Highschool graduation ceremony

On Friday October 25 I went back to my old high school to graduate. During the day I helped clean the house. For supper on that night I had a hotdog. My mom and my grandma took me to the school so I could get ready and they could save seats. Then at 7:30pm the ceremony started and after waiting for a little I got my diploma. Which was neat. When everyone was finished we did the big graduating tradition where everyone moved their tassel from the right to the left which was cool. Then we headed to the  cafeteria to have a snack and refreshments. I visited with two amazing teacher who helped me survive high school and I got to see a couple of my old friends too. My tutor also came to graduation ceremony which was cool. I have had the same tutor since grade one. One of my psychologists said that I would not have been able to read without all the work my tutor did with me. Then after a couple of pictures we drove home and had a party with our neighbours and friends. We had pizza which was Hawian, Canadian and a tomato free pizza (for Sarah). For dessert we had a marble slab Rolo icecream cake. Which was delicious and the gathering was fun. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us. Also thanks to everyone who helped me to get through school and graduate. I will add some photos later but thought I should post this.

Rough Beginning - College essay

Hey everyone here is my essay that I got an 89% on.

Rough Beginning

I have seen so many people that have a more fair life than myself. For example, most people never have to the hospital ,or have teachers that actually believed in them. Compared to many people, my life as treated me unfairly, especially  due to attitude of doctors, teachers and also because I have a rare genetic disorders.

First throughout my life, I have had some good doctors who believe in me and other who thought I would not make it. For example in grade 3 I had to go to physiologist who told my family and me that I wouldn't make it pass grade four level. This affected my family badly because they knew it wasn't true. Another thing that was unlucky for me was going to a speech therapist to learn different letter sounds. For example when I was younger I would make the k sound like a T so I would call myself Betty instead of Becky. The last reason why I believe life has treated me unfairly is this: when I was younger, I had to have needles every single night. These needles will help me grow physically and mentally. I felt very lonely because I was the only person to have them.

The second reason why I think life as treated me unfairly is that some teachers didn't care about me. First some teachers thought I was not capable of anything, and never gave me a chance to show what I was capable of. For instance in grade ten cooking class, a certain teacher would make me wash the dishes instead of cooking. In addition I have had a couple of teachers who underestimated my learning skills. In grade 8, for example, my music teacher thought I would never be able to do anything music related. Thirdly some teachers didn't know me at all. When I was in grade seven, the special education teacher tried to put me in the life skills classroom without letting me graduate with my friends in grade 8. In addition another example of this poor treatment was my grade 8 English teacher who thought I was scared of speaking in front of the class. Even though I have done it many times. Throughout my experience in elementary and secondary school, I had teachers who didn't know me well, and other who didn't want to waste their time to know me. I felt like I was alienated by someone who was supposed to show support for my learning.

The final reason why I believe life as treated me unfairly is because I have a rare genetic disorder. Due to this I have had lots of surgeries. Some were major like heart, bowel ,and eye surgeries, and others were minor treatments like dental work. What hurts the most is that some ignorant people won't even accept disabilities that they can't see. For example, when I go to Disney's Magic kingdom park most people look at me in a weird way for having a disability pass. Indeed some people just don't want to learn anything about me. For example, when I told my grade 8 music teacher that I was different she just kept ignoring me.

     

To conclude, doctors, teachers, and people who have treated me unfairly by ignoring me or not showing support because of my genetic disorder. Even though I have had all these unfair events in my life, it makes me realize that those events made me who I am today, and I am proud of that !  I have learned that I need to work hard to achieve success. I have also learned the importance of standing up for myself to become my own self-advocate. Most importantly, I have learned to be thankful for these teachers, doctors, friend and family who have believed in me and supported me for who I am. 

