Products that help to make a dorm room completely dark for college students with migraines, based on my own on-campus experience

When I first moved into my new dorm in undergrad, I felt super overwhelmed as I tried to keep track of a ton of information while living on my own. By the time I would get back from classes, my visual fatigue and cognitive fatigue…

When I was in college, I found out that one of my friends had recently started using a white cane/blindness cane when I tripped over it while walking in the dining hall. Another time I helped a different friend look for their cane after they…

When I lived in college dorm/on-campus housing, the resident advisors for my floor would create dorm door signs and dorm door decorations for students that included their name and a fun design. There are a lot of creative dorm door decorations, and I received an…

Even though I didn’t live in a mobility access/wheelchair accessible dorm on campus during undergrad, I still used several dorm room disability hacks to make it easier and more comfortable to move around my dorm. As a student diagnosed with Chiari Malformation and then-undiagnosed POTS,…

During the last few semesters of college, my disability and chronic illness made it difficult for me to walk to classes on my own. Even with the use of guides and mobility aids, I would often show up to class exhausted, since I had used…

Ever wonder “how does a blind person use the bathroom?” or “how does someone who is visually impaired take a shower?” I’ve had many people ask me these questions, including children, teachers, friends, and even people I shared a bathroom with in student housing. Like…

While living on campus, I would typically order items online and have them delivered to me instead of going to physical stores. Since I have low vision and an unpredictable chronic illness, ordering items online in college required less energy than making an off-campus trip,…

When I was moving out of my dorm at the end of the school year and rearranging items inside a box, a staff member asked why I don’t take my blindness cane with me everywhere I go. They were wondering how I was able to…

Balancing security and accessibility, an IT major’s guide to improving your passwords

When arriving at a doctor’s appointment or meeting with a specialist, patients are often expected to fill out several medical forms by hand in the waiting room, and are expected to finish by the time they are escorted to an exam room. Since patients can…

When I lived in tech internship housing for the summer, I had a small “celebration” with friends when I realized that I had avoided locking myself out of my room for the entire summer. This was particularly impressive because I had struggled with locking myself…