College Transition

If you or a loved one has just been diagnosed with low vision or blindness, here’s why you need a case with your state vision impairment department

My biggest IEP goal, learning to self advocate, and how it has helped me more than I ever imagined

I received a message from a reader asking if I had any tips for choosing a laptop for college, because they were interested in finding the “best” laptop for their soon-to-be college student. While I can’t recommend a specific laptop brand or model that would…

I’ve had chronic migraines since I was in high school as a component of a then-undiagnosed neurological condition, which was later diagnosed as Arnold-Chiari Malformation Type 1 (also known as Chiari Malformation or Chiari 1 Malformation). Even though my migraines had a significant impact on…

Shortly before the day of my high school graduation, my mom received a phone call from the state department for visual impairment services asking if I was graduating from high school and if I was interested in their services for vocational rehabilitation for college students.…

On July 7th, I had the opportunity to attend a virtual event with the West Virginia affiliate for the Association for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired (also known as AERBVI or simply as AER). During the event, I shared some of…

One of the things that I love about my college is that there are hundreds of classes available for students to take that cover a wide variety of topics and areas of interest. While there are certain classes that a student may need to take…

My university hosts a “kids and sibs” college sibling weekend every spring that allows younger family members to spend a weekend at the college doing all sorts of fun “college life” activities like going to the dining hall, watching movies, spending the night in the…

My tips for being successful in college admission interviews

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…

Dealing with medical emergencies while living in the dorm/on campus housing

A few years ago, one of my best friends called me late at night feeling extremely distressed, because they were trying to figure out if they should report disability accommodation violations. Their professor hadn’t been following the accommodations listed in their Disability Services file, and…

I’m taking a couple of classes at a community college this summer to transfer back to my university, and one of the first things I did after enrolling as a visiting student was contact the Disability Services coordinator so that I would be able to…

As students of all ages begin planning registration for upcoming classes, I have received many messages asking questions about choosing virtual classes and how to figure out whether a class will be accessible or not for students with disabilities or other access needs. As a…

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to present a short talk at A Future Date, a free virtual conference event that showcased talks on topics related to accessibility and assistive technology. While I am currently working on a write-up about attending A Future…