Swimming time

Hi everyone
This last Tuesday I went to my first special Olympics swimming. In that practice I  swam 6 lengths of the pool. I used a swim belt and a noodle. For the last set I used only the swim belt and went really fast since I could use my arms. I also conquered my fear of going in the deep end. I was extremely nervous about going to the special Olympic swimming practice but it turned out fine. The only thing was my legs were sore afterwards from all my hard work.
I did not post this last week so another update is this week I did 8 lengths and swam some of them with just the noodle and no swim belt! You can do anything you put your mind to.
Next week my goal is 10 lengths.
Becky

Starting college

Hello everyone
My favorite things I like with college are:
-You can go to washroom anytime you want.
-You can leave to have a break anytime without having to ask

I have been in collage for 5 weeks now. My first week was nerve racking since I had to go to a new school.  I had amazing help from one of my cousins for the first 3 days. I found the bus and learned which bus stop to get off. After class on the first day I had chicken fingers and French fries. I also had pop. After finishing lunch we waited for the bus. I have to take a longer route to get home since the college express does not start again until 3pm. I have to take 3 busses. The first one that i ride takes me to the mall, then I go on the ixpress bus to the terminal. Then I take another bus home. At first it was a little confusing but I have gotten the hang of it. My classmates are super nice. One of my classes we had to do a scavenger hunt. I am already working on my first paper for foundations of writing.
I really enjoy the college experience everyone in my class wants to learn so there are no distractions. The worst part of it is on wednesday were I have to get up early. This week I bought some fudge from oh fudge which was delicious. The flavour I got was mint chocolate. I am getting used to my schedule a little bit. It is a lot of fun but a lot of hard work.  I have four classes each week. Some of the course I am taking are foundations of writing and student success for higher learning. I am having a great time right now. I have done 2 assignments. My 5th week of college has been really tiring but so worth it. Everyone in the college is friendly. I just have been working on a couple assignment. Thanks for reading.

This picture was on my first day of college with my cousin.

2013 Chromosome 18 Conference

Hey so many of you know that i went to Savannah Georgia for the chromosome 18 conference.  One of my favourite things to do is hang out with all my friends who are affected, just like me. We arrived early to the conference and there were a lot of people already there.  I saw some of my friends that had arrived that day or earlier. The next day was the registration and a chance to meet everyone. Of course a bunch of the Canadian sat together for the dinner. I sat with my awesome friends who are amazing.

 This photo is with my friend Noah at the dinner.









The first day of the conference was amazing. First we all went to the recognition and welcome ceremony for the conference. My sister Sarah got an award at this for selling bracelets and necklaces as a fundraiser. She raised over 900$ for the support group. After that we saw an amazing presentation from my amazing friend Rick Guiddoti. He does an amazing presentation for positive exposure. He introduced a couple of student who are studying to be genetic counselors. Of course Rick the crazy camera man was taking pictures like crazy. Then we had an awesome lunch that was provided by the awesome hotel.

 This is Sarah selling her jewelry as well as the sibling activity registration table.










After lunch everyone met up and hanged out in the lobby for free time. Then we did self advocate panel practice which was fun and a bit crazy. After supper i hung out with my friends at the hotel. The next day was interesting. First we went to the YMCA in Savannah which made everyone nervous. It was also really hot and it was all outside. Rick came on the trip to take pictures. We took a trolley there which was nuts. After having lunch on the trolley.

 I would like to thank Mark for this photo from the games at the YMCA.













When we got back we went to do the young adult panel. That night I ate supper with my friends at the Paula Deen restaurant Lady & Sons and it was awesome. We had a private room which was in the basement of the restaurant. It was so much fun. We took pictures of each other. It was awesome. After a long night we went to hang out in the lobby. I decided to have an early night at the conference.

Here I am doing the panel presentation with my friends.

 This is a picture of my food from Paula Deen's restaurant it was soooo good. The dinner for the young adults was also fully donated by the restaurant :)











 Here I am with my friends all ready to go out for dinner at Paula Deens






 The last day i  just hung out in the lobby since i did not want to go to the morning speaker. I also had my picture taken by Rick with my sister then my whole family.

 Here is the amazing Rick in action! Thank you Rick for all your amazing pictures. I hope to put some of them up for all of you to see in the future.









