Podcast Episode
Full Transcript
Connor Kunze,:
There could be a perfect solution and it could be completely within your reach, but if you’ve never heard of it, you won’t find it. And the only way to find is to seek. It was a one-on-one meeting with a teacher who simply asked, what needs to get done and how can we help you achieve that? And through that, I began to understand my disabilities better. And just like studying, when it comes to accommodation, I would say research is key. If you don’t fully know what something is, look into it.
Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson. Today, we’re going to be talking to Connor Kunze, and he is a high school student who is also involved in the PSEO program, which is Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program, where you can simultaneously take college classes and get college credits while you’re still in high school. State Services for the blind conducted a College 101 Webinar, and you can hear experienced college students, given their advice, tips and tricks on some best practices to succeed in college.
Student 3:
As a PSEO versus high school, I say that college, you have a lot more responsibility, and the learning and the synthesizing ideas is a lot more demanding, but, you get the benefit of being treated as an equal citizen at the college and potentially graduating early from both high school and college.
Student 1:
As fun as figuring stuff out and as cool as that like is going to feel for you when you do, it’s also just really helpful to know when you need help. And there’s no shame in that.
Student 3:
The alternative book formats, they gave me a form I filled out and I just go look at the textbook I want, jot down the ISBN, name of book, send it back and they actually talk to the publisher. Got a PDF copy from the publisher, and I could just download it to my iPad.
Jeff:
And you’ll find a link to the College 101 podcast episode in the show notes. Be sure to click it. Check it out.
Connor, welcome to Blind Abilities.
Connor:
Thank you for having me.
Jeff:
Give us a little description about what PSEO is all about.
Connor:
Right. So it is a program that allows you to take courses with a number of specific cooperating colleges. You will earn high school and college credits simultaneously as they are converted. Now, you can choose to be partial or full-time, and that entirely depends on the credit load. I myself am partial currently.
It has been working pretty well. The benefits of this program are that it is essentially a free handful of semesters of college. If you start in your junior year, you can get a full associate’s degree completely free.
Jeff:
Well, that’s quite handy. You’re doing double time while in high school, you’re already gaining on college credits. Have you looked at a college that you’d like to attend?
Connor:
Yes. So currently, I am attending Pine Tech, which is a community college in Pine County.
Jeff:
And that’s because they handle the PSEO classes as well?
Connor:
Yes. They are also relatively close to where I live. So if I wanted to pursue on-campus courses, which I will be doing this coming semester, then I have that option, and it is easy to navigate. They just redid the entire campus, and it is gorgeous. When I move on to a four-year school, I will be attending the University of Minnesota.
Jeff:
What did you look into determining that that’s where you would like to go?
Connor:
Well, it’s not far from where I live. It has good reviews and stories from my friends, and it has language courses that I’m interested in.
Jeff:
So what do you think about accommodations and accessibility services at the U of M or at your Pine College?
Connor:
Well, I can’t speak for U of M. However, I can say that Pine Tech has been nothing but kind. They have been very receptive, very accommodating the entire time. It is one of the few places where when I’m out using my cane, nobody looks at me funny. So that’s always appreciated.
Jeff:
Digging deeper with the University of Minnesota, what kind of questions will you ask them about accessibility or accommodations?
Connor:
As I’m guessing computers aren’t provided at that kind of level, I don’t have to worry about system access for various browser add-ons. However, I may have to ask for seating arrangements and such so that I am able to see the presentation, and I’m sure that won’t be much of an issue.
Jeff:
So there’s a process that you’d probably be contacting your professors as you sign up for classes?
Connor:
Certainly.
Jeff:
What kind of timeframe would you say someone should do that beforehand?
Connor:
Well, I would argue that it is best to figure out basic accommodations before you need them. I understand that that’s not always possible, and you may need to sort of feel your way out on occasion. However, I think if there’s something that you already know you will absolutely need to be successful, then that is something to ask for before the start of the semester.
Jeff:
So sending an email, at least letting the professor know your combination or needs and stuff opens up that door?
Connor:
Yes, absolutely. I mean, if you can even pursue a phone call or a personal meeting, that typically will lead to a higher success rate, in my case.
Jeff:
In your current college, have you found any accommodations that were unmet?
Connor:
Um…
Jeff:
Or that you had to advocate a little bit more for?
