When I was in middle and high school, many teachers and school staff members encouraged me to develop strong self-advocacy skills so that I could feel comfortable talking about my low vision and what accommodations I would need in the classroom. Talking to a substitute…

When preparing for an IEP meeting, a 504 Plan meeting, or a Disability Services meeting, parents and students will often be asked to come up with sample accommodations that can be used to provide services for students in the classroom. However, it can be very…

A prospective student recently asked me if they really needed to get a Disability Services file for college, because they didn’t want to go through the intake process or go to a bunch of meetings when they would primarily be taking online classes and could…

Here are the accommodations I request for accessible print materials

When I was in middle school and high school, I didn’t know very much about document accessibility or how to create or remediate accessible assignments for low vision, but I could quickly figure out if someone handed me an assignment if I could read it…

When I was working with an elementary school student with low vision, I collaborated with their support team and classroom teacher to make their elementary school classroom more accessible to students with visual impairments so that they could navigate the space independently. Before, the student…

When I was working with a student preparing to transition to middle school, I worked with the student’s support team to come up with a list of ideas and strategies for setting up their future middle school classrooms with low vision accessibility in mind. Since…

Ever since ninth grade, all of the history classes I have ever taken have been online history classes because I find it easier to access information on my computer or tablet compared to larger lecture settings where it can be challenging to view information presented…

Since I first stepped into my kindergarten classroom, I have used some form of assistive technology for dysgraphia every day of my life and in every single one of my classes and jobs, from K-12 to college to graduate school. Even though my handwriting has…

As a student with low vision who spends a lot of time in computer labs, I’ve worked with several teachers to create a list of options on implementing computer lab accommodations for low vision students. Whether students are taking virtual classes, completing in-class activities, or…

As an undergraduate student living with an unpredictable medical condition, I often relied on college scheduling hacks for students with chronic illness to put together a hybrid schedule each semester that would provide options for flexible attendance and easy access to course materials online. This…

Here is how I explain my brain condition, Chiari Malformation, to people