Education

Last year, one of my best friends, who I will call Jane, experienced a great deal of academic ableism from a professor in their major. While I wasn’t there to witness what happened in the classroom, I watched Jane suffer from a mental and emotional…

When I was in middle school, I began to experience academic ableism in the classroom, primarily from my teachers. While I was fortunate to have many wonderful teachers who helped me to develop a love of learning and a sense of belonging in the classroom,…

Over the weekend, my friend and I had the awesome opportunity to watch Mischief Movie Night In with audio description. We’re both huge fans of The Play That Goes Wrong, so when we learned that Mischief was going to be doing a virtual broadcast that…

Over the weekend, one of my friends sent me a video recorded by an active bystander for academic ableism who was showing a situation where a student with hearing loss was being berated by the professor for their disability. I don’t want to share the…

A little over a year ago, I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome following a fall on campus and subsequent hospitalization. I’ve learned a lot about how to manage this condition over the course of a year, and my professors have been very supportive…

My tips for being successful in college admission interviews

This semester, I noticed a new tool within my online classes called Blackboard Ally that could transform the way that I access materials as a student with low vision that fluctuates frequently. I’ve been using Blackboard Ally for about a week and a half now,…

Recently, I received a message from a Teacher of the Visually Impaired asking about the most common tech skills for virtual classes that I use in college, as they were helping to prepare their students for taking online and hybrid classes in college by giving…

Over the last five years, I have had the opportunity to take two different online English classes and was able to earn high grades in both of them. While I naturally enjoy reading and writing, one of the challenges I had to overcome in taking…

Last semester, I had the opportunity to work with an elementary school-aged student and their teachers to help implement various accessibility tools within the classroom. After observing how the student moved around the classroom, I created a plan to help make their classroom more inclusive…

I’ve received hundreds of messages over the years from parents asking me questions about Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), specifically low vision IEPs and IEPs for visual impairment. Since I had an IEP in elementary school and again in high school for low vision, I’ve been…

Last semester, I had the opportunity to work with an elementary school-aged student and their teachers to help implement various accessibility tools within the classroom. After observing how the student moved around the classroom, I created a plan to help make their classroom more inclusive…

Attending theater productions and arts events with vision impairment

A young student I work with recently asked me if I knew anything about finding accessible friendship bracelet patterns, or if I could help them figure out how to make the bracelets. In their class, making friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss or yarn is…

My family and friends frequently tell me that I am the type of person that can handle any situation that life throws at me and that many of my experiences can make great blog material. As a result of this, I have decided to start…