Podcast Summary:
Thinking about college but not sure what it’s really like as a blind or low vision student? In this College 101 conversation, transition coordinator Shane DeSantis teams up with Kira and Mohamed, two blind/low vision college students, to break it all down from a student point of view. They talk about choosing a campus that fits you, connecting early with the disability office, and getting the right accommodations in place — from Braille and digital textbooks to private testing rooms, extra time, and note-taking tools like Voice Dream and iPad apps. You’ll hear how advocating for yourself, emailing professors, and actually talking to them before or after class can make or break a semester. They also share real talk on time management, learning new tech, O&M training, riding the bus, dealing with homesickness, and finding free-food events and support programs that make campus life more fun and less scary.
To find out more about the services provided at State Services for the Blind, and what they can do for you, contact Shane DeSantis at shane.desantis@state.mn.us or call Shane at 651-385-5205.
Full Transcript
{Music}
Kira: I like to talk to the professor before or after the first class to talk through things, especially if it’s going to be a trickier class.
Mohamed: Teaching was one of the first things I liked in in Metro. They have a great urban education program and I was hooked into it, so it was pretty good.
Kira: A private room for testing because the private room has more desk space and I need a lot of space.
Jeff: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Geoff Thompson, preparing for college? Which college? How’s my tech readiness? How will I find my way around campus? And what about this advocacy thing? These may be some questions that you have, or maybe just one of these questions. In this fourth annual College 101 event, Shane DeSantis, transition coordinator at State Services for the blind, and two college students, Kira and Mohamed, explain their college journeys by answering questions generated from high school students. And, with so much good information being shared, we are glad that we can share this College 101 event with you. So kick back and take notes. Class is about to begin.
Shane: Thanks again everyone who’s here. This is our fourth annual College 101 event, where we bring in college students to come in and share their experience in college. What that transition has been like from high school to college, and hopefully share some tips and tricks that will help future college students be set up for success. For everyone who doesn’t know me, my name is Shane DeSantis. I am the transition coordinator with State Services for the blind. I work closely with our counselors and all of our staff who are serving students to ensure they have access to quality services and experiences to help them prepare for their future goals. With me tonight, I’ve got a couple of current college students who are going to share their experiences, and I’ll introduce them here in a minute. And then I also wanted to make a quick introduction to Geoff Thompson with the podcast Blind Abilities. If anyone doesn’t know, Blind Abilities is I encourage you to just do a quick search of their podcast and their website and look into their content. Blind abilities is a local podcast focused on low vision, blind and deaf blind topics, and Geoff is actually going to be recording the audio tonight and turning this event into a podcast.
So for students or anyone who couldn’t make it tonight, they can tune into the podcast. We have a couple of SSB co-workers here in the audience as well. If you’ve worked with tou or Jesse with you there in the audience are going to be listening in and maybe adding some information here and there if they find it relevant and just helping the night run smoothly. So I know we have a few students in the audience. We have a parent and I encourage you all to ask a question. If you have a question, or if you want Mohamed or Kira or myself to discuss anything in particular, this night is for you guys to learn. Take all this information and help you prepare on your journey as you’re interested in attending college and being successful in near future studies. So with that, I’m going to kick it over to. Let’s start with Kira to do a quick introduction. Kira, would you like to say hello?
Kira: I’m Kira, I go to Minnesota State University, Mankato. I’m a senior this year and my major is recreation, parks and Leadership studies, which means. Well, a lot of my friends want to go into the national park system, but it also can mean event planning or facility management, like at a YMCA or like the Xcel Energy Center. But I’m planning, I want to do more with outdoor adaptive recreation.
Shane: And Kira, just lastly, can you share just a little bit as you’re comfortable about your vision?
Kira: I as a young child, I was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, which is a cancer of the retina. So my eyes got removed, so I have no vision. I use screen readers most of the time.
Shane: Thank you so much, Kira. Mohamed, would you like to go next?
Mohamed: My name is Mohamed Ismail. I go to Metropolitan State University. My major is mathematic teaching. Basically, I want to be a math teacher. So I’m currently working with an urban education program in the Metropolitan State University, and this is my senior year, so hopefully I’ll be doing my student teaching next fall 2026. I was born with a genetic disease called Stargardt’s. I have like some vision, but I’m a low vision, so yes.
Shane: Thank you so much. Mohamed, I’m going to start with you on. My first question is, what made you choose your college being Metropolitan State University, and what factors were most important in your decision in choosing your college?
Mohamed: I chose this college metropolitan because first, the other thing was my father went here before, so it was kind of like a family. He told me some things about the college, so it was pretty good. And when I was in high school, I did a tour in the college. It was basically kind of a field trip, but and I kind of liked like the size of the college, which is like it’s not a lot of students, which is very good. I like a smaller kind of medium, smaller college. The other factor that got into me was because I wanted to do teaching. Something that has to do with math and teaching was one of the first things I liked. And in Metro, they have a great urban education program and I was hooked into it, so it was pretty good. Yeah, those are the kind of factors I got in. Yeah, and it’s closer to my home. So it was very good.
