I asked Penny if she would be willing to answer a few questions about her experience with the PATH process. These are her unedited responses:
How would you explain what a PATH is to someone who doesn’t already know about it?
The meeting is about you and your dreams. Also, it is about your future, where you see yourself in 5 years. And beyond that.
What kind of work do you do ahead of the group meeting to prepare for the PATH?
You put the date of the meeting into a calendar/planner/phone. Email people the invite if they can’t meet in person for the zoom link. You write down your hopes and dreams for your future.
What do you like about the PATH process?
In the whole PATH process, I like accomplishments/hopes/dreams.
What does it feel like to go through the PATH process?
I feel like a whole new person because we are looking ahead from where I am right now. The future can hold anything.
What are some of your hopes and dreams for the future? How is PATH planning helping you look ahead to those dreams and hopes?
One of my hopes is to be more organized. One of my dreams is to become a ballet teacher to older levels like 4a,4b, and above. The PATH planning is helping me reach my dreams and hopes because I have friends and family to make my hopes and dreams possible.
Why do you think having a PATH is important for you?
Especially if you have a disability it is important for me because I can also imagine myself when I am older and in college. And most people don’t look forward they also look behind.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PATH PROCESS:
Read more with Amy Julia:
- Penny in Her Own Words: Down Syndrome, School, and Friends
- In Her Own Words: Penny’s Advice to a Student Beginning Ninth Grade
- In Her Own Words: Penny on Being a Bridesmaid
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