Connor:
Yes, actually. This is sort of an ongoing issue, and that is the lack of digital textbooks. You see, because of the specific nature of my conditions, I can hardly read anything that is just written on paper, and that makes navigating textbooks very unpleasant. So I requested some form of digital copy, and that proved impossible, unfortunately.
Jeff:
Now in high school, you had an IEP.
Connor:
That’s correct.
Jeff:
Transitioning from an IEP. Can you explain to people what it’s like? I mean, you can’t bring your district teachers with you to college, so you’ll be going to an IPE as you enter college.
Connor:
Yes.
Jeff:
What is that transition like?
Connor:
Well, currently, as I’m attending a community college, it is less of a Britain form and more of a handshake agreement of accommodation. It’s, you know, more of… We’ll get you whatever you need within reason, but it’s going to take a minute.
Jeff:
And that’s probably why being ahead of the game is a good start.
Connor:
Yes. It probably would have been much easier to acquire a different version of a textbook if it were not already in my hands and paid for.
Jeff:
Ah, now converting it.
Connor:
Yes.
Jeff:
You mentioned you had friends that have gone to college. How does that help you when you’re making decisions? Their experiences, I imagine?
Connor:
Yes. While it’s not always completely helpful, it does bring insight into certain processes, and if they had an issue with them, it might prove useful to know what went wrong and how to avoid that situation.
Jeff:
As you first started out in the community college, what kind of preparation advice would you give to someone who is embarking on the same path you are?
Connor:
Other than the basic, be nice to everyone, don’t take chemistry. I would say as difficult as it is, don’t be afraid to ask, because although it’s true that they can’t shut you down if you never ask in the first place, they also can’t say yes if you never ask in the first place. It is very important to self-advocate and to be as clear as you possibly can and specific in your wording about what you need, what it’s going to take to get it, and how important it is.
Jeff:
What kind of networks do you develop as you’re going to college? Do you have any? Do you communicate with anyone to problem-solve?
Connor:
Could you elaborate on what you mean by networks?
Jeff:
Networks like a group of friends, teachers, anything with the school?
Connor:
Well, at Pine Tech, we are lucky to have a staff member. Her position is specifically to ensure the comfort and success of students. She will coordinate housing and accommodations and sort out communication with teachers. You can also act as a course manager if you want to drop or change something about the way you are approaching a course. She has been extremely receptive and very kind.
Jeff:
How did you find managing coursework and academic challenges? Are there organizational strategies that you would use or recommend?
Connor:
Organization has never been my strong suit. I unfortunately might not be the best to ask.
Jeff:
I mean, everyone’s unique in the way they accomplish goals and challenges that they have. Homework, how did you attack that?
Connor:
Well, I tried a couple different strategies, not all of which were overly successful. I would say find what works for you and if you need assistance in finding a new way to approach something, you could probably ask your professor. As they have spoken to countless students that were all taking this specific course, they will likely be able to give you a concrete answer on the best way to approach things. I suppose the best advice I could give is that as much as it may annoy you to hear it, studying is more important than you think, especially for those with vision issues. Depending on the condition, you may struggle with not reading comprehension, but the comprehension of the physical words themselves. You know what I mean.
If you read the entire line, you could easily grasp the meaning, but you can’t always read the entire line. So I think it’s important to start early and always double check the information, because I have made that mistake before.
Jeff:
You’ve mentioned talking to your professor a couple of times. Is this through email or are all professors different on how you do it? Like, do they have office hours or something that you take advantage of?
Connor:
I think they’re all different. For us, I was taking exclusively online-only courses last year, so all of our communications through email. That was difficult for me as I do not do well with email.
Jeff:
It sounds like you have to be flexible as you embark upon this. You try and then you try something else, but you seem to be keep on moving forward. What works, works, and what doesn’t, you’ve changed it up.
Connor:
Yes, I agree. I think it is important to be willing to change your approach, because especially when it comes to accommodation, you might not always get your perfect answer. Sometimes the right answer isn’t even the one you thought it was.
Jeff:
We may think we know everything, but that’s why we’re going to school, right?
Connor:
Yes and just like studying, when it comes to accommodation, I would say research is key. If you don’t fully know what something is, look into it, because most of the time, there will be plenty of informative pages on whatever the accommodation may be, assuming it’s something physical. It isn’t always something physical.