We had an amazing speaker for the miniature foodie presentation. We tried some of her no-bake energy bites which was awesome.  After that we had some free time. The conference ended with a dinner and a dance. It was a lot of fun and the food was pretty good.
I just hung out with my friends a lot at the conference. I wish that I could see my friends and hang out more often than once a year. It is awesome to spend the week with them.

 Some of my awesome friends. I can not wait to see everyone again next year!

grad photos

Hey
Yesterday i got my high school graduation photos taken. It was so munch fun. They had a lot of props to enhance the picture which was neat. I even got to hold real flowers which was cool. Graduating high school is the biggest accomplishment for me because when i was in grade 3 a bunch of doctor said i wouldn't make it past grade 4. I proved those people wrong. High school was a little more challenging for me. Instead of graduating in 4 year i took my time and i did it in 5 years. I also did some applied course in english and math. It was a lot of work but well worth it. I am really proud that i accomplished an amazing goal from the beginning of the year. Never give up and always try your hardest because the teachers are going to help you if they see you are putting effort in. I tried my best in all my classes and when i needed help the teacher didn't hesitate to help me. I took tons of graduation photos which was cool. My graduation picture is the one of me doing thumbs up which is a joke in our family. We have some pictures of me holding flower and a fake diploma. They took so many pictures of me that it is hard to remember.

Making supper

Yesterday i learned how to make supper for the whole family. I made broccoli and cheddar stuffed chicken, potatoes, and garden salad.  I started with grating the cheese then I moved on to cutting the broccoli. After when the chicken breasts were cut I put the filling into them which was the broccoli and cheese. The hardest parts was sticking the toothpicks in so the filling would not fall out. Then I coated the chicken with shake and bake. After the chicken was in the tinfoil covered tray we added potatoes. Then I started the salad. First I chopped some mushrooms. Then I cut carrots with a fancy cutter which was cool. My mom cut out the core of the lettuce. Then I ripped some of the lettuce which was cool. After everything was in the bowl I tossed the salad. I even made brownies for dessert by myself. The whole family enjoyed and the dog got to try some too. I had so much fun cooking for my family

Getting ready for college

Hey readers,
Today I went to my college for next yeat and had my first meeting with the disability center. They showed me what services they provide. They provide a lot of stuff to help people with special learning needs get through school. They want everyone to succeed. I learned a lot of thing today. Some services they provide are peer tutoring which is having someone to sit with you at lunch or hang out. They also provide electronics to help people. They said they want everyone to do well at school.
They have a club for autism student which is neat. The school is even trying to set up a room where the people in this club can go during the day to get away from the busyness of school. This will also help me make friends like me.
After this meeting I am getting excited to start school in September. I will be going back in two weeks to visit them again.
I also have gone on a tour of the school with my sister's friend Nicole and will hopefully have a few more in the summer.
Becky

Swimming lesson

Hey
Thanks to everyone who reads my blog.

Here is an update on one of my goals for this summer. I am learning how to swim. This week was my first swim lesson. I learned how to do a back float and a front float. I also went underwater which is a huge step for me. I learned the front glide and back glide.

For my second swimming lesson i did my floats and practiced my glides. I learned how to do a side glide. I also did underwater bobs. Going in under the water twice. I also learned how to transfer from a front glide into a side glide. I am doing pretty good with swimming. I am getting less afraid of the water. I am doing my swimming lessons in our pool at home.

With my third swimming lesson I am learning how to go to the side to breath. My glides are getting better. Last night I did 10 bobs in a row with just one breath break. Still trying to do my floats. Swimming and going underwater is scary by I am learning to work through it. It gets less scary the more I do it. Don't let your fears get in the way of learning something new!

Stay tuned for another goal update tomorrow.
Becky

Here is a photo of me practicing my back glides.

Here is a video of me working on my front glides. Today was the first day of swimming all the way through the middle of the pool where it is deepest. This was always one of my fears. Yay I did it, another thing off the list!

