Anthony, a visually impaired student, talks to us about building confidence for professional introductions
“We help people with disabilities who are looking for a job, working towards a promotion or preparing for their professional career. Our modules are designed to improve your self-confidence, employability, life-skills and language fluency through self-learning.” ARISE Impact. ARISE Impact’s content development team often collaborates with individuals dealing with disabilities to identify challenges that they face when it comes to their education and careers.
Our Associate director of field operations and product services, Srikanth Raviprasad, conducted an interview at the Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision in Savannah, USA to gather valuable information to help ARISE Impact expand its horizons in the betterment of the professional development modules. The aim was to allow individuals with disabilities to share their experiences in introducing themselves in a professional setting.
A productive conversation took place with Anthony Taylor, a visually impaired individual that Srikanth met at the Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision. Anthony is a senior year student pursuing an English major at the Armstrong University, with a great desire to work in the PR/HR sectors with the US Veteran Affairs. When he lost his sight in the year 2009, he was left demotivated and uncertain. His dreams of joining the military began to appear distant. However, a couple of years later, he managed to fight back his disability by becoming a member of the Savannah Center of Blind and Low Vision, with the determination to lead a more fulfilling life. Anthony recalls some sage advice that he got from a fellow member at the Savannah center for the blind: “I am 60 now and I have learnt to manage my life being blind. You have your whole life in front of you. Be confident and learn to lead life like everything is ok”.
When it came to introducing himself to people in a conversation, Anthony had very little confidence. The additional factor to his lack of confidence cropped up when people frequently asked him about his level of blindness, causing Anthony to not be able to advocate for himself. He recalls how his disability affected his academic life, which in turn made it more difficult for him to adapt to situations. According to Anthony, the challenges in the job search was mainly caused by the fact that when disability is mentioned in a resume or a phone interview, people start to perceive it negatively and form unfair judgement. So instead, he preferred going to the interviews directly to make them see his skills and strengths first hand, rather than be focused on his disability.
Anthony’s remarkable strengths reside in computer skills and his confidence, making him a reliable individual for any organization. Much like all of us, Anthony’s only weakness was in how to open up to people around him as he was a quiet person by nature. However, over the years, he has gained a lot of confidence in approaching people around him by involving himself in fraternities at school and socializing with people. Provided that, Anthony’s approach to building his resume for his desired job was simple and direct. Anthony points out that people and organizations should utilize the term “people with disabilities” at work, home and school. This is a term widely accepted and has since been adopted by ARISE Impact in all its activities. In fact: according to Anthony, it made him feel uncomfortable when he was addressed as a ‘disabled student’.
Anthony Taylor, has a promising future as he continues to follow his dreams and is fully driven to achieve his goals. His experience with his disability has made him stronger in all areas of life and boosted his confidence when he surrounded himself with the right people. Thus, people at the center motivated him and indeed made him realize his potential skills and strengths both at a professional and personal level. Hence, one of the main attributes of ARISE Impact is that people with disability are able to find their voices and gain self-confidence, and an optimistic approach towards an inclusive life.
Moreover, through our professional development modules such as Professional Introduction Module, ARISE Impact aims to empower individuals like Anthony with a life-long learning experience. His feedback after testing our Professional Introduction Module has helped us create a usable and user friendly experience for individuals with disabilities. The self-learning component of the modules ensures that individuals with disabilities are able to feel independent and confident throughout their learning journey. In the YouTube video below, we show you an example of how Anthony introduces himself in a professional setting.
For more information, visit our website: http://www.ariseimpact.org/ and contact us at: contact@ariseimpact.org
