Within the last year, DonorsChoose has made it easier for teachers to create projects and add tags to help highlight projects that benefit students with disabilities, including students with visual impairments (inclusive of blind/low vision). As a donor, I often seek out projects that are…

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

Why I prefer to receive digital accessible materials instead of print ones

How I use Quizlet, a free study app that supports large print and screen readers.

When I was volunteering in an elementary school classroom, I had a student tell me how much they wished that they could read all of the different books that were in their classroom library. This student had a print disability that meant they were unable…

I’ve talked a lot about accommodations for low vision students on my website, though many of my posts have focused on accommodations for print materials or the use of assistive technology. Another important consideration for helping low vision students to thrive in the classroom is…

When I was in middle school, I began to experience academic ableism in the classroom, primarily from my teachers. While I was fortunate to have many wonderful teachers who helped me to develop a love of learning and a sense of belonging in the classroom,…

Over the weekend, one of my friends sent me a video recorded by an active bystander for academic ableism who was showing a situation where a student with hearing loss was being berated by the professor for their disability. I don’t want to share the…

I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) after dealing with symptoms for many years and experiencing a serious fall on campus that required hospitalization. After I was discharged from the hospital, my neurologist told me that I had to re-evaluate how I would…

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…

As a student with low vision, I am used to requesting and explaining disability accommodations in my college classes and in other testing environments. However, one of the things that surprised me when I started taking primarily virtual classes and exams is that I needed…

Over the years, I have had several awesome teachers and professors who have helped me learn how to write essays and research papers for my classes quickly and efficiently. Because of them, I have earned consistently high scores on all of my writing assignments and…

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…

Recently, I received a question from a teacher who was nervous about having their student (who has an unidentified disability) taking virtual classes, as they do not know a lot about troubleshooting assistive technology or supporting students with technical issues. They were wondering what the…

This week, I had the awesome opportunity to be a guest on the AT The Heart: Assistive And Inclusive Technology Stories podcast, which is hosted by one of my Twitter friends, Hillary Goldthwait-Fowles. I had a lot of fun getting to talk about the importance…