Aboriginal - Girls Action Foundation
Aboriginal - Girls Action Foundation
Aboriginal - Girls Action Foundation
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66 Naiomie Hanson-Akavak<br />
By Naiomie Hanson-Akavak<br />
My name is Naiomie Hanson-Akavak; I am a 24 year old Inuk from Iqaluit Nunavut. I<br />
have mild cerebral palsy. I have lived most of my life in Iqaluit, Nunavut. I graduated<br />
from Inuksuk High School in 2004. After I graduated I knew I wanted to continue with<br />
my learning, so I applied for Nunavut Sivuniksavut. Luckily for me the application was<br />
done all online, and they accepted my application. I left home at the age of 18, ready to<br />
conquer the world, and challenge myself to something I knew so little about. The big city<br />
of Ottawa!! How could I leave something I was so comfortable with?<br />
It was sad to leave my home community where everyone knew what I had, and what my<br />
challenges were. I moved to Ottawa knowing I would probably have to try to tell people<br />
what is wrong with me. I was up for that challenge and knew no one was just going to<br />
just give me a certificate I had to earn it. I studied one year at Nunavut Sivuniksavut and<br />
then another year with Algonquin College studying pre-technology.<br />
Having and living with a physical disability all my life has not been easy, but I won’t let<br />
my disability stop me from living. I know how to succeed and what I need to do to<br />
achieve my dreams. Growing up ‘different’ was quite challenging for me because some<br />
people did not believe in me, some didn’t even think I’d be able to walk or function like a<br />
“normal person”.<br />
It seemed like I was always trying to prove something to someone and that is just<br />
how society is today. I know that verbal communication is a very important process<br />
to understand one another; however I wasn’t given that opportunity. All my<br />
communication skills never developed properly because of my disability.<br />
Normal people can talk a mile a minute, but my one sentence sometimes has to be<br />
repeated 3 or 4 times over and over again just for people to understand what I am<br />
trying to say. I know it gets frustrating for them and they probably feel so guilty for not<br />
understanding me the first time, but I totally understand. I know it’s hard to understand<br />
what I’m trying to say. But I have no other options. That is just how I communicate.
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