Adapt or Die: In The Workplace

Along with the reading on technology in the workplace, I was quickly reminded of a term that I heard last semester. This term; Adapt or Die. I have always placed this term in the idea of personal technological advancement and keeping myself up to speed. I am now realizing that 'adapt or die' works for many aspects of life. One of them, is work. Within a company, when you adapt to new technologies in order to help the fluidity of your work environment, it creates more work initially but will create an easier place for employees to produce in the long run. If you choose not to adapt, then competition that does, may begin beating you in their production. Here's a link and video to the idea of using Google Glasses in the healthcare environment.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2014/09/15/bringing-wearable-technology-to-workplace/

What do YOU think?

http://youtu.be/-XFYTtgZAlE

Link To Facebook Page/Personas

Here's the link to my new page 'Special Needs Awareness', "Likes" are much appreciated! I'll be sharing stories and articles that I come across that are sure to intrigue you or brighten your day, thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/SpecialNeedsAware

My name is Jessica. I am a 34 year old mother. I have a child who has been diagnosed with down syndrome, she has just turned 6. I am nervous for her to attend school and am looking for some sort of support in the community. I would really like to know some other parents around that are looking to connect and schedule play dates. I am not very good with technology, but I am always willing to learn.

My name is Jack. I am a 23 year old college student studying special needs education. I hope to one day teach low functioning individuals different life skills and would love to get started right now. All of the students in my class are females and its tough for me to connect with a lot of them. I am very intrigued and excited to study this field and I love hearing stories about special needs individuals of all ages.

My name is Morgan. I am an 18 year old attending post-high. I have a condition called cellulitis and suffer from semi-severe ADHD. I love browsing the internet and looking at stories of people similar to myself. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up but I would love some more friends. I am nervous to go into a program after post-high but I am very excited to make new friends.

I've Gotta Vision, Wanna See It?

Special Needs Awareness - Let's share the love, and the knowledge.

Special needs people are all around us, this makes some of us feel uncomfortable, some feel happy, and some feel accepted. It's important to learn ideas and concepts about how to treat special needs people, but, at the end of the day, we will quickly find out that we should be treating them like everyone else! After all, we're all in this together.

Long Term Outcome/Reason Why:

If I'm able to touch one persons life with anything that I share on this page, I will consider it a success. I currently run a program for special needs adults called RISE, I have 14 clients with diagnoses ranging anywhere from Autism to Down Syndrome to ADHD. It wasn't until I started with RISE that I realized how ignorant I really was to this culture, if you will, of people. These are the sweetest, most caring individuals I have ever met and they have touched my life forever. My goal is to open up everyone's eyes to this and essentially create a new community and base for sharing our stories about our interactions with special needs individuals.

Defining My Audience: 

Younger generation people, that perhaps don't have any history with special needs people.

Parents, that have been involved with a special needs person before.

Employees, that work with or at least deal with special needs people at some point through out their day, this could be anyone from fast food workers to teachers/professors.

My Strategy:

Periodically share news stories, or posts about current events dealing with special needs.

Provide insight from my daily life and outstanding instances that I see throughout my day at RISE.

Engage in conversation with followers and fellow bloggers about stories that they may share to the page as well.

Configuration:

Links
Stories
Pictures
Videos
Graphics
Music

The Decline of Face-to-Face Interaction

   Social Media: The Decline of Face-to-Face Interaction

  
         I've always considered social media to be a tool, and just like Diane Rehm states, it is. The controversy comes into play though when people forget how to use these tools. Social media, if used correctly, could be/is one of the biggest advancements that we have in the modern world. Social media allows us to connect, receive news faster, and engage with people that we other-wise never would have. The problem is that a lot of people don't know how to use this correctly and suffer from things such as Facebook Depression or other negative states of mind due to social media. Think about it this way, if you use a hammer (a tool) to try and wash dishes with, things might not go well for your breakable dishware. You need to use the right tool, in the right places in order for it to be successful.

        Diane Rehm brings up great points in her talk, that people use Social Media as their primary source as a means for communication. It's inevitable that the more time we spend on Social Media, the less we will with face-to-face communication in the real world. Is this a good or a bad thing? Well, its sort of up to? Myself, I love social media, but I also love FtF to a point where I am unwilling to give that up. Because of this, I choose to stay away from messaging people through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I instead use them for leisure time to simply see what my friends and followers are doing. By this, I am unashamed to bring it up in real communication and we then have more to talk about when I see them in real life. Communication is beautiful, and it should never be replaced.

       Throughout life we learn different signs and symbols on how to interact with others, it is possible, that social media is simply just another one to learn. And, if used effectively, can greatly benefit our lives. We even have jobs title 'Social Media Consultants' now! This is a revolution, businesses are figuring out how to grow, peoples networks are expanded, and we are now able to communicate with people half away around the world...for free! It is great, and I'm all on board, but, this doesn't change the fact that a lot of people cant get over the mental edge to distinguish social media from real communication based interactions. I am a firm believer that social media classes should be offered in high school and required in college, in order to help people get past that mental hump.

     Well, there's my rant for the week, I hope you all enjoyed reading it and I look forward to learning more and talking more about social media in this new day and age.