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Andre Harris
235
Bold Points1x
Finalist![user profile avatar](https://static.bold.org/profilePictures/20200817102452a92d10a3706a43978a182f26c3b3df7c.webp)
Andre Harris
235
Bold Points1x
FinalistEducation
Howard University
Master's degree programMajors:
- Social Work
Indiana University-Bloomington
Bachelor's degree programMajors:
- Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, General
Miscellaneous
Desired degree level:
Master's degree program
Graduate schools of interest:
Transfer schools of interest:
Majors of interest:
Career
Dream career field:
Program Development
Dream career goals:
My long term goal is to build an organization that help Transgender individuals access the mental health care and funding they need for surgeries.
Disability in Social Work Scholarship
My Name is Andre Harris. I am a student in Howard University's online MSW program. I am a nontraditional student who has worked with visually impaired students for 17 years. I have ADHD and have taken this time to learn what my needs are. By fully understanding what I need, I have been able to help the students I have come into contact with in a more holistic way.
Having his diagnosis has made things come together in my life so much quicker. I never thought that I would be able to attend graduate school due to my inability to focus and study properly. In my undergraduate years, I did not have the proper level of support and just barely graduated. Now, a doctor will listen to my needs and meds to help me function more efficiently. It has been the one thing that changed my outlook on life.
I want to be able to help others, specifically Black and Brown people, to have the support they need. While I have been at my internship site, I have also come to see a need for the further use of Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users in therapy. Many non-verbal students I work with do not have the chance to attend therapy sessions. This is something that I would like to see changed as a profession.
I had a session where a student was visibly upset, and no one was using his AAC device. I was the only staff willing to take it out and sit with him to describe his feelings and give him a strategy to help his mood. Once calm, he used his device to say that he was hungry! It was the first time this student could independently use his device to say what he needed. It is moments like this that I want to replicate for so many AAC users.
Moments like this matter and can give a client the joy of being heard. So often, we as a society can get caught in the pattern that everything needs to happen similarly. For these individuals, we need to think out of the box in the way that we communicate with them. I hope that once I complete my degree, I can be their social worker. Everyone has a voice and has the right to have accessible mental health.
These are just some ways that my personal experience has impacted the work I want to do one day.