Sometimes you might need guidance from a peer or a specific seating situation, but assuming it is something physical, make sure you know exactly what it is and what it does, because if you ask for an accommodation that is particularly difficult to get a hold of, and then it doesn’t work, you may be in a situation where they are less receptive to your future ideas. I have been in that situation before.
Jeff:
And time is of essence.
Connor:
Absolutely. It is a material that most have less of than they would think.
Jeff:
Yeah. Is your ultimate goal? What field are you looking forward to?
Connor:
Unfortunately, I haven’t quite made that decision yet. I know that while I have a dream career, I also need something on the side to act as a stable income while I pursue the larger idea. I will definitely be working in the field of computer science, possibly IT, because it’s something that I’ve done before. Computers are easy. It’s not anything that is quickly moving away from me, or that I would need to see extremely small, fine details to work with, because I would be working on the software end rather than the hardware end. But of course, my dream career would be voice work, that being narration, voice acting, things such as.
Jeff:
I agree with you. It’s nice to have a couple paths to go down, because one may put the bread on the table, and the other might be a hobby of sorts, but if one takes off more than the other, you’re in two areas that you enjoy.
Connor:
Yeah.
Jeff:
I think you really said something there. It’s in front of you, the computer. It’s something that you see a path forward in. Whereas I think when you’re looking at trades, you’re thinking, okay, now you have to get a toolbox, or now you have to get this or something, where you already have some experience in the software end of things. So there you go.
Connor:
I know that trades and, therefore, trade schools are becoming a bit more popular again. But everyone in my circle is at least thinking about pursuing college. Mostly for the fact that it’s sort of the default path for those who can afford it, but also because in today’s job market, most of the accessible jobs do require a degree.
Jeff:
What kind of technology do you utilize on a daily basis and for school?
Connor:
Well, I am surrounded by it at all times. I have multiple monitors, and they are all very large, so I can see them. I have phone conducting headphones that essentially cancel out my deafness, which is lovely. I walk with a cane. I use flame cutting glasses when I navigate outdoors or in a room with large windows.
Jeff:
When you say flame cutting glasses, you’re talking about blocking the light?
Connor:
Yes, yes that is what they do.
Jeff:
I just like that name, flame cutting glasses.
Connor:
Yeah, it’s because it’s for flame cutting, essentially the opposite of welding.
Jeff:
Ah, that’s cool.
Connor:
For the most part, I can actually navigate outdoors. Whereas before it was step outside, instant migraine, instant blindness, I can’t even think about opening my eyes until I am fully in the car with three layers of sunglasses on.
Jeff:
Oh, wow.
Connor:
My case is an extreme one. I’m not completely blind. I understand that that comes with its own uniquely difficult challenges.
Jeff:
Advocacy. How did you develop your advocacy to go for what you want?
Connor:
A few bad experiences and a very good teacher. You see, my elementary school was not entirely receptive to disabled students. They were sort of an afterthought to be dealt with, rather than fully supported.
I assume they did what they can with their budget, but attitude-wise, it was not the easiest environment. They would follow parts of your IEP because they legally had to, but beyond that they were of no help. For example, I am completely colorblind. Obviously, being an elementary school, there were a lot of color-based assignments.
You know, assorting objects, coloring things in the right color for specific kinds of information, the like. And when I or a peer informed the teacher of my color blindness, I was told to just get over it, and then it’s not that bad. So I didn’t exactly have the best attitude toward my disabilities when it came to middle and high school.
I went to two different middle schools. Early on, at the first one, I firmly believe that had I expressed myself, I would have been fully accommodated. However, because I had the attitude that I was an obstacle rather than an opportunity, I didn’t ask much. I was even afraid to walk with my cane for years, because I didn’t want to make it obvious that I was disabled. So I ran into a lot of walls in those days.
Jeff:
You couldn’t be you.
Connor:
Yeah, I meant physical walls, but that too.
Jeff:
When did it change?
Connor:
In eighth grade. That’s when I moved on to my current school, which is an online school that has, I believe, seven through 12th grade, I was given a class called essentials. Now, I didn’t exactly understand what this was because I wasn’t exactly told what this was. In the beginning, I didn’t even go to the live sessions because I didn’t understand what it was.
Looking back, I understand that this was silly. Eventually, I did start showing up and it was a one-on-one meeting with a teacher who simply asked what needs to get done and how can we help you achieve that.
