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Our regular host, Naomi Hazlett, is back! And in this episode she is joined by the Schiafone Brothers, Christopher and Brandon Schiafone. That\\u2019s right, a double feature! Both brothers have degrees in psychology, but come from very different backgrounds. They provide a brief backstory of their career pathways, and how they ultimately ended up studying psychology in order to become better practitioners. There is also a surprise at the end of this interview, so be sure to stay tuned!

Brandon began his life in journalism and public relations, before ultimately becoming a certified life coach. However, in order to do his job effectively and to the fullest, he realized that with a background in behavioural psychology, there was an opportunity to become a one-stop shop for his clients; having the tools to provide legitimate therapy and a blue print for creating a better life. His future will see him utilizing his background in life coaching, along with his education in psychology, to become a certified and practicing couples counsellor.

Chris holds his Social Service Worker Diploma from Seneca College, which he received in 2015. During his placement time he was working with the vision loss community, as well as adults with intellectual disabilities. Finding himself at a crossroads and wondering what he ultimately wanted to specialize in, he got accepted into the university of Guelph Humber\\u2019s psychology program, where he decided to focus on Neuroscience. He has recently completed his first Undergraduate degree in Psychology, a Diploma in General Arts And Science, and a Certificate in Research Skills And Analysis from Humber College. He has been working as a data and accessibility analyst for sensetech solutions, and is doing research work with the Centre for Applied Neuroscience. He is currently investigating a Master\\u2019s degree in the areas of psychology, Neuroscience and Design.

Both guests provide insight into their experiences going through college and university as blind and low vision students, how they overcame barriers to accessible learning in their fields of study, and the strategies that educators can use to make their classes more accessible when it comes to the visual aspects of learning. These range from general accommodations such as accessible textbooks and screen reading software for computers, to more in-depth areas such as graphics and data analysis software, and diagrams of the human brain and nervous systems which required very creative tactile workarounds.

The brothers offer advice to anyone who is interested in pursuing further education in a post-secondary institution, psychology or otherwise, and how to advocate for yourself in order to get the most out of your studies. 

Christopher Contact info: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-m-schiafone/?originalSubdomain=ca 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cmschiafone

Centre for Applied Neuroscience: https://www.knowyourbrain.ca/

Brandon Contact Info:

Website: http://www.brandonschiafone.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-schiafone-mnlp-mtlt-mcht-9bb95454/?originalSubdomain=ca

Twitter: https://twitter.com \\u203a unleashbrandon

Footnote: this episode was inspired by an earlier instalment of our program called Mental Health Matters, featuring a social worker and counsellor with sight loss named Lisa Derencinovic. It is available for streaming in the living blind podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts, or at the following link. https://anchor.fm/balancefba/episodes/Mental-Health-Matters-with-Lisa-e167167

The show notes for this podcast can be found at https://www.balancefba.org/podcast/ 

Donate to BALANCE: https://www.balancefba.org/donate/