Resilient Leadership and AAC Advocacy with Kim Vuong

James Berges 00:01 
Approximately 5 million Americans and 97 million people worldwide would benefit from AAC, Augmentative Alternative Communication. That's why today our guest is Kim Vuong, an AAC advocate who is championing independent living and leadership in California. 

Mai Ling Chan 00:18 
Yeah, Kim's amazing. She's providing directions and insider perspective on things like emergency preparedness and she's even able to demonstrate it herself. I'm so excited for you to hear this episode. 

Kim Vuong 00:31 
I thought that I can make a difference with the city. One of the coolest things that I did was training to get somebody out in an emergency. I realized that I put a bottle on my shoulders and dragged them out of danger. 

Mai Ling Chan 00:46 
Welcome to the Exceptional Leaders Podcast. I'm Nailing Chan, and together with James Burgess, we're getting you top tips and resources for building and scaling your disability -focused offerings, straight from the forefront of disability advocacy and leadership. 

James Berges 01:05 
One thing that stood out from your interview with Kim Mai Ling is that she's just been resilient for so long. She wasn't afraid to ask for what she wanted and just go for it, which I can't always say for my own life, but at 17 she moved out on her own, mind you, with a AAC device and I think oftentimes parents will be worried and for their best interest for the child they want to keep them safe and comfortable, but she was like, no, I'm going for it. 

James Berges 01:34 
I am going to follow my confidence. I have a vision. And she did. And so you'll find out all about the many accomplishments that she went for in this interview. One of them being that just asking for what you want is a big lesson I took from her. 

James Berges 01:48 
For example, she at Long Beach City College and she asked if they wanted to do an adaptive sports league. And they're like sure, why not? So just asking for what you want and not being afraid to go for it from a young age. 

Mai Ling Chan 02:00 
Yeah, she really is incredible. I hope that our listeners really enjoy listening to her and then follow her. She's out on Facebook. she has, I think, just two Facebook pages, believe it or not, but she is always sharing all of her advocacy and her work and accomplishments. 

Mai Ling Chan 02:16 
And it's so important because we want to see people like us, right? Another great resource that I want to share is she was one of the first people who said to me, Mai, you really need to do a book that's focused on Asian Pacific islanders. 

Mai Ling Chan 02:31 
And that was right after I had finished my third book, James. And I was done, you know, that, ah, OK, I think I'm good for a while. So I initially said, oh, that a great idea, but, you now, not me. I am good. 

Mai Ling Chan 02:43 
And then as everybody knows, our listener knows that I talked to Dr. Lilly Cheng and I interviewed her in May of 2023. You can listen to that episode. and she said the same thing to me which is you need to do another book. 

Mai Ling Chan 02:55 
So Kim's story is in that book and it is fantastic. It definitely is a deep dive into the more personal perspective and her story and its just beautiful and in written form. I hope that you get the opportunity to get more of an expanded view and more an intimate view of her stories. 

Mai Ling Chan 03:17 
From there, I wanted to invite you, if you're interested in AI at all, we also have an episode where we deep -dived into AI and how you can use it. And now we have and epic resource that's available on our website at exceptionalleaders .com. 

Mai Ling Chan 03:31 
You can just go there, sign up for it, and you download it immediately. So I know there's a lot of buzz, right James, going on about how to use AI in your business and in personal life. 

James Berges 03:41 
Yeah, it's just getting faster and faster. So grasp the fundamentals now and yeah, Go listen to more inspiring stories because these are the stories that really let us grasp what's happening on a personal level and then AI is what helps us expand our scope to many, many more people. 

James Berges 03:57 
So yeah, go to ExceptionalLeaders .com, pick up that free resource. And now let's get to our interview with Kim Vwang. 

Mai Ling Chan 04:08 
Nice. Well, today I'm very excited to have my good friend Kim Vuong here. She is a co -author of my most recent book, The Becoming Exceptional API Leader, and she shares her beautiful story of being a person who uses AAC and then also can share the intersectionality between having the Asian culture and also being in the disability community. 

Mai Ling Chan 04:29 
So welcome Kim. 

Kim Vuong 04:32 
Thank you. 

Mai Ling Chan 04:33 
Kim, I loved your story and are becoming an exceptional leader anthology and I'd like to expand a little bit without obviously giving away the whole story. So what is your profession and how did you find this position? 

Kim Vuong 04:45 
I actually have two jobs. My first job is committee liaison for Tichenor orthopedic clinic. I have been there for 12 years. I started out as a volunteer for two years I was living in Orange County before I moved to Long Beach. 

