I have always loved reading, and would get excited whenever I had the opportunity to check out new picture books from the library or receive books as gifts. As a young child with low vision, I sometimes wondered why certain books were printed with blurry…

Shortly before my second year of college, I received a few orientation and mobility lessons for learning how to navigate with low vision and a blindness cane. These lessons were helpful for learning general travel skills, but I noticed they didn’t get into specifics about…

In 2019, I attended the Assistive Technology Industry Association’s annual conference in Orlando, Florida, which is held yearly in January/February. As a college student with low vision who is passionate about assistive technology, I was excited to attend the conference with a student discount and…

I’ve been using my iPad a lot for writing lately and noticed that my hands were starting to hurt after doing so much typing on the device’s touchscreen keyboard. After learning that a physical hardware keyboard could help me type more quickly and efficiently with…

When I was in middle school, one of my teachers had a classroom that was filled with a lot of bright lights and glare-inducing items, which was difficult for me as a student with low vision and photophobia/light sensitivity. I know that the teacher had…

As a student with low vision and dysgraphia, I frequently use dry-erase boards for working out math problems or taking notes when working on a programming assignment because I find it easier to adjust the surface and write with a marker instead of traditional pencils…

When I was shadowing a classroom teacher in an elementary school, I noticed that I had trouble noticing when students were raising their hands, or figuring out which student was raising their hand. When I talked about this with one of my professors, they helped…

Learn all about Bookshare, the accessible text service that changed my life!

Common misconceptions and myths about print disabilities and how they impact a person’s ability to access information, from a student with low vision

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 in a college dorm, I had a mini fridge that I kept next to my desk for storing snacks, small meals, drinks, and ice packs. Having a smaller fridge can make things easier to locate, but organizing a dorm mini fridge is still…

In 2018, I was selected as one of ten winners for the Microsoft Women in Computing award and had the opportunity to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing. This conference is held in September/October and is the largest gathering of women and…