Portfolio i

EDSE 321 Portfolio

Heather Rutherford EDSE 321 Professor Sebald September 21, 2013

Rutherford, Heather 1 Transition Reflection Advocacy Presentation An advocacy presentation allows a person to present a picture of his/her self. The process of creating an advocacy presentation can also help a person to better understand his/her strengths. This can be especially helpful for a person with a disability. A person with a disability can have problems explaining his/her disability to others. With the help of a parent, or teacher, a person with a disability can explore his/her strengths and limits and present that information in a way that works best for the person. The student that I assessed for the transition assessment assignment did not have a disability. I gave the student a self-advocacy/self-determination checklist. The student was able to identify the areas he excelled in, and the areas where he had some limitations. The student was very self-aware and able to articulate exactly what type of goals he could make to help him overcome some of his limitations. I asked the student what he thought about the advocacy presentation and he said he felt that it gave him motivation to work on his limitations. The student felt that the advocacy presentation would be beneficial for a student with a disability because they could use their presentation to help explain their disability to others. My support teacher, Meghan, has used advocacy presentations with her students. Meghan is now at the elementary level after teaching students with severe needs at the middle school level for 10 years. One of Meghans former middle school students came to the elementary school to talk to the 5th graders about her disability. Meghans former student was able to explain her disability to the 5th graders and help them to understand how it felt to be different in middle school. Meghan felt the presentation by her former student not only helped the student to better understand herself, but the presentation also helped the 5th graders to learn to be more accepting of the differences in other individuals.