Kim Vuong 05:06 
I Was looking for something to do and one of the PRC reps told me about I contacted the speech pathologist at that time who was working at Tichenor. I told her I know a lot about AAC and wanted to volunteer. 

Kim Vuong 05:23 
I volunteered for two years before they hired me as a speech aid working with little children. This required me to get help, which my body was unable to do easily. My boss knew that I liked connecting with the community. 

Kim Vuong 05:40 
That is how I got my start. 

Mai Ling Chan 05:44 
So, what I love about that, Kim, is you were in a community of using AAC, and that's the PRC group, Prentki Romich, through the people that you knew, they were able to kind of connect you with the start, but you're the one, obviously, who got the job, right? 

Mai Ling Chan 06:02 
I think that what we always try to say here on the show is, you really got to... You have to make connections with people and you just never know where those connections are going to take you. Thank you for sharing that. 

Mai Ling Chan 06:14 
It's just a fantastic story. Out of all the things that you're doing, and I know that that your involved in a lot of different things, for our listener, I really invite you to follow Kim's Facebook page. 

Mai Ling Chan 06:24 
The link will be in the show notes, but she's always posting. She's an advocate. She is out there. What I want to find out, Kim, is what do you feel is the most important aspect of your leadership roles. 

Kim Vuong 06:38 
As for my second job, I worked for the Long Beach Health Department in emergency preparedness management for disabled community. I have been working at this job for one year. I found an advertisement for a job opening on Facebook. 

Kim Vuong 06:57 
I thought it would be perfect for me because I love being an advocate. it. I thought that I could make a difference with the city. One of the coolest things that I did was training to get somebody out in an emergency. 

Kim Vuong 07:14 
I realized that i could put a bottle on my shoulders and drag them out of danger. That's incredible. I am a person that can see what is needed in the community and I can make it happen by I connected with community organization experience. 

Kim Vuong 07:31 
For example, I put the idea about the accessible maps meeting at the beaches. I told my council that I was not able to walk on the sand to the water. They brought it up in a council meeting. That's how we got the beach mats. 

Mai Ling Chan 07:50 
Excellent. And what Kim is referring to is her advocacy to get beach mats on the city beaches in Long Beach. She's on The Citizen Advisory Commission for Disabilities and she's been advocating for the installation of these mats. 

Mai Ling Chan 08:04 
And that's another thing that I was saying, if you follow her on Facebook, you'll see all of the places that she has been successful with us. So fantastic, Kim, is that, you know, you saw the need, you experienced it yourself, and then now you were able to help so many other people who want to be able to go onto those beaches, correct? 

Mai Ling Chan 08:24 
So, Kim, when did you begin planning to live independently? 

Kim Vuong 08:29 
I started to begin to planning and live independent. When I was 17 years old, I taught in my regional center that I wanted to move out some time, but I never thought I would have to have moved out at the age of 18, but i did. 

Kim Vuong 08:48 
I started talking to my counselor and he gave me independent living goals, but then he began working with a supportive living service. I would recommit that they reach out to the resources in the community. 

Kim Vuong 09:04 
I think you need to be an independent as you can at home. 

Mai Ling Chan 09:10 
Excellent. Kim, 17. That's like a child. I know, 18, you're big, right? We have a daughter who's just turned 18 and she thinks she's an adult, which all 18 -year -olds think that. Looking back, can you see how young that was and how courageous that was? 

Kim Vuong 09:32 
Yeah, I can see that! parents doesn't think that their children with disabilities can be able to do it. 

Mai Ling Chan 09:42 
Yes, and I love the perspective that you shared in your chapter in our book, Becoming an Exceptional API Leader, and it's just such a testament to the strength of the woman that you are, the person that you and physical strength too, talking about you can carry somebody. 

Mai Ling Chan 10:00 
That's incredible. all. If you're like me, you can't get enough of books, podcasts, blogs and other ways to find out how to create, grow and scale. That's why I brought together 43 disability -focused leaders to give you more of what you are looking for. 

Mai Ling Chan 10:19 
You will hear their stories in three best -selling books which focus on general offerings, augmentative and alternative communication, and speech -language pathology. I invite you to search for becoming an exceptional leader on Amazon so you can learn intimate start -up pearls of wisdom and keep growing your brilliant idea. 

Mai Ling Chan 10:39 
Now let's get back to our amazing interview. Okay, so what recommendations do you have for anyone who wants to achieve physical, financial, and social independence? I would say you're an expert in this space. 

