The skills that would make me a good candidate for your program and a hopefully a good Director of a Disability Services Department, my future career goal, is the fact that I presently have a disorder called Cognitive Executive Disorder. “Executive dysfunction is a term used to describe the range of cognitive behavioral, and emotional difficulties which often occur as a result of another disorder or a traumatic brain injury. Individuals with executive dysfunction struggle with planning, problem-solving, organization, time management and difficulty analyzing or processing information. “ By Larry Silver, MD Medically Reviewed by ADDITUDE’S ADHD Medical Review Panel On January 26, 2020. Along with this personal experience, I have developed leadership skills and excellent academic achievements to succeed in this program, and with my future career goals.
Having this disorder makes me very keen of the difficulties of getting through college with a learning disability. I have used what I learned to compensate and to achieve. I then took what I learned and taught other college students with disabilities (through my graduate internship) how to succeed at the college level. I want to work at the university level to make a difference in how to work with students with learning disabilities. Executive Cognitive Disorder is not a learning disability,but behaves like one. It is my belief that my hard work and determination has given me better insight into the kind of support people with learning disabilities need to succeed.
As a teacher, I have always set the example of what students with learning disabilities can achieve with the right assistance. I have been a lead teacher for several years. In that position I led other teachers in how the Kindergarten curriculum would be implemented. I currently sit on various committees and am co-chair with the principal of the Allergy Committee. In my role as co-chair, I help to lead and make decisions for students with allergies at my school, as well as how to educate the general population on allergies.
While I was working on my Advanced Certificate in District Leadership And Technology, I led the District Committee on reform in the reading program. I spearheaded the design and layout of the school handbook and have overseen the training and education of several student teachers.
I would like to attend Maryville University to earn my Ed.D. degree in Higher Education Leadership because it is my belief that I would acquire the skills necessary for me to obtain a position as a Director of Disability Services at a university. More importantly, I feel that your university will help me in reaching my next stage in education; teaching and positively influencing the leaders of tomorrow, our college students.
I would like to write my dissertation on the effect of having an effective department offering disability services at the college level by researching and identifying best proven practices, and bringing in new methods. This department would provide progressive disability services to boost the achievement of the students that admit to their difficulties, and to touch the students who may not feel comfortable about admitting their learning issues. “According to the latest data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, of undergraduate students self-reporting a disability, 11% reported having a learning disability. Enrollment statistics also listed by the NCES found that 20.4 million students were expected to attend an American college or university in the fall of 2017, meaning more than 200,000 students entering college have some type of learning disability.”
Cited by: https://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/college-planning with learning-disabilities/
With this well-run and effective disability services department at my university, I think we would also be able to reach out to the learning-disabled society as a whole at the college level. It is my belief that if you can find out what makes a learning disability service department successful you can than take that information and apply it at other schools giving more learning disable students the ability to succeed.