Shane: So yeah, a few factors I wanted that went there. So you had some familiarity.. Two, the size of the campus. Not too big, not too small. Definitely a good consideration to make when you’re choosing a college. And then also I think sometimes, most importantly, it had the degree offering that you’re interested in that will help you become a math teacher. Wonderful.
Kira, what made you choose your college? And what were some of the factors that weighed in on that decision?
Kira: One of mine is pretty similar the size because I toured a few different colleges. Saint Kitts and some of the smaller private colleges just seem too small, even though I liked the idea of it. But then the U of M Twin Cities, with it having a two different campuses and being so big, I was like, I could not. So that’s partially why I picked Mankato, because the size it was big enough, but also, well, I didn’t know what I was going to do at that point, but I picked a program that’s also pretty small. Another factor was how big it was. They probably would have had students that needed braille before, so I knew I could get Braille if I needed it. So that was also part of it, because I was worried if it was a smaller school having to be the first blind person for their center. I just didn’t want to have to deal with that advocacy. And I think the third reason was it’s far enough away from home, but close enough. My parents have to warn me before they show up at my dorm room. So then I get the independence of being away from home, but also being close enough where if I do need to go home, or if my family wants to visit, they can.
Shane: Awesome. Thank you. I was gonna add, this is just a personal question that I had, which you kind of touched on, it was if accommodations and working with the center for students with disabilities was a factor at all in either of your decision. Kira, it sounds like the size of the campus played a factor in that because, you know, they probably worked with a blind student before and had some experience working with someone who’s blind or low vision. Mohamed did that have any influence on your decision?
Mohamed: Yes. Before I came to Metro, I actually did two years of community college before I came to Metro. I knew we call it Center of Accessibility Resources. CAR. Sorry. I didn’t know that they were. They were pretty good with accommodating. So that was one of the factors. Yep.
Shane: That’s cool. And I just want to make a quick point here before we dive into that subject more. Is that colleges are notorious for having different Names for their office that works with students with disabilities. So Mohamed said at Metropolitan State University, their office is called CAR and Mohamed. What did that stand for again?
Mohamed: Center of accessibility resources. They took out the of but it’s a yeah.
Shane: And Kira what does Mankato state called their office for students with disabilities.
Kira: I always forget what it’s called because I just call it AR, but it’s either accessibility resources or accommodation resources. But accessibility resources sounds right to me today.
Shane: So great. Another big system here in Minnesota, University of Minnesota. They called their office Disability Resource Centers or the DRC is that acronym. So students, as you’re looking at colleges or talking about colleges and accommodations, know that every college may have, unless it’s in a system of college, may have a slightly different name for the office that works with students with disabilities. But know that every public and I believe private institution does have a office for students with disabilities, where you guys can approach and get accommodations when you’re at college. So we’re going to dive into that a little bit more deeply. I might just call it the disability office as a universal language for tonight, just because I’m not going to remember CAR and AR. So, Kira, can you tell me a little bit about how you connected with your disability office And what was that first meeting like?
Kira: I remember I was told to start the process sooner rather than later. I tried starting it in around March or April of my senior year of high school, after I had been accepted and decided which college I wanted to go to. I can’t remember what came first, but you either had there were forms you had to fill out that your doctor and I think my counselor had to help me fill out where it was like, yes, you are disabled. And what kind of accommodations do you need? I think my IEP also helped out with that sort of thing, because there was also a housing accommodation form. I chose not to do it, but some people might appreciate it. I just didn’t feel like I needed it. And then my first meeting we discussed like what devices I use in high school and planned to use in college. And if I used Braille and what kind of braille I would prefer. Which I really just need it for more math heavy topics or the graphics and then getting slides ahead of time. And also electronic copies of books and things we discussed. Oh, and testing. So I still get double time for testing. I don’t always use it, but I’d rather have it.
Shane: Yeah, that’s a good point there. When you get an accommodation in college doesn’t mean you have to use it. It’s there if needed. So if you do need it, you can use it. But if you don’t need it, you don’t have to use your accommodation.
Kira: Oh, and audio description for videos because they can make audio description of videos that don’t have it. That’s the other thing.
Shane: So yeah a couple of Key points. They’re connecting in the spring before that fall semester is definitely early and wise. Glad to hear Kira. You didn’t connect, like a week or a month before the semester started, because that wouldn’t give that office as much lead time to get your accommodation set up and in place. So.
Kira: Oh yeah. One of my classes this semester, we started getting the Braille for it at the end of last year. Started figuring all that out. So yeah.
Shane: Yeah. That’s an accommodation that certainly takes some time doesn’t it?
Kira: Yeah. Especially since my school just got an Embosser. But the embosser, they really only use for smaller stuff, so they don’t actually do the bigger textbooks and things. So they had to get that figured out with the company.