And through that, I began to understand my disabilities better and how to express the troubles I had been having to my teachers. And she was the one that taught me not to be afraid that most are willing to help you and those that aren’t at the very least don’t face the repercussions of it being known they aren’t. So either they help you or they help you.
Because in many cases, it is outright illegal for them not to. Of course, all the teachers at that school were lovely. They were completely accommodating. They did everything they could. They went above and beyond to ensure that I could read and understand the materials and that I was able to work in a way that was on track with the rest of the students. There are some details in my old IEP that some would even call excessive. I wouldn’t, of course.
I would call them fantastic. But I understand the thought process. For example, they asked, what would be most comfortable when it comes to reading and comprehension and whatnot. And I believe it even says not to use PDFs and if possible, ensure that a document is either preloaded with or has the ability to be changed to yellow text on a black background. Because if it’s not in dark mode, I probably can’t read it.
Jeff:
The contrast and then brightness.
Connor:
Yeah, the contrast and the fact that looking at a white background is physically painful. I’m glad that Zoom finally changed its UI and it now seems to be much easier on the eyes.
Jeff:
So as you move forward here and like you said, probably going to the University of Minnesota, how do you plan on taking on the dorm life, being present at the college and extracurricular activities? What do you do when you take a break from your schoolwork and stuff? But as a head towards college, how do you envision that coming along?
Connor:
I expect some growing pains in this area. I expect it will not be the easiest transition, but I believe that if I make it clear what I need and I work with those at the school to find out what is available, it really shouldn’t be more of an issue than it needs to. The biggest thing would be navigation. I have never been one to navigate well. If I really do everything that I can, I will be able to adjust. And I’m looking forward to gaining broader perspectives, which I believe college is great for that.
Jeff:
I think that’s great. I mean, state services for the blind, you can have an O &M orientation mobility person come out and navigate around and learn some routes and some ways of finding where things are.
Connor:
You know, I really was not aware of that. I’ve worked with orientation and mobility services before, but I was not aware that it was available through college. That is fascinating. I am actually going to write that down and look into that.
Jeff:
That’d be part of your IPE. Because when you go into college, they have an O &M specialist that are right at SSB, and they would just schedule something in advance of you taking your classes to get orientated to like you’d have your schedule there.
You could find all your buildings, all your classes and everything like that. That’s what they’re there for. And that navigation thing is one of the biggest things. The nice thing about, I went to University of Minnesota, the nice thing about the campus, even though it’s large, it doesn’t change on a daily basis. So every morning you get up, that building is going to still be there. And through routine, you have six classes, you can learn all that.
Connor:
Yeah, I think it’s great that there are services to help you with that.
Jeff:
Yeah, when you embark upon the University of Minnesota, I’m sure you’re going to be talking with state services sort of blind and find out all the services that they have, whether it be orientation and mobility, doing a technology assessment to make sure you have the best tools that are available for you to succeed. The nice thing about the University of Minnesota is they have a student’s disability services office.
Connor:
Really?
Jeff:
They can help you with testing, they can give you a private room, they’ll figure out what your needs are and what they can do to offer. And from there, maybe, you know, sometimes the professors will send the test to them, and then they’ll accommodate the test if you need that type of, whether it be extra time or whether it be the privacy of a room, you know, lighting conditions, that type of thing too. So they have an office on campus, it’s good to get in touch with them in advance too, so you can become part of that clientele from the office. If you need it, if you don’t, it’s still there. But if you need it, see what they can do.
Connor:
That is lovely. I did not know.
Jeff:
Yeah, there’s so much to find out about the University of Minnesota and your state services for the Blind Counselor will go through that with you because in the University of Minnesota system, they also offer to qualified students, blind, visually impaired, a waiver to tuition.
And like I said, you can find out all this information, more information through your Counselor at State Services for the Blind, especially when you’re setting up your IPE, your individual plan for employment.
Connor:
Wait a minute, what?
Jeff:
Exactly. University of Minnesota offers waived tuition. You still have to pay for your books and your fees and your student life fees and that type of things.
Connor:
Naturally.
Jeff:
But when you hook up with State Services for the Blind, they’ll let you know about that.
Connor:
Huh. That is incredible.
Jeff:
The main thing is, they’re going to help you succeed through college and find out all the services that they have.
