00:11:01.606 from being completely on their own. 00:11:01.606 --> 00:11:05.876 For example, there are no automatic door openers to get into the building. 00:11:05.876 --> 00:11:10.176 I want to be able to talk to the head of the school 00:11:10.176 --> 00:11:14.806 and see if they can change the school just a little bit, so people with wheelchairs 00:11:14.806 --> 00:11:24.866 and disabilities could go there and be able to do stuff and get around on their own, 00:11:24.866 --> 00:11:28.736 instead of having other people do it for them. 00:11:28.736 --> 00:11:32.436 Jessie's social awareness is growing in other ways, too. 00:11:32.436 --> 00:11:34.946 Her senior project reflects that. 00:11:34.946 --> 00:11:40.636 My topic is going to be on little people, cause that's what my background is-well, 00:11:40.636 --> 00:11:49.576 one of them-and I want to be able to share that with other people instead of ignoring it. 00:11:49.576 --> 00:11:57.226 And other people, like grown-ups who have kids, get to know what little people are 00:11:57.226 --> 00:12:02.586 and if they have one, they know how to deal with one. 00:12:02.586 --> 00:12:04.766 Jessie's plans include community college, 00:12:04.766 --> 00:12:08.536 a house of her own, and at least one dog. 00:12:08.536 --> 00:12:10.906 And she has advice for other students. 00:12:10.906 --> 00:12:12.886 Do the right thing, pretty much. 00:12:12.886 --> 00:12:20.836 Just follow your classes, do what your dream tells you, and then go do it. 00:12:20.836 --> 00:12:25.236 It's hard, but you can manage. 00:12:25.236 --> 00:12:28.506 Nate and Jessie have self-determination in common. 00:12:28.506 --> 00:12:33.426 They're learning to make their own choices and find their own paths to success. 00:12:33.426 --> 00:12:36.156 They're preparing to be independent adults. 00:12:36.156 --> 00:12:40.676 In your search for success, these suggestions may help you, too.