Shane: Another quick thing I wanted to highlight was Is that you had to provide documentation to that office to prove that you had a disability. And so students and audience, just to let you guys know, is that something you have to do when you go to college and meet with that office is have some sort of medical documentation of your disabilities, and that office will need that documentation in order to provide accommodations. Sometimes a doctor’s note explaining your disability or your vision loss, and I report that talks about your vision loss may suffice. And another piece every college might interpret a little bit differently is your IEP from high school. That is a document that Colleges can look at, and many will take that into consideration. But in my experiences, I have found a couple of colleges that say we don’t take a look at IEPs because we’re not high school, and some have said that, yeah, we’ll take a look at them, but we’re really interested in that medical documentation and know that that’s something that you will have to provide to that office.
Mohamed, what was your experience like connecting with your office and what was that first meeting like for you?
Mohamed: I think Kira kind of summed it up. Everything, I would say that the meeting about the IEP. So before I came to Metro, I did a community college. So my first two years I did a community college. I had to prove I have to give my documentation from a doctor that I am disabled, like have a vision, low vision. Also they they use sometimes the IEP, but they don’t really need neat. I like the check sometimes, but usually what they want is like that first meeting. So you meet with them in like whether it’s zoom online or in person, and they will ask you about like what do you need? Like they will ask you detail like they take notes. So they take every detail like what you need. Basically for me, I need, uh, mostly like bigger font for something if I need everything textbook or anything digitally. If it’s only paper copy, they will still make it digitally. So there’s other things, like seating in a classroom where I want to sit. Where is the good place to sit? They will they will put on the accommodation list. So yeah, those are the most important thing. They will list those out. So it’s actually very good that first meeting.
You have to mention everything that you need. That’s the most important thing because they will document everything down. And so when they print out the accommodation and they give out to the professors, when you go to a new class so the professor can know every detail that you need, you know, the testing, um, extra time they would have to, you know, know that. So these are the most important things that it should be listed. Um, so that first meeting is very important to, like, mention everything. So one more thing. Accommodation. So when you make accommodation, usually you can keep the accommodation for like that many years that you can have it. You don’t need to change it every year. So it will just have like once if you if you need a change, you can meet with them again and they can like revise. But the accommodation list like in my college they actually give it to me like digitally. And then I had to send it out to the professors and everything. So it’s very important to keep that accommodation list. And you the one who sent it to the professor. So I said a lot of things. But yeah, Shane can probably summarize.
Shane: Yeah that’s wonderful. I think Mohamed, that helps you advocate to your professors by having to deliver your letter of accommodation directly to your professor at the start of each semester. Can you talk about any tips or things that you’ve learned that can help you advocate for your needs with your professors or with the disability office.
Mohamed: I will say one trick is that usually when you’re in college, you have to think that you’re kind of independent here. So sometimes if you need a help, you would have that push. It is hard sometimes for the first time, but after you get through that first meeting with them, you will be very comfortable after that. Basically, they will give you the documents and then you’re the one who sent out to the professors. So it’s very important to know that that first time, like advocating for yourself is very hard. That first meeting you’ll be better after. So I don’t think there’s any trick or any tips. It’s just advocate for yourself. It will be hard, but you will get used to it. And it’s very important to communicate with your professor here because sometimes they don’t really care if you need any help or anything. So it’s just it’s your ability to like, email them or talk to them before class or after class. So it’s very important to like having that like communication with your professor and the accommodation resource place. Yep. And I mean we call it CAR but the resource disability resource area. It’s very it’s very good to communicate between those two.
Kira: Yes I like to talk to my professors the first day of class, either before or after class, because at least with our school, they send your person that you connect with in the disability center, sends out the email with you CC’ed on it. So what you do is you go into this online form and check the boxes for what accommodations you want for each class before the semester starts. And then they send out the email. So then I like to talk to the professor before or after the first class to talk through things, especially if it’s going to be a trickier class. And then just keeping that communication open between you and the professor, because that sometimes might be your best way. But then there are professors that just don’t really care. So just knowing you should drop a class and find a new one.
Shane: Yeah, that communication is, as we all know or I’m assuming, there. I hope we all know communication is key to getting what we need to be successful and to advocate for our needs. So while Mohamed, your campus has a practice where they put it on the student to deliver their letter of accommodation to your professors. So then you do that and that creates an opportunity to chat with them and advocate for your accommodations directly with each of your professors. And Kira, your campus, they have a practice where the office for disabilities emails each of your professors. Your accommodations and CCs you. But then you go above and beyond that and create time to talk with each professor at the start of class or after class, early on in the semester to communicate your accommodations and your needs to be successful in that class.
Kira, what are some of the you know, you touched on this. You don’t have to go into great detail again, but what are some of the accommodations that you’ve found most helpful over the years in college?
Kira: Definitely Braille for the graphics and things. I like the new note taking thing I have access to, because I can record the lecture and also put the slides when the professor is talking about them. So then the slide is time stamped to the exact point when the professor was talking about it. That’s fun. I should use it more often, but it helps me pay attention. But yeah, the recording of lecture and the Braille, I think has been the most useful.
Shane: Mohamed, can you think of a couple of accommodations that you find most useful?
Mohamed: I get my textbook digitally so I can use the screen reader, and that’s what they’re good at. Like making it from a paper copy to a digital. So they could they would do that for you. And also the extra timing on the test I utilize that so is very good, which is like I get like a like if it’s if the test was like an hour, I’ll get like two hours. So an extra time, that’s pretty good.
Shane: So yeah, there’s a wide options of accommodations out there that students can use. In college. Mohamed and Kiros mentioned a couple of them. Braille. Having access to audio textbooks. Note taking care of briefly mentioned. And I’m just going to briefly discuss having someone either assist them to help you take notes or someone to take notes for you is a common accommodation that I’ve seen throughout colleges, and each college may administer that accommodation. Slightly different, but that’s something that we do see extra time on tests and quizzes. Kira and Mohamed both brought up. It’s pretty typical to see either time and a half or double time for that extension. So time and a half would be an hour and a half when other students typically have an hour and double time would be that two hours. I have seen students get preferential accommodations, maybe that are closer to your group of classes if you’re in one area of the campus. If you’re at a large university and there’s some other housing accommodations that I’ve seen.
Kira: I can think of one more quick. I can get a private room for testing because the private room has more desk space, and I need a lot of space.
Shane: And, you know, that’s another good point, because if you get double time for your testing quizzes, if, let’s say, a class that’s taking a test in class, Kira, do you take it then in class with everyone else or do you have to take it somewhere else?
Kira: I go to accessibility resources and take my test in there. I have to schedule it to online. Remember to schedule it. And if you at least with our school, you have to schedule it for when your class starts. Otherwise, you need special permission to take it at a different time.
Shane: But those testing accommodations, typically you’re going to like the accommodations or the disability office so they can administer that test and give you that ample time.
Kira: Yeah. And then I put my answers on a USB drive and they give my answers to the professor or whatever. Or I’ll email it. But like because I get an electronic copy, but it’s on a USB drive, so I can’t share it with people. I have cameras and whatever so they can see what you’re doing on your screen. They are watching and listening to you.
Shane: Another accommodation may be, and a lot of our high school students receive this is preferential seating. So being able to sit in the front of the class so that you’re near, let’s say the computer or the board, the professor. I’ve seen that accommodation.
Mohamed: Preferred seating for me. I do sit like I have. My peripheral vision is a little bit better than my central vision. So I sit like in the corner of the class. So that’s that is part of my accommodation. Like front of the class, but kind of like Cornish. So I could like get closer to the board. So it’s easier. So yeah, I just wanted to add that in for the preference seating.
Shane: One point I do want to make is that going off to college. And here I’ll just ask Mohamed, did your accommodations office reach out to you or did you have to contact them to get accommodations?
Mohamed: I would say you’re the one who’s supposed to advocate. Basically, you’re independent when you go to college and nobody’s going to ask you, like if you have if you have a low vision or if you’re blind. So you have to take the initiative of like saying, oh, where is the accessibility office? Like usually you would ask the people that are at the at the university, they will let you know where it is exactly. And you can go. And if you want to go physical over there, or if you go to their website, like every university website, you would see where the accommodation resources place are. And you can make an appointment with somebody and they would ask you some, like, you know, the documentation for the doctor documentation. So before that you before you meet them, you would have to prove that you are disabled. And then you would go you would go through all that process and then you would have the meeting on the first day. So you have to do the this is your, you know, nobody’s going to come and ask you, you know, oh, are you going to go, do you need accommodations. No, you have to do the, the work. And yeah, advocating for yourself. That’s the key word here in college.
Shane: Yeah, absolutely. The point I wanted to make there is that unlike high school where You’ll have an IEP, and your IEP team is mandated to offer accommodations and help you be successful in high school, and meet with you at least once a year in college. Students have to disclose their disability in order to receive accommodations and help. That’s one big difference between high school and college. No one in college is going to come identify you and say, hey, you’re blind or low vision. Let me help you be successful. You have to be the one to say, hey, I am blind or low vision. I need to set up accommodations. And no one’s going to be checking in on you to see if you’re utilizing your accommodations or if they’re going well for you, or if something’s not going well, or if you need additional resources or help, that all lies on your shoulders as a student to advocate for any additional needs that come up. I want to talk a little bit about some of the demands for college, specifically around reading and note taking. Let’s start with Kira. Can you talk a little bit about what are your reading demands in a typical college class, and how much, on average would you say you read per week?
Kira: It really depends on the semester, because I’ve had classes where you have to read like a book in two weeks, and then this semester I have classes where there’s less reading to do, but there’s definitely more reading than high school. If it’s a class that has more reading involved.
Shane: Mohamed for you. How much would you say you have to read in college? Or what was that difference like between high school and college for you being a academic major?
Mohamed: There is a lot of reading, more reading than high school. It’s pretty much a lot. I mean, because my major is kind of like I do education classes, which is like they teach me how to teach, you know, so those classes require a lot of reading. Then my math classes, usually math classes that you just read, like, like a textbook or something. It might be like, or you read like slideshows and it’s a little bit different than like my other like my major. So it’s way more than in high school, I would say. Yep.