Psychology Test and Results

Over the last few months I have had to go to a psychologist for testing. My testing was for college so that they can find out the best ways for me to learn. The psychologist did lots of different tests. One of my favourites was thinking of words that started with a letter from the alphabet. For example like an A letter word would be "awesome". Some of the tests are timed which makes them more difficult. Some of the tests I did not like were the block puzzles and memory tests.
From the results of these tests I was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The psychologist also gave us a lot of suggestions to make school better for me next year.  If you thinking of doing psychology testing then my advice would be go for it. It is not a scary a test and some of the tests are really fun and can help you in the future.

Cub camp

Hey guys. Another interesting fact about me is that I am also a cub leader with scouting. This weekend we went to a cub camp which was really cool. They had tons of activities to do there which was cool. They had a rock climbing wall, karate lessons, a ropes course. The most challenging activity for the cub scouts was the low ropes course. Everyone tried one of the low ropes courses, I was so proud of them. The most awesome part of the camp was the food.  We had lots of amazing food. For the supper on the Saturday night we had roasted pig and potato salad which was delicious. My favourite dessert was cookies and ice cream. At this camp we slept in tents and had a couple of new cubs out for their first time. They all survived the two nights and had a great time. One of the activities at the camp was a potato canon and sling shot. Most of the potatoes went way up high. Another thing that was pretty amazing was that we got to dress up. The camp theme was pirates vs ninjas. Our group was pirates.

The reason why i do scouting is to help out others. I also enjoy doing many different activities. Being a leader is really fun and I love planing different activities. We had lots of food. I was very proud of all the cub who tried roasted pig for the first time.

I wish that they were doing a campsite decorating contest which everyone enjoys with decorating their campsites.

Done highschool

Hey everyone i am officially done high school. It took five year but i am happy that i reached one of my goal. Now i just get to relax and celebrate. Woo hoo. Just remember when it is difficult in do not. give up. I had a couple favourite classes in high school including English and co-op. Co-operative education program is where you go into a working field that you are interested in. This class is for grade 12. It is a very competitive program to get into for schools that have it. If you do get into a co-op class you will learn how to be more independent and what types of jobs you like. I did two different co-ops. The first one was at the local chocolate store making chocolate. I learned that it takes a lot of effort to make chocolate and that the hard work pays off. My second co-op was in a nursing home working in the kitchen. I helped with preparing food. My favourite thing to do was make the cookie trays :) I learned that it takes a lot of patients in some jobs to get them done. I really enjoyed this job so much that I am going to volunteer there this summer.

I had lots of amazing teacher to help me through the high school education. I also had many friends that supported me. I just wanted to thank everyone who supported me at high-school. I want to give a special thank to Mrs. Lankveld, Mr. Hacking and Mrs. Haase who have helped me succeed through the 5 years. I can not wait to start College in September and take on my next challenge.

A little about me

At the 2011 Chromosome 18 conference, taken by Rick (Positive Exposure)

Hello, my name is Becky. I have a rare chromosome disorder called 18p-. That is said as 18 p minus. I live in the province of Ontario in Canada.
My chromosome 18 disorder effects me several different ways. When I was little I had to have a lot of surgeries. Some of these include heart surgery, bowel surgery, eye surgery, and dental surgeries. I am strong and healthy now though. It also has effected my school work. I have had learning disabilities growing up. It takes me longer to do school work but it has not stopped me from learning. I am graduating high school this year and heading off to college in the fall.
I like to listen to music, play wii, chatting on facebook, and cheer leading. I cheer on the cheer sport sand sharks which is a special needs team. It is really fun and cool. I have lots of friends on the team as well. I also do special olympics. I do track and field. My favorite event is the shot put. Last year I ran a 3km and a 5km race on the hottest day of the summer. I did it and did not give up.

I wrote a book called "How Bullying Victims Feel" when I was in grade 8. It is now published and I have sold over 100 copies. I am an "almost world famous author". I want to be an advocate and public speaker on bullying when I am done school.

I have set some goals for this summer. First I want to learn to swim, I want to be able to join the special olympics swim team in the fall and be able to swim at the beach at camp this summer. I would also like to be able to know how to take a city bus all the way to my cousin's place in a neighboring city by myself. My third goal is to be able to know my way around the school and get to my classes on my own when I start there in the fall.