About Me

I’m Ibraheem Shahadat and I started Brooklyn Access with the hope of educating families and caregivers of people with developmental disabilities about the self-direction program offered in New York State. I came to learn that many people in my community are unaware of State programs that their family members would benefit from. A major reason for this lack of awareness stems from ineffective communication and outreach across cultural lines. I want to break the cultural barriers and reach the families who wish they had access to such services made available by the State and show them that their aspirations are attainable and realistic.

Serving as a special education teacher for nearly a decade, I discovered that many of my students were underserved outside the school setting. While they were met with a great educational model by school day, their weekends and recreational time were often void of any activity. This puzzled me and made me assume that services were probably hard to find. It was when I had a student with special needs graduate from my school and undergo the transition from school services to adult services that I began researching appropriate service models for her to be involved in. That research led me to learning about the self-direction program offered by OPWDD. I was intrigued to learn that such a program existed wherein the client was awarded a budget by the State and federal government in order to customize their daily schedules to meet the clients goals. The project sounded like it afforded it’s members a high degree of independence which I much respected and admired. I found my curiosity driving me to register for the coursework necessary to become an authorized self-direction broker.

As a New York State authorized broker with a background in education, I strive to build  appropriate, functional, and meaningful goals, experiences, and life plans for my clients. Delivering instruction to students with dramatic brain injuries, deaf-blindness, and multiple and severe disabilities, my unique skillset allows me to contribute depth to my advocacy. Born with a visual impairment, I know what it feels like to be subjected to sympathetic judgement and doubt, because of one’s disability. It’s in major part my experiences of success and failure as a child and an adult with a disability that motivate me to truly see and respect the strengths, preferences, and interests of everyone I work with. I hope this platform will shed light on the self-direction program and offer you whatever help you and your family may need in assessing it’s reasonability in your lives. I’m currently accepting clients in the NYC area. If you’re interested in learning more and would like to interview me as a broker for your family member, you can schedule a conversation on my CONTACT page. I look forward to conversing with you and answering your questions.