Shane: And how many you said you utilize audiobooks for your reading. Is that right?
Mohamed: Yes. And if there’s no audio, I would have to use the screen reader.
Shane: So I mentioned Braille.
Kira: I don’t really use braille for like heavier reading stuff because I just can’t read Braille that fast, and the fatigue from reading that much? Oh, my fingers would get very tired. So I use auditory most of the time to. I really like this app if you’re an iPhone user called Voice Dream Reader, because you can literally put like so many different documents in there, and it’ll turn it into text to speech and it connects to Bookshare.
Shane: Yes, Voice Dream is definitely a app that if you have not met with Jesse yet for an assistive tech assessment, he will certainly introduce that to you.
Kira: I literally had folders for specific classes some semesters where I would upload what I needed to read into them.
Shane: Absolutely. Mohamed or Kiera, let either of you take a stab at this one. Do you think in high school you were prepared to read as much as you have to in college? And did you have the skills to utilize audio formats to use in college for your success?
Mohamed: I mean, I never liked when I was in high school, like reading a lot. I wasn’t like a big reader. So as I went to college, I had to like kind of like train myself to like, you know, use the screen reader and stuff. So training yourself basically. And also, I did have some of the skill because Jesse, I met him before when I was in high school, so he helped me out giving me some tips on some different technology. He’s the one who introduced to me JAWS, so that’s why I use JAWS a lot. Screen reader, so thank you for that. I still use it till today. So yeah.
Shane: Absolutely. So high school students, just a quick plug there. If you haven’t done a technology assessment yet, contact your counselor and get that scheduled so that Jesse can start introducing some tools that may be beneficial for college. Go ahead. Kira.
Kira: I think it was less of an adjustment for me since I used a screen reader a lot of the time, like for my phone and my school iPad on a daily basis in high school. So. But the shift between having less access to Braille, I think, was a little bit greater. But I don’t know. I’ve just always been faster, trained myself to comprehend stuff faster through audio because it’s more accessible sometimes.
Mohamed: I agree with Kira.
Kira: Yeah, I love NVDA.
Mohamed: Yes, yes.
Kira: It’s not JAWS, but yeah, it is free.
Mohamed: Yep, I used it, I used it, but I didn’t like it. So I like JAWS better, so.
Kira: I like NVDA better.
Mohamed: Yep. Yeah.
Kira: We can fight over this later.
Mohamed: Yes.
Shane: Definitely some pros and cons to each. I want to talk a little bit about taking notes. Mohamed, can you talk a little bit about how you approach note taking in your classes?
Mohamed: I use an iPad for writing notes because it’s easier for me. I can zoom in to the notes and I use this app. I mean, everybody has a preference, you know? I mean, I use an app that’s called Goodnotes. I mean, there is some paid. You can pay for it, but it’s like you’ll pay for like I think it’s like 30 bucks, but you would have it for like a long time on the Goodnotes you can have your notes and they will give you like a notebook. It kind of looks like a notebook. So you would like, you know, change pages. And it’s pretty nice. So and it’s very nice to like write down notes because I mean the mathematic teaching program. So I take a lot of math classes. So I do need to take a lot of notes. So jotting down all that things you would I use an iPad for you.
Shane: So Mohamed, are you primarily handwriting your notes on the iPad?
Mohamed: Yes, because I like, um, basically. So in when you take notes, you you probably learned this sometimes in high school, but you don’t take everything you think. You don’t take notes on everything. Basically, you take on the most important things that you probably need it for later on. So sometimes the professor might be going quickly, or if they’re showing like a slideshow, I have like my slideshow next to me. And if I want to take it slowly, you know, so when you’re taking the notes, it’s very important to take your time. You know, you don’t want to rush here.
Shane: Kira, can you talk about how you approach taking notes?
Kira: I usually type my notes, but lately I’ve been using an app called Genio that I get for free through my school, where you can upload the slideshow into it and then record the lecture and then post the slide when the professor is talking about it so it has the slides, and then you can add notes there if you want. Plus it has the timestamp of when the professor was talking about it, and it can do transcripts too.
Shane: And either of you can address this one. I want to know, and I think our students would appreciate knowing. How was note taking different for you between high school and then now in college?
Mohamed: In high school, I took a course called AVID. I don’t know if some of you guys, some of you high school students know what AVID is. It was a very good program. So I it that program helped me a lot on take note taking like I mean you’re not going to do the same thing like like with how you write like the essential question and learning objective and all that. You know, like the Cornell notes, sometimes it is helpful in when you’re in college, it is very helpful. But it’s the process of how to take notes, how to organize your notes. Everybody’s not the same when they’re taking notes, you know. So that Cornell notes kind of helped me make my own version of Cornell notes. So yeah, it’s very helpful. So that that kind of prepared me to college a little bit. So shout out to AVID.
Kira: So I take more notes in college than I did in high school, honestly. And it took me a bit to figure out what worked for me, like how to take good notes. I think it’s just a learning process. I don’t have really much advice except like try taking notes and seeing what works for you and what’s easier to if you’re writing or typing. Like what main points can you type that you understand? And my spelling is terrible. So. It gets worse when I’m taking notes because I’m writing fast.