Connor:
Yeah, that absolutely makes sense. I think if they didn’t, it would be a missed opportunity. I mean, pretty soon I will be pursuing sports, which I never thought I could do. I found a one-on-one instructor for one of the sports that I wish to pursue.
Jeff:
What kind of sports are you interested in?
Connor:
There are three that I’m looking at. That particular instructor is for kickboxing. I would also like to learn Airsoft and HEMA, which is historical European martial arts. Various kinds of fencing and other sport combat that are derived from historical texts and manuals. Recreating the methods of sport combat from the past, but of course in a safer environment.
Jeff:
That’s really interesting. It’s really neat to find out different opportunities that are out there and to find out that there’s people out there that are willing to help people succeed.
Connor:
I agree.
Jeff:
I’m interested to follow up on you and those sports to see if we can resurrect them from the depths of the archives.
Connor:
Certainly. I’d be more than happy to follow up.
Jeff:
Last thing, what advice would you give to someone who’s in 9th, 10th, 11th grade that is looking forward to their academic journey?
Connor:
Learn what’s out there. Connect with the people that are there to help you and ask. That is really the best thing you can do is to find people that either know what’s out there or are willing to help you search. I think it is important to always be looking because there could be a perfect solution and it could be completely within your reach, but if you’ve never heard of it, you won’t find it.
Research these things yourself. Talk to others. Reach out to a counselor. See if your institution has a disability coordinator or they might call themselves a success coordinator because they don’t deal exclusively with disability.
Talk with state services for the blind. That’s a fantastic resource. That’s what got me on this show. They can help you with more than you think, but you have to be willing to talk to them. The only way to know is to try and the only way to find is to seek.
Jeff:
Some good words of advice. Connor, thank you so much for coming on The Blind Abilities.
Connor:
It was a pleasure and good luck with all your endeavors to you as well.
Jeff:
To hear more advice and tips and tricks from college students, check out College 101, the podcast episode. Here’s some clips to get you started.
Student 3:
My disability support services office allows you to ask for a single room accommodation, which is what I have. My room, it’s just me. Sometimes you’ll have situations where you have a roommate and you’ll have two people.
Student 2:
So many accommodations that I have are like extra time, access assistance, sitting preference, just essentially meaning like if I want to sit in the front row.
Student 1:
The best thing I can say is find a way to communicate with org leaders that works for you, whether it’s the president of like a glee club or whatever. Just find a way to communicate with them and then just put yourself out there. Find out where the thing is, ask for help if you need help finding the place that they’re meeting. You know, it really helps to kind of have some things that you’re passionate about because that will help narrow down what to look for when you are getting involved.
Student 3:
Self-advocacy is going to get you a long way because if you already know what you need, like, yep, I need extra time. I need front row seating. I need PDF textbooks. You can just list them out and the coordinator, for me at least, just wrote up an accessibility letter, gave it to me and once you get that accessibility letter, you have to go to your teachers and present the letter to them saying, hey, here’s my accessibility letter, here are the accommodations I got, I would like to use blah, blah, blah, I want to use extra time.
Student 1:
In college, the big difference here is that you really do need to reach out to disability services. Self-advocacy can be really hard. I’m the first to say that. I think that needs the space to be said and it’s also so important when you are accessing those services and talking with those people about what you do need. Communication is just really big.
Student 3:
Before class starts, the number one thing I want to do with new teachers is build rapport. It’s a tool that you can utilize later and it will definitely help you in the long run. So for me, I compile the list of professors and I send them an email saying, hello, this is Brian, I’m doing software development, I have a disability, this is what it means.
Student 1:
If you are going to use Braille, I would recommend getting a Braille display to use just because it’s highly unlikely that Braille materials will be available for a lot of those things because it is a lot to do just because it’s so many book volumes. I do work with SSB and I had someone show me where my classes were and have me do the routes. He was an O &M specialist so yeah.
Jeff:
So be sure to check out the College 101. The links are in the show notes. I want to thank you for listening. To find out more about all the programs at State Services for the Blind, contact Shane.desantis@state.mn.us. That’s Shane.desantis@state.mn.us. Be sure to contact your State Services for the Blind, your Voc Rehab and find out what they can do for you. Live, work, read, succeed. I want to thank you for listening and until next time, bye-bye.
[Music] [Transition noise] –
When we share-
What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities