Matthew: A story of support and success
The Arc Oregon’s Guardianship, Advocacy, and Planning Services (GAPS) program has three advocates that provide medical representation, personal advocacy, and guardianship for people with IDD. One of these people is Matt, whose guardian is Heidi Dixon. He came out as a trans man in February 2023 and Heidi immediately started educating herself to best support him on his journey. They recently sat down to discuss how his guardianship Heidi’s advocacy has helped him achieve his goals.
This interview has been lightly edited for conciseness and readability.
Tell me a little about yourself, what did you do in school?
I wrote a lot, all the time in school. In Middle School I worked in the cafeteria. I helped clean tables in grade school too. I met a nice lady and got to know her family too. Her father and mother were very nice. They liked me the way I was. I would like to find them again.
Have you looked on Facebook or social media sites?
I don’t feel comfortable online like that. I don’t know those people on there.
How have you felt about being under Guardianship?
Long time ago, I had a different guardian. I had a guardian when I was still in school. I lived with my Grandma and Dad and then my step mom came into the picture. My dad didn’t work and he drank too much. My dad got arrested because he did very bad things to me. That’s how I got a guardian.
One of the goals you’ve accomplished was getting a job. What was this like for you?
I learned about job skills while I was at PSU [Portland State University]. I took classes on daily skills like cooking and doing housework. They got me ready for a job.
What other kind of classes did you take when you were at PSU?
Social studies, writing, you know, normal stuff.
You’ve told me you were in an LGBTQIA+ group while at PSU. How did you get connected with it?
I met a lady named Susan and she told me about it. I heard about it from other people too. I wanted to go to it so I took a bus to the group in Portland. It wasn’t in the paper or anything. I heard about it from people at school.
Did you feel like you identified more with this group than others?
Yeah. I was also friends with some of them because I met them in swimming class.
Is this when you started thinking about transitioning?
Not all the way. I was learning still.
How are you feeling about your transitions?
I can’t hide it. I have to be me. I can’t hide what I feel inside of me. I had a really tough life and now I can be me.
I have lived in foster care for many, many years. My first foster place just fed me lots of junk and I got very fat. It wasn’t good for me. I have moved a few times since then but went to a group home finally. I have always wanted my own apartment. Now I have that.
Do you feel supported with your transition? How has your team responded to this change?
I love living here. My staff here are really helping me. I get to choose what I want to do, when I want to do it. They listen to me and help me get to my appointments and keep me safe. They ask me instead of telling me what to do.
If you met someone in services that told you they wanted to transition, what advice would you give them?
I would tell them you need to do what you want. You can be either or. You need to choose your life and life as you are comfortable with yourself. Ignore people who tell you differently, this is your life and it doesn’t matter what others want for you.
It doesn’t matter what other people think of you. It matters what you think about yourself.