Broadreach Training & Resources

BEING REALISTIC ISN'T REALISTIC!
Being Realistic Isn't Realistic! What is Disability Coaching? Why has life coaching become so popular? Who can benefit from Disability Coaching? How is coaching different from counseling? Why not just talk to a friend? Live Courageously! Arrange a FREE information session Coaching fees	Disability Coaching with Norman Kunc
BEING REALISTIC ISN'T REALISTIC Hi. I’m Norm Kunc The most important lesson I’ve learned from having a disability is that Being Realistic Isn’t Realistic. Here’s what I mean by that. When you have a disability, many well-meaning people will tell you what they think is realistic or feasible for you. I listen to their advice, but I never let it stop me from thinking about what might be possible. For example, I initially went to a segregated school for children with disabilities. When I was 13, they wanted to move me from a segregated school to a segregated class in a regular school 10 miles from my home. I was determined to go to regular classes in my neighbourhood school. I managed to persuade my vice-principal to at least let me try attending a regular school. When I was 15, I joined a sailing club figured out how I could competitively race dinghies. By Seventeen I had my Driver’s License. In university, I had to gain the confidence to pursue relationships without assuming girls were doing me favour. When I graduated with a Masters degree in family therapy, I could have found a job as a counselor, but instead I decided to pursue a career as a public speaker. It was probably the best decision of my life. It’s been enormously successful, I’m a regular lecture for the Harvard Graduate school of Education,and I’ve spoken all over the world: in Cairo, Bangkok, and South Africa, Many people assume that I achieved this because I am an extraordinary person. I’m not. I achieved this because I steadfastly maintained my focus on what might be possible and followed through taking the steps that moved me closer to my goal. But I didn’t this alone. I had a supportive network of family and friends who believed in my hopes and dreams, who helped me figure out pragmatic solutions, but above all, who prodded me to keep going at times of self-doubt. I would not be here without their support. Now, as a disability life coach, I am helping families of disabled children as well as teenagers and adults individuals with disabilities reach the goals in their lives in the same way that I reached in mine.