Sunday, March 22, 2015

5 tips for counseling those with disabilities

This week in class we had do create a presentation about something that we are interested in.
Well of course I decided to do mine on the topic of my blog.
I hope you find this mini lecture helpful!
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!
I would love to get feedback!

http://present.me/view/269978-5-tips-for-counseling-those-with 


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Positive Peggy

We've finally come to the conclusion of discussing different ways to cope. Now I'm a little biased, but I saved the best for last!

We all have those moments in life where we just can't even.
Things are going wrong and we just want to bask in the moment of it being a crappy day.

And there's nothing wrong with that! We all deserve the chance to have those moments.

There are many research articles that have found positive psychology to be helpful, not only with those who have disabilities, but in general.

By focusing on the positive aspects of the situation, re-framing negative thoughts, and finding outlets that the person enjoys such as dancing, religion, and music it can overall affect the attitude and outlook of the person.

Positivity can lead to a healthier lifestyle, higher self-esteem, and a better chance at overcoming the obstacles in front of you.

Next time something goes wrong, or you just have a bad day, think about what hasn't gone wrong yet.

Oh and check out this awesome blog post about Positive Psychology :)


http://20-somethingcounselor.blogspot.com/2015/03/whos-ready-to-get-positive.html

Monday, March 9, 2015

Top 10 List: Apps

Since nearly everyone in today's world has a smart phone, here are some cool apps that I found that can be helpful!

10. Depression Check
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This is a free app that assesses depression and anxiety in 3 minutes. It’s a neat little checker that can let you know how high your depression and anxiety levels are and then it gives you some ideas of what you can do to lower it.

9. tap to talk
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This was a really cool app for younger kids or those who have developmental disabilities. It’s free too! But what you do is you tap a picture to talk. You can form sentences by tapping on the pictures for the words. It also includes many languages.

8. Simon says
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You’re probably thinking why does she have a game on here….well not only is it free, but it can be used to increase memory. Plus, it’s also fun and who doesn’t love fun things.

7. Mind shift
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This app is free and it has chill out tools for anxiety. It also provides the person with different ways to think in terms of negative/positive self-talk.

6. First then
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It’s a schedule app for 10 dollars to help those who need visual and developmental support to increase independence and lower anxiety during transitions through activities. It’s pretty neat for those who want to work on memory and order techniques

5. ADA 2014 reference
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This app gets for stars because everything you need to know about ADA is at the touch of your fingers. It has resources, guidelines, and basic information about the American Disability Act and it’s only 99 cent!

4. Sound amp lite
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While it’s only 99 cents, this app does have some pretty cool things in it. Sounds are sent to your ear buds in real time and it basically amplifies the sounds when it’s noisy. This is great for someone who has trouble hearing.

3. Self-help for anxiety medication
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This app is free, which is great! It contains customizable anxiety management techniques. It also has scales of how high a person’s anxiety is at the moment, and then provides recommendations on how to lower it.

2. Voice dream reader: text to speech
*****
So this app is the opposite of Dragon Dictation. While it may be 10 dollars, it’s worth every single one. It turns text to speech. It also has tons of languages that it can do too. It can read books to you, or can speak what you write out.  

 1. Dragon Dictation
*****
This app is awesome! I give it 5 stars because not only is it free, but it also does some really cool things. You can speak and it will write for you. It can even post to social media! What’s cool about this is that it’s helpful for those who have problems writing or even hearing in class. You can set the app up to record and basically take notes for you.