Shane: Same here.
Mohamed: Me too.
Shane: We do have a handful of students, high school students joining us, and I’m curious if any of our high school students or parents would like to introduce themselves, say hello, and just chat briefly about what your goals for going off to college would be like, and totally optional if you’d like to come off mute and chat. Great, if not totally understandable.
Angela: Hello everyone! My name is Angela. My daughter is here. she’s called Cindy and she has a low vision and she’s also on the an IEP. And uh, for me this is kind of new territory for me, but I just wanted to first of all, start by thanking you for having a program like this because, um, just listening to Kira and Mohamed talk, you know, open my mind to so many possibilities for Cindy. And I’m excited. And I’m learning a lot because Cindy came from a different background. She came from Africa. And why she was, uh, the first part of her part of, uh, let me say middle school. She came to the US when she was in middle school. So that’s when I started getting used to this kind of, you know, thing. So I’ve not been into it for too long. And that was my first time dealing with accommodations and stuff, because the kind of accommodations we have here, we don’t have them back home. So I’m still trying to understand a lot of things. And that’s one of the reasons that I, you know, signed up here. And she too, she’s still learning. And college is a different ball game for us. And it’s a lot of I hear the students talking about advocating for yourself and stuff like that, where she’s not going to be having that kind of support. So we’re kind of, you know, trying to get a feel of what we need to do for Cindy to be successful in college. So I’m just here listening. I don’t have much to say.
Shane: Thank you so much for that, Angela.
Angela: Thank you. Thank you, Kira, and thank you, Mohamed. I learned a lot. And also from you, Shane. Thing. Thank you.
Shane: And thank you both for being with us tonight. This. And I’ll make a quick plug. This is kind of a introduction into a more college workshops that we are going to be hosting. So in January February and I believe in March, we are going to host additional college workshops and talk more about some specific skills and abilities that high schoolers will need to develop and prepare for in order to be successful in college. So please be on the lookout for them. We’ll probably be inviting you all in December for our January session. And then a quick plug. Any student who joins all of the workshops will be entered into a raffle for a gift card. So our goal here at SSB is to help students who are looking to go off to college, be prepared for that transition and be successful in college, because it is a pretty big transition going from high school to college. There’s a whole host of new demands that we want to make sure our students are equipped to take on that challenge and be successful, given the resources and tools that are available, and SSB support to help you all be successful in college. If any of our students have any questions, feel free to come off mute, enter it in the chat or raise your hand and we’ll make sure your questions get answered. I’m gonna dive into a couple of the questions that came in on the registration. Someone asked a little bit about time management. I know this is a crucial area that students need to develop some skills in for college. Mohamed, how do you manage your time and your coursework?
Mohamed: Everybody for time management might be different. What works for me is that I kind of plan ahead, like a month ahead of like what’s coming up. So for example, if right now December is coming up, I kind of like right now I plan out what assignments are due. Yeah. What big projects that are due. So those kind of things I plan out a month ahead because anything could happen. So the thing is, sometimes I’m pretty busy. I do a shadow at a school, so sometimes my schedule might be like, you know, mixed up. So I have to plan everything ahead so I could adjust a little later. So for me, I use the calendar on my. I have a school calendar. It’s called the Microsoft Calendar, so I use that to kind of what my assignments are, what projects I have to do. So basically before you go to class, there’s a thing called syllabus, which I think in high school you do get a syllabus where it’s very important to read the syllabus because syllabus has a lot of important information. It has all the assignments that are due, everything that’s like that’s you know, that’s pretty big. It could be a final exam. It could be midterms. You would know those dates ahead of time.
Angela: Excuse me.
Mohamed: Oh, sorry.
Angela: Sorry to interrupt. What did you call that?
Mohamed: syllabus.
Angela: Okay. The syllabus okay.
Mohamed: Yes. So, it’s a document that you have the assignments that are due coming up in like let’s say the class starts started in August. You would know when the midterm is coming up so you would know the midterm is in October. So you would have to plan ahead a little bit. So the syllabus are very important to read. So I would say that for high school students.
Kira: I would say I take advantage of early registration because at least at our school with accommodations, you’re the first slot to open up for registering for classes, and I really take advantage of that. So then I can plan my schedule more evenly, because I like having a similar amount of classes each day and making sure I have breaks between classes so I can run and grab lunch or something. And then I add my classes to my calendar on my phone, just the regular Apple calendar, which makes it easier to be like, okay, I have more classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so Tuesdays and Thursdays will be my more heavily study days, or just in general like they talk about. For each hour you are in class, you need to be studying three hours outside of class. So keeping that in mind, I don’t always need to follow that rule. But that rule is sometimes nice to keep in mind for like, okay, I need to be doing more studying, but just taking advantage of that early registration so you can get classes at times you like better than maybe having to take a bunch of 8 a.m. classes, or take a bunch of 6 p.m. classes. I don’t like afternoon classes. If my classes at 4:00 pm, I know I’m gonna be very sleepy.