Kim Vuong 10:53 
I recommend that they reach out to the resources and their communities. I think you need to be an independent as you cannot hold this is what I tell the kids parents that I work with For special you pay needs to let them view as much as they contort there in the tendons such as helping Which or isn't helping with cooking? 

Kim Vuong 11:17 
I? Don't have any work -life balance to Be truthful with you. I have always been a workaholic I want to tell you about a very special event that I have been organizing. Absolutely. 

Mai Ling Chan 11:35 
We definitely want hear about this. So before we get to that, Kim, I just wanted to make some comments. I love your recommendations for independence, and then you moved right into work -life balance. 

Mai Ling Chan 11:55 
And that is so important. I know that you're a go -go- go person. And to admit that you don't have a healthy amount of work -life balance, that's very personal. So thank you for sharing that. It's one of those pieces of the three -legged chair. 

Mai Ling Chan 12:11 
It is important that we fill our cups. And I've heard that an empty cup has nothing to give. But I am also thinking, my audience is going to think I stalk you on Facebook, But I know that you also do martial arts, right? 

Mai Ling Chan 12:27 
So would you consider that to be somewhat a work -life balance, like doing something physical for yourself or healthy for your self? 

Kim Vuong 12:37 
Last year, I took time to get some exercise in my work with my martial art classes. This helps me try to create a happy blend in the life. Yeah, so important. So important! 

Mai Ling Chan 12:51 
Okay, so now you say you have an event that you want to share with us. 

Kim Vuong 12:56 
I want to tell you about a very special event, that I have been organizing. This April 13th TH, I will be hosting an adaptive sports fair at Long Beach City College. For the longest time, I've been wanting to have a adaptive sports event for the city of Long beach, and the surrounding experience. 

Kim Vuong 13:21 
Last year, I had the opportunity to meet with two adaptive sports organizations. I asked them if they wanted to help me to put on an adaptive sport fair in Long Beach, and they said yes, so that is how I got the ball rolling. 

Mai Ling Chan 13:36 
So, is this the first time that they're doing this, an Adaptive Sports Conference? Yes. Excellent, wow, Kim, that takes a lot of organization and also a lot influence. 

Kim Vuong 13:50 
And a lot of fundraising. That's right. 

Mai Ling Chan 13:53 
And you need to do that. That is a whole other episode talking about asking for money, right? You know, not everybody feels comfortable to that? Yeah. 

Kim Vuong 14:05 
Well, I am very comfortable with that one. 

Mai Ling Chan 14:07 
That s fantastic. It is testament to what you do. Okay, before you go, Kim, I just wanted to share with our listener a little bit of your background. Is that okay? So Kim actually came from Vietnam in 1974. 

Mai Ling Chan 14:22 
I'm sorry, she was born in 1974 in Vietnam and she came to the US in 1980. And it's been amazing what she has accomplished. And you heard a little bit about her ability to live independently, starting from 18 years old, and then now being an absolute leader in the community. 

Mai Ling Chan 14:41 
She also has earned a degree in Women's Studies from Santa Ana College, and for the past eight years, she's been working at Tickenor Clinic in Long Beach and that's where she is talking about developing life skills for teenagers with disabilities, then as I mentioned, a member of the City of Long Beach Citizens Advisory Commission and she was doing such great work about accessibility for all of The Beaches, also in 2021, was a recipient of Disabled Resources Center's Jerry Stein Memorial Independent Living Award, and this recognizes volunteer and professional achievement and promotes awareness of the achievements of people with disabilities. 

Mai Ling Chan 15:19 
So Kim, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope that our listener really got to hear your voice and your story. I also invite our listeners to read your chapter in becoming an exceptional API leader and to connect with you on Facebook. 

Mai Ling Chan 15:34 
Kim so excited, we'll be watching for that accessibility conference that you're putting together and you can let us know how we can support you through your social media. Thank you so much, Kim. 

Kim Vuong 15:45 
Thank you for inviting me to the team. 

Mai Ling Chan 15:48 
Excellent. Thanks. Bye -bye, Kym. We hope you enjoyed this episode and invite you to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and share the show with people you think will find value from it. This helps the Show a lot or have a great guest referral. 

Mai Ling Chan 16:04 
Reach out to us at xleaders at gmail .com And if you want exclusive tips on becoming 

James Berges 16:10 
an exceptional leader, deliver straight to your inbox, just go to exceptionalleaders .com and sign up for our mailing list. Thanks for listening.