Profile of Success - Gina McMaster
My name is Gina McMaster. I'm 28 years old. I was born with Cerebral Palsy and have been using an electric wheelchair since I was nine. I got my first communication device when I graduated from high school. I feel fortunate that I was born into a very loving and supportive family. My parents have always taken great care of me. I have an older brother and a younger sister who also take great interest in my well-being. I have a wonderful sister-in-law and we always get along really well.
My mom and dad each come from a family of nine children and now most of them are married and have children. All together I have 39 first cousins and one on the way! It gets very noisy when we are all together. I enjoy visiting and talking to them. Ever since I was very small, my family and relatives always treated me as part of the gang.
When I was in grade school my parents met with the special education teacher
and many others to fight to put me into a regular classroom. They saw great
potential in me by what I did at home and they wanted to see me be challenged
in school. I was mainstreamed into regular classes at the second grade level.
I had an attendant to assist me in my classes all through my schooling. I always
had to work twice as hard as other students to get my grades but I worked hard
and graduated third in my senior class.
After high school I attended a local community college for two years. After
two years of going to college I began to work at volunteer jobs and have been
working now for about four years.
My hobbies are listening to music, listening to books on tapes, taking care of my pets, going swimming and going on long walks with my mom and Grandma. On the weekends I enjoy spending time with my sister and her boyfriend when they come home from college and I like watching movies with them.
I would describe myself as a considerate and caring person who is concerned about the well-being and safety of the people who take care of me. Also, I am a bit of a perfectionist. I'm hard on myself and I will work on a project until it is finished. I have a great sense of humor and I love to joke around and tease my family and friends.
My greatest strength is being able to express myself and my feelings on my device as well through my writing. I am a good listener and have a knack for counseling others.
One of the biggest challenges I have ever faced was being in front of a large group of people and giving a speech and answering questions with my Liberator. This was at a CAMA (Communication Aid Manufacturers Association) conference in 1998. I was an ambassador for Prentke Romich Company in Spokane, Washington. I remembered I was so nervous because it was my first time being in front of people and speaking with my Liberator. Since then, I have overcome my nervousness about talking to a large group of people.
I have achieved some of the goals I have set for myself. For the longest time I was interested in helping grade school kids with their reading. I had this great opportunity fall into my lap. My friend, who is also an ARC provider, worked with a lady in a group home who also worked at an elementary school as head of the reading program. My friend asked her if she knew a teacher I could volunteer to help. She knew one particular teacher who would be excellent. I have been volunteering at an elementary school helping first graders with their reading skills about three years now. I help them sound out words if they get stuck. I will determine whether or not they need to practice more on the book they just read to me. I tell them they can go pick out another book if I feel that they had read their book fluently. Then I always say encouraging things to them to boost their self-esteem. Every week they are so excited when I show up. They write their names on a pad of paper if they feel that they are ready to read to me. There are times they will be sneaky by crossing names out or put their name on top of the list so it seem like they are first to read with me. I love working with the kids. They surely keep me on my toes! The teacher is just a genuine person and she never questioned my ability to work and help her students. She had faith in me although she hardly knew me. We have mutual admiration for each other and have become good friends.
Without going into great detail, it took two years between having an assessment and evaluation done when I was in high school and getting my Liberator. Then it took me about two years to learn its Minspeak vocabulary to the fullest along with learning Morse code. I'm still discovering new things to enhance my ability to communicate. My Liberator has opened a whole new world for me as I now have the ability to take care of things on my own. I am able to tell my personal care provider things I need and how I like things done. My friends and relatives no longer question my intelligence when I am able to talk to them directly. I have met many people via the Internet by being a member of ACOLUG and have gotten involved in many things that are an extension of ACOLUG.
When I first got my Liberator over 8 years ago, it was my dream to be an advocate for kids and adults as they become familiar with their communication devices. I'm involved in a club for kids and adolescents who use augmentative devices. I feel that I'm giving them encouragement and sharing with them the great opportunities I have experienced, such as going to New York for an AAC Enhancement Forum and attending PEC this summer.
If time and money were not an object, I would have a wheelchair accessible home built on a beautiful piece of property where I, along with several other physically challenged people, would live. It would have just a few accessories such as a pool, hot tub and horses to ride for therapy. I would hire full time attendants and pay them well above minimum wage so they would be willing to work hard and remain working with me for a long time. I would have several wheelchair accessible vans so the attendants could drive all of us to our well-paying jobs. I would be very much involved with the future of AAC and probably have to travel a lot to advocate, demonstrate and educate the masses on AAC.