Mohamed: I have no choice. I have to take those classes because those are the math classes are only offered at that time. So yeah.
Kira: But if they are offered at different times with the early registration, you might get more of an option.
Mohamed: Yep. So always. Yep. Registering early.
Kira: But then again there’s classes that are just only taught by one person at one specific time.
Mohamed: Yes, yes.
Kira: Or one specific semester and you must take it that semester.
Mohamed: Yes, yes, yes.
Shane: I do want to acknowledge there were a couple of questions that came in regarding paying for college and potential financial support. What I’d say to that is SSB has potential to help financially pay for college. If you are going to college for something that’s going to help you reach your employment goal that we’re helping you pursue, that is a totally individualized process to figure out how much. There’s a lot of factors that go into that, such as financial aid, any awards that you may be receiving where you’re going to college may factor into that. So we do have a Secondary college student handbook. That does cover a little bit on what our financial support may look like that I can refer anyone to who has additional questions, but that’s a great question for your counselor as you’re working with them talking about college, and they can get into more detail about what SSB support may look like in your scenario. Oh, go ahead Tou, I see your hand up.
Tou: Yeah. I just want to highlight that there’s a question on the chat from Simon, and I’ll just read his question here for us. And the question says where can I take the note taking class?
Shane: AVID.
Mohamed: Yeah. AVID. It’s like a high school class. So I started in eighth grade all the way to 12th grade. I was taking AVID. Yep.
Shane: Mohamed can you spell AVID?
Mohamed: AVID is an acronym. So it’s it’s a capital A capital V capital I and capital D AVID. So it stands for if you want to know it’s advancement via individual determination I think that’s what it stands for. Yeah.
Tou: This is Tou, I was able to just do a quick search. AVID. Yeah. It looks like it’s a Saint Paul program. There might be some other ones outside of Saint Paul.
Shane: Yeah. Mohamed, you are correct. Advancement via individual determination.
Mohamed: Individual instead of individualized individual. Yeah.
Shane: Kira, what was your biggest adjustment for your first semester in going to college?
Kira: It was hard because, well, we went to orientation, me and my parents, and they recommended because I was planning on living on campus because it’s an hour and a half from my family home. So I’m not. No, no, I’m not getting to school every day that far. And they recommend you try not to go home until, like, family weekend or Thanksgiving break. Your first semester. So then you can get adjusted to living on your own and that sort of thing. But it was so hard because, well, I was used to high school where your classes are from 7 to 2 or 8 to 3 or whatever, and you just take the bus home or get picked up by your parents and, you know, do your activities. But I kind of just got to pick everything. There’s no one telling you, you have to go to class. I still go to class because if I don’t, well, you’ll probably get behind. And so just it was hard to put myself out there and to join clubs and go to activities. But I do recommend doing all those things because then you make friends and you just talk to people instead of sitting in your room crying, which I did do sometimes because you miss your family.
Shane: Absolutely. So, Kira, how did you find some clubs and activities to participate in and engage in?
Kira: It’s tricky because, well, they usually put posters up, but I can’t really read those posters. So like, our school sends out weekly newsletters. So reading those newsletters or the residence halls which are the resident buildings, each building does a WOW, which stands for What’s on Wednesday. So going to those activities because well, depending on what dorm you’re in, Unless you’re in the apartment style buildings, you don’t have to go outside to go to the activity. You just walk down the hallway to the where it’s being held in your building, which is really nice in the winter. So reading those emails, figuring out what those activities are going to. They do weekly meetings for your floor with your, well, resident assistant. I think most college call it, but we call it a community advisor. And going to those because they sometimes are like, we’re going to do this weekly activity of going to the bingo game. So then going with those people to that.
Shane: So is it a pretty big leap or stepping outside of your comfort zone to engage?
Kira: Most definitely. At least for me, being an introvert.
Shane: Can you just share a little bit about what activity is now on campus you are engaged in and what those have brought to you.
Kira: Me and my friend just went to a chili cook off. Our school holds where you get four bowls of chili, and then you get to vote on your favorite one. I’m in a creative writing club. That’s really fun. There’s usually a late night breakfast they hold around finals week that me and my friend go to and eat breakfast at 8 p.m. or 10 p.m. or whatever and just talk, you know, anytime for waffles in my opinion. So honestly, I go to the events with the free food. That’s how they get you.
Shane: That is how they get you. And who doesn’t love free food?
Kira: If they say there’s free pizza, I’m going to go to the free pizza.
Mohamed: Yeah you’re right.
Kira: I don’t care if I’m just gonna talk to the people for two seconds, but if they’re going to give me pizza.
Shane: Absolutely. Mohamed, and you’re living off campus because you went to a two year school, and now you’re college doesn’t offer student housing. So what’s that been like for you? What was that adjustment like to your first semester of college?
