Profile
of Success - Gordon CardonaGordon Cardona is a graduate of California State University-Los Angeles and currently works part-time as an Assistive Technology Assistant in the assistive technology lab at the Center for Adaptive Rehabilitation Technology (CARTS) in Downey, California. Some of his responsibilities are ordering vendors catalogs, making overlays for communication boards, and browsing the Internet for resources. Gordon also works as an intern at the Computer Access Center, a non-profit consumer-based resource center for people with disabilities. At the center, he is a staff member and assists with newsletter layout and design among other duties. He hopes in the near future to find a full-time job in "design and layout, production, proofreading or editing." The Internet plays a big role in his job search because he is continuously online looking for full-time employment. Along with full-time employment, Gordon would also like to achieve his goal of living independently.
One of the most challenging accomplishments in his life was getting through college. It was not until his last couple of years in college that he received his first communication device, the Light Talker. Up until that point, he used a Canon Communicator.
One of the fondest memories Gordon has about his communication device took place during a senior dinner at his school. At the dinner, Gordon says, "Each of the special education instructors gave one of his or her students a personalized gift that was meant to be a joke. I received a gift from one of my instructors that was on maternity leave during my senior year. The gift turned out to be a gift box of 'spaghetti.' The 'spaghetti' was actually some 'old messages' that I typed out on my Cannon Communicator. Some of the old messages were really my class work. I was surprised that she had saved all or most of my messages over the years."
After graduating from high school, he continued his education at California State University-Los Angeles, which was one of his biggest challenges. "I didn't do well despite the long hours I spent studying. I signed up for tutoring for some classes and that helped me," expressed Gordon.
Although college was not the best experience for Gordon, he had the opportunity to make presentations and demonstrate his communication device to students that were taking special education courses. "I usually typed up what I wanted to say about my communication methods on my typewriter at home. At the presentation, I would ask the instructor to relay my prepared speech to the class. Then we would have a question and answer session where I would respond to their questions using my device and demonstrate how I used it."
In Gordon's free time, he enjoys traveling and recently went on a cruise to Australia with his family! While in Australia, he visited the Darling Harbor, Watson Bar, Regal Prince, and the cities of Darwin and Kuala Lumpur. On the way back home, he stopped briefly in Hong Kong to catch his flight to Los Angeles. When he wins the lottery, he would love to take a cruise around the world!
We wish you the best of luck with your job search and your life!