Wednesday, March 9, 2011

J.O.E. - A Quick Test for Purpose


I had a chance to speak to a group a vocational rehabilitation counselors a couple of days ago and wanted to share something that Denise R. of Springfield offered to me. She explained that when she works with clients around the issues of values and core purpose, she asks three questions. Here they are:

J - Will this bring me joy? Real, deep down, happiness? A sense of what Denise calls "well-being"?


O - Will this bring me opportunities? Will this course of action increase or decrease my freedom? Will it open doors, or burn bridges?


E - This path I am considering here...will it edify other people? In addition to my own joy, will this expand others' happiness? Will it help and encourage others? If you do this, can you imagine the people closest to you being thankful that you did that?


Thanks to Denise for sharing JOE with me. Thanks also to Alex and the others there in the Springfield office making efforts to increase joy and opportunities for your consumers. We're mighty edified because of your work!




photo: eye spot shoot

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Saved by the Dragon Lady


There are a number of great technologies out there to assist students and adults with attentional and learning challenges. One of these is speech recognition software. I've been struggling with Dragon on my laptop for a year now. Could have read the manual, I guess. I wanted a "plug and play" experience and this software is just not that simple.

Everything was illuminated yesterday after my consultation with Patty Vaillancourt. I think I get it now, and have some good ideas about how to better implement speech recognition software in my practice.

Patty ("The Dragon Lady") is a training consultant from Manchester, NH. After my time with her I determined that the next time I recommend Dragon software for individuals with ADHD, I'll also recommend some 1:1 time with a really good trainer like Patty!