Chiari Malformation

All about AIM-VA and their services

Math assignments often use multi-column layouts and place text or page elements close to each other to save space, which can be challenging for students with low vision that are already dealing with the high demand visual tasks that come with studying math. While some…

I gave a talk about what I wish I learned about assistive technology before starting college a few years ago, based on my experiences preparing for transition from high school to college at the undergraduate level. Recently, I had someone ask me if there was…

I recently came across a conversation thread on social media talking about how difficult it can be to keep a dorm room clean with chronic illness and how having a messy dorm can be frustrating not only for visitors, but for the person living in…

Questions I was asked about my undiagnosed chronic illness in high school

I use dictation as assistive technology frequently when I am using mainstream technology devices such as my computer, phone, and tablet. Also known as speech-to-text, dictation tools take spoken words, numbers, punctuation, and other formatting information as input, and transcribes the audio as text that…

Even though I have lived with a chronic pain condition for many years, it wasn’t until recently that I fully realized how my condition influences how I interact with websites, applications, and other digital content, and how there aren’t many resources available that talk about…

When one of my friends introduced me to BlindAlive’s Eyes Free Fitness audio workouts a few years ago, I became more interested in learning about nonvisual exercise programs and ways to follow along with exercise and dance classes without having to rely on visual cues.…

I love the look and feeling of a freshly-made bed, but I’ve found that many of my Chiari Malformation symptoms like neck/shoulder pain, headaches, and poor strength/coordination in hands are aggravated when I make my bed using traditional methods. Over the years, I’ve received tips…

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…

While living on campus with low vision and chronic illness, I shared a bathroom and communal living space with 1-3 other girls, depending on the dorm. In many cases, I was the first person that used a blindness cane or that had a physical disability…

I live with a disability and chronic illness along with multiple allergies, so being able to quickly locate and provide medical information to medical staff or first responders is very important to me when I am receiving medical care. One of my favorite tools for…