Educating Young Minds

In October, I spoke to Brandon's 3rd Grade Class about people with disabilities. Brandon read an age appropriate "First Look at Disability" book to the class. Afterwards, Brandon's peers asked questions. Not only was I blown away by number of questions I received, but also the level of intelligence of the questions. The question I usually get, "Were you born in the wheelchair", but instead, they asked "Were you born with a disability"? Also, I did not only get questions about the disability, they asked about me. I got "What is your favorite color" and "What is your favorite holiday"? The kids were so enthusiastic about asking questions, the teacher had to stop them off after 30 minutes.

After a number of questions about me, I turned the direction towards Brandon. I wanted to kids to have the opportunity to see disability from his perspective. Brandon's peers asked him questions like, "Does it bother you that your parents have disabilities", "Do you like riding on their wheelchairs", "Who helps you with your homework?" Then to normalize our life for them, I told the students that I am pretty mobile, so when I wake Brandon up in the morning I get out of my wheelchair, crawl to his bed, sing to him, then we roll on the floor with the dog and laugh. With  Brandon and I laughing together during most of our talk, the kids could tell with have a lot of fun together.

When Brandon and I finished, I felt inspired that we opened these bright minds. My inspiration only multiplied when I received an e-mail from Brandon's teacher thanking me for coming to speak, then she told me some of the things the kids were saying after I left, such as:

"That was fun!" , "At first I was nervous to ask questions, but then I felt really comfortable." "At first I had a hard time understanding, but by the end I could understand."  

Then Brandon's teacher finished by telling me "This really left a positive impression on the class, and they so enjoyed you and Brandon."

Well, my goal as a Mom and a Motivational Speaker was accomplished. As a Mom, I wanted to break down any barriers between Brandon and his friends at his new school. As a Motivational Speaker, I wanted to break down ignorance and fears about people with disabilities through education.  I know this was achieved because when I come to Brandon's school now, the kids smile and wave at me.

My motto is: If I can inspire one person a day, I have achieved my goal.

Persistence and Patience

Lately, I have been working with Brandon on the power of persistence through dialogue as well as daily demonstrations. My young 5 1/2 son has been playing chess with Daniel for over a year already. Often times, Brandon loses his patience because Daniel wins the game or makes a move that Brandon didn't see coming.

Then, last week, Brandon won the game! I am always looking for ways to educate Brandon through life's examples. I found this to be the perfect time to teach persistence. I asked Brandon how it felt to win the game. He said, "good!" I told him to keep that feeling because it is the result of patience & persistence. 

Another educational example of persistence & perseverance occurred a couple days later when I decided I wanted to get Brandon ready and take him to school myself. I warned Brandon beforehand that we were going to have to get dressed, brush teeth & hair, eat breakfast, pack lunch & be ready for our ride, Access Services, and be ready by 7:10am. He did not mind because Brandon loves working, with mommy, as a team. 

When I was picking out my clothes, I had a hard getting my shirt off the hanger. I kept pulling at the shirt, but it would not slide off the hanger. Brandon said, "Mommy, do you need help?" Knowing that he would not be able to reach it, I said, "No thank you sweetie, I can do it. Persistence is the key." I had pulled myself up on the bar, in my closet,  into a standing position. Brandon said, "Be careful mommy, please don't fall." I assured him that I was fine. After 3 or 4 attempts of my pulling, the shirt fell off the hanger. At this point, I looked at Brandon and said, "That is the result of persistence."

A few minutes later I noticed that Brandon's pants was too loose, so I told him to go to his closet to get his belt. History was repeating itself, Brandon was struggling, he was trying to get his belt off the nail in his closet. I asked him if I could help him. He said, "No mom, persistence!" I smiled, that's my boy. He struggled for a minute and each time he pulled on the belt, he counted 1...2...3, "Got it mommy!" He ran over to me, showed me the belt and I gave him a big hug. As if this wasn't enough of a lesson for one day, then we learned teamwork. 

At this point, it was time to move into the kitchen to make breakfast & lunch. I get the food out of the refrigerator, Brandon puts the food on the plates & pops the food in the microwave to keep the food from flying off plates and landing on the floor. It's a good system! 

