Ms. Duggan Digs Disability

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Showing posts from April, 2021

It's the End of the Semester! Did you...??

We have come to the end of another semester and overall very different year compared to others but we made it! Now that summer is right around the corner, I thought I would share a few quick tips with you to tie up any loose ends. It’s the end of the semester did you…?? Figure 1 : This is a thumbnail from my YouTube video on "It's the End of the Semester. Did you?” I am holding my face with a stressed look. 1. Did you check your grade portal? Be sure to check over your assignments to ensure that the correct grade was posted. You should be doing this throughout the semester. 2. Did you register for summer or fall courses? Be sure to not miss your timeslot so that you can have first pick on the classes that you need. 3. Did you ask for any extra credit opportunities? If your grade is right on the cusp of the next letter grade be sure to ask this question so you can maximize your GPA. 4. Did you study? With so many projects and papers due don’t f

Adult Daily Living Skills: At Home Mani (Grooming)

Grooming is one of my favorite Adult Daily Living Skills to work on. Grooming or taking care of your personal hygiene often includes showering/bathing, oral hygiene, nail care, and hair care. I have always enjoyed maintaining my nails and hair. I also enjoy hanging out in the beauty section in Target and looking (and smelling) all of the soaps, fragrances, and hair care products. Figure 1 : This is a dog with its head wrapped in a towel and cucumbers on his eyes. Prior to my debt free journey, I looked forward to getting my monthly manicure and pedicure. But, now I’ve decided to do these things on my own. Since my polishing skills are not the best this led me into stumbling upon Dashing Diva Nail Strips one night as I was researching how I could improve my at home manicures. Dashing Diva Nail Strips are gel like strips that stick to your nails and last up to 14 days. These nail strips are perfect for someone who has a disability and cannot make it to the nail salon due to COVID or so

Tips for First Year Doctoral Students

Figure 1 : This is a picture of a black doctoral cap Well my first year as a doctoral student has come to an end. I turned in my last assignment of the semester earlier this week and man did it feel good! I still plan to take summer courses but I have about a month break until then. This first year has taught me so much about my major of higher education and myself. This past semester I took on History of Higher Education and Introduction to Quantitative Statistics. While the history course wasn’t so bad the stats course was a whole other ball game! Especially for someone who has always struggled with numbers. This course took a lot of getting used to and reminded me of somethings that all first year doctoral students should know. Figure 2: This is a picture of pink balloon letters that spell the word "friends". First things first make friends with the people in your program. This may be hard due to COVID and if you are in an online program like myself but don’t le

Adult Daily Living Skills: Ms. Duggan Practices Self-Care with Virtual Painting

(This a photo of a painting of a sunset with a large tree used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video on Ms. Duggan Practices Self-Care .) With so much happening in our world, self-care is a major deal for me right now. Sometimes I think we forget that self-care is an Adult Daily Living Skill. If you take care of everything else and not yourself then what do you have? Absolutely nothing! With social media sometimes, we think that self-care equals an expensive shopping trip or a spa day. (This is a photo of a lady saying "Treat yo' self!") However, self-care is essentially, what you make it. While a fancy shopping trip or spa day may be it for you something as simple as a day at the park or exercising can meet someone else’s requirements. I myself took a virtual painting class about two weeks ago with a group of students that I tutor on a Saturday afternoon. Honestly, after getting up early that morning to run some run errands so I could be ready for the class I was not l

What's Biden Doing for Student Loan Forgiveness? (You May Already Qualify!)

(This a photo of me smiling at my desk used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video on What's Biden Doing with Student Loan Forgiveness?) A hot topic right now in politics is the Biden Administration and student loan forgiveness. I myself have been keeping up with all headlines regarding this matter because like most of you all I have a student loan balance. While the balance is small compared to most folks, it’s still a balance and where I’m at currently in my debt free journey. In case you were unaware, about two weeks ago a report came out that President Biden asked Michael Cardona, the Secretary of Education to write a memo regarding the legalities of him being able to forgive student loan debt through an executive order and how much can be forgiven. Biden’s main buzz around his campaign to become president was that he would forgive $10,000 in student loan debt. However, now democrats are pressuring him to forgive at least $50K but Biden seems to be unsure about this citing tha

Adult Daily Living Skills: At Home Pedicure (Grooming)

(This a photo of my feet in a pedicure bowl with bubbles used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video on At Home Pedicure (Grooming). Now that I am on a debt free journey, there are several things that I have cut out one of them being my prized monthly pedicure and manicures. There was a time when I did not miss a beat with heading to my personal nail tech. Rain, sleet, or snow I was there! But then COVID happened and we couldn’t go anywhere. Since then I have started to do my own at home and it hasn’t been as a bad as I’d thought. To enhance my at home experience I bought a foot spa from Walmart for $19, pedicure tools, and some fancy scrubs. Overall, I spent about $34 at which I budgeted for of course! Before I decided to upgrade my tools, I had been using a plain old bucket to soak my feet in. Don’t judge me! This past weekend I decided to record a video using my new products and I think I got a little carried away with the pedicure soak that I bought judging by the growing bubbles

April is Autism Awareness Month!

(This a photo of me smiling at my desk in a blue top used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video on April is Autism Awareness Month.) April is Autism Awareness Month and one of my favorite months to celebrate as someone who works with the disability community. I remember as a teacher one year I planned a school wide Autism Awareness dance with a DJ and food! My students had such a great time. Another student who was in general education came up to me and asked if I planned the party. I told him yes and his response was “Wow! You did a GREAT job!” and he gave me a hug! I felt so good! That’s what inclusion is all about including students with and without disabilities in common activities. By now, you probably know that Autism is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by things like repetitive and restrictive behaviors or fixated interests. The spectrum is wide so each behavior may look different and no one person is the same. As someone who has worked with this population

Adult Daily Living Skills: Changing your Cabin Air Filter

(This a photo of me holding my dirty cabin air filter with a gross look on my face used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video on Changing Your Cabin Air Filter (Honda). One of my least favorite things about going to the dealership is the long list of things they give you by the end. I remember once I left with a list over $1K ! Well I’ve found some workarounds to these long lists by not having it done or doing it myself. My favorite item they love to push is the cabin air filter . They’ll usually take it out and show you and say something like “Look at all the harmful stuff your breathing in” Rolls eyes. Well one day I decided to ask my grandad whose a mechanic if I could change this myself and he agreed that I could. So next I hopped on YouTube for a visual and I was amazed ! It was SO easy ! A 5 minute task cost less than $10 and $85 at the dealership ! First things first open your glove compartment by pulling it all the way down. There should be two buttons on the side to push down

High School vs College What’s the Difference?

(This a photo of me with my hand propped up on my chin while smiling at my desk used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video on High School vs College What's the Difference?) The differences between high school and college are vast and t hey don’t quite hit most people unt il they arrive on campus. I remember being a first generation college student and feeling so defeated at times. There were just so many things that I did not know and was not expecting. As someone who works on a college campus, I see this over and over again from parents and students. I‘ve especially noticed this among students with disabilities who received services through an IEP or 504. Many times students are amazed when they don’t get the same services listed on their IEP because they fundamentally alter or change a course. Any accommodation that modifies the curriculum will not be used in college. For example, an accommodation where a student can only be given multiple choice exams while all t