When we were putting his lunch together I realized the salami was in a new/unopened package. For any other mother, just open the package & put the salami in her child's lunch. As you have probably figured out, I am not any other mother. I told Brandon "if mommy cannot get the package open, you will have to eat a bagel and cream cheese. Ok bud?" He was disappointed, but he understood. So, Brandon went to brush his teeth and his hair, when he got back he saw that I got the salami open.

Most kids wouldn't even notice, but as Brandon came back in the kitchen, he immediately said, "Mom, how did you get the salami open?" I looked at him, smiled and said, "Persistence!" With persistence and beautiful teamwork, together Brandon & I got everything done just as our transportation arrived. After getting the car seat, the bag that hangs on the back of my wheelchair to carry the car seat and we got  in the Paratransit van, I looked at Brandon, gave him a high five and said, "We did it Buddy!" With persistence & patience, anything is achievable! 

There is no feeling in the world like a Mother with a Disability being able to take care of her child

There is no feeling in the world like a mother being able to take care of her child, whether it be feeding them, clothing them, giving them a healing hand when they are sick or just being there to listen when they need to talk, however, the feeling is even more intense when the mother has a physical disability and these otherwise simple tasks may not be so simple. There is no greater gift than being a mother.

Often times the mother needs more assistance than the child, however, when the mother and child can work together to meet the needs of the child, magic happens! That magic happened tonight. My name is Dina Garcia, I have Cerebral Palsy, I am married to Daniel and we have a 5-year-old son, Brandon.

Brandon is sick with a fever right now. For any mother, that would be worrisome enough, however, since I do not have very good coordination, I am not able to take Brandon’s temperature or give him his medication.

The key to independence is good assistance! As a mom, I do not want things done for me, I want the tools to be the most hands on mother and be interactive with Brandon.

I have an assistant who gave me the key to unlock the door to more independence when she taught Brandon how to take his own temperature. So now, he takes his temperature and reads it. The other barrier for me was how do I give my son his medication. Well, by me thinking out of the box and Brandon’s willingness to help mommy, he poured his medication and I told him when to stop. We are an awesome team!

Dina Garcia’s Autobiography

 Dina Garcia began her speaking career at the age of three.  

It was at that age that Dina was chosen as the poster child for United Cerebral Palsy. Most children only serve in that capacity for a year or two, but Dina was so effective at tugging heart strings and personifying the UCP message that she remained for ten years.  Over that decade, she appeared on the annual UCP telethon, met many stars and donors at cocktail parties and photo shoots, as well as appearing on a CBS movie-of-the-week, “Marion Rose White” with Nancy Cartwright, now the voice of Bart Simpson, and Katherine Ross. She also played a role in the prime time soap opera, “Knots Landing” with Lisa Hartman. 

 As Dina got older, her role quickly changed from actress to advocate when she encountered discrimination in junior and senior high school due to her disability. She had to fight for the right to do her homework with a typewriter rather than having to write it out.  She even had to fight for the right to go to her neighborhood high school, against the wishes of some members of the faculty. She wound up graduating with honors.         

Dina’s advocacy skills continued at Cal State University Northridge where she was president of the Students with Disabilities Connection. She transformed the basically inactive organization into a vibrant and progressive social group. Upon graduation in 2000, there were 40 active members.

In keeping with her love for advocacy, Dina got a full-time job at theWestsideCenterfor Independent Living as a System Change Advocate. She taught self-advocacy skills to people with disabilities, educated local, state and federal legislators on the needs of their constituents with disabilities, generated communication between Los Angeles County Paratransit system and the riders and helped stop proposed cuts to the transit system that would have limited the rights of the riders.

She also served for two years on the Los Angeles City Commission on Disabilities under Mayor James Hahn. As commissioner, Dina worked to install an audio signal on a busy street, to ensure the safety of pedestrians who are visually impaired.

Dina has made several trips to Sacramento to participate in rallies, speak with legislators and give testimony at hearings to fight against cuts to services that help people with disabilities live the independent lifestyles they are entitled to.

Dina's most recently endeavor was auditioning and being casted in a new HBO Drama Series, LUCK, starring Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. The show will premiere in January 2012 and Dina will be in four episodes.

In addition to all this, Dina is married to her husband, Daniel, owns a house, and is a mom to son, Brandon.

In her spare time, Dina enjoys snow skiing, water skiing, jet skiing, parasailing, wheelchair dancing, traveling, and, of course, spending time with her family and friends.

Dina is pursuing a career in motivational speaking because she wants to share her knowledge and experience with others.