Mohamed: It’s different adjustment because, um, basically you are independent. And when you go to college, instead of taking a school bus now, I’ll be taking the Metro Transit bus. I use that to go to the college. And that was a little bit different. So obviously Shane kind of told you guys I don’t there’s no dorms in my college. So it’s like it’s a more communal. So students are actually they live off campus, people coming to normal class and then people leave after that. So it’s normal. It’s a different experience. I would say that it was a hard adjustment, I would say for the first time because it’s tough. You know, you go to class for the first time. It’s a different setup. It’s kind of similar to high school because you still have a teacher that’s teaching you something, but it’s a different adjustment. Shane, did you ask me about anything about activities or. No. Let me add that in.
Shane: That was my next question. Can you share some of the activities you engage in and how you got connected with them?
Mohamed: I’m in the, um, creative writing. I am actually in the, um, there’s another program I’m in. It’s called trio. Most of the programs I’m in, I actually learned it when I was in high school because I took AVID class. When I was in AVID, I used to do, um, field trip for college. So, like the trio program I’m in right now, I actually learned about it when I was in. We went to Winona State University, so they mentioned about trio. I was like, oh, that’s pretty good. And then when I came to college, I was like, you know what? I remember that in high school I was like, I remember that trio. So I’m like, I was searching for it. I had to go to the Metro, uh, website and asked for, you know, and where trio is. And that’s how I got into trio. So trio is a program that offers students that are. So there’s three qualification, either you’re a first gen student, low income or, uh, disability if you have any disability. So it’s a very good program which they help you with academic support meaning that if you have any more time management questions, there’s still there’s still college students that don’t like that have some struggling with time management.
They will help you with, like you will see other students there. Other strategy like every student is not. They don’t have the same kind of time management. So they will help you with that. So you will see other students that their opinion on time management. Another thing they do is they offer career readiness. So meaning like if you’re obviously if you haven’t declared a major or if you didn’t, they help you with like the like know what your interests are. And if you have a major they will talk about like, oh, how can I get internship jobs? And they will help you with all that process. You would have a trio advisor. They’re separate from academic Advisor. So advisor is kind of the word advisor is actually counselor like in high school we call counselor. But in college you have advisors. They give you advice basically on if you need help or anything. And you get also you get scholarships to from trio. So they’re very good if you’re in the university. If you’re in college I would say there’s a lot of scholarships opportunities, so that’s very good to know about that.
Shane: Absolutely. Thanks, Mohamed. And with that note, I’m going to make a quick plug. Anyone interested in some scholarship opportunities? SSB does have a list of scholarships posted on our website. They are all blindness and low vision related. So if anyone does want to take a look at those scholarship opportunities pertaining to your vision loss. Ask your counselor, ask me, or go on our website and we have a college section under Youth Services that will pull up a word doc with a list of scholarships. Awesome. I want to change the topic to discuss assistive technology. So we did have one question come in through the Registration. That said, what devices, technology or resources can be most helpful in college for low vision learning? Mohamed, I’m going to have you tackle that one, if that’s okay.
Mohamed: Assistive technology I kind of brushed through some things. I told you guys I use iPad for notes. Also, I use the JAWS as the screen reader, which it helps you like whatever is on the screen. It reads so and you can control that. That’s all I kind of use. And I use, um, I’m low vision, so I can still see kind of like the screen. So I use a magnifier tool on my laptop right now. So which helps me zoom and zoom in or zoom out. So whatever I’m looking at sometimes I love reading, sometimes like with my eyes. So I like to use the magnifier, so it helps me a lot. Yeah.
Shane: Kira, can you talk about what assistive technology you use for college and also, , just living independently while in college.
Kira: Well, I talked about using NVDA and I really like Microsoft things. So word, PowerPoint, Excel on my laptop for just in general bump dots are a must for labeling microwaves. I don’t always label our clothes washer or dryer because they’re in a public area and I’m worried they’re going to be removed, but my parents showed me where the buttons are, so I just know. Top left corner is the on button and then top right corner is the start button. Be my eyes. I use a lot, especially the AI feature, when I just want to take a picture of. Since I was just talking about the dryer or dryer, the washer. Taking a picture of that, getting a description. And then I know how long to set my timer for.
I would put a scrunchie on my dorm room door. So then door handle. So then I would know that it’s my dorm. So then I wouldn’t have to count doors or another method because there isn’t Braille labels. I think those are the main ones for living on campus o O&M training. That’s a big one because it’s like, I want to know where this place is.
Shane: And a good segue into my next question for you both. What was it like in high school and typically in your senior year, gaining access to the technologies that you may need for college? Because in high school, sometimes students get access to a computer or maybe have a Braille display that’s provided by the school district that you then have to return upon graduation. What was it like for you, Mohamed? Making sure you had the technology you need in college?
Mohamed: For me, because obviously they take away the laptop after you finish high school. So I talked to SSB with you guys and you guys gave me the laptop I have right now, which is already installed with the JAWS. So which is easier for me to like, you know, utilize. So I have it already installed. And the magnifier thing, I have it already set up because I already learned how to use all the magnifying tools. So it was that was pretty good. So yeah.
Shane: And on the mobility side, Kira, can you talk a little bit about how you prepared to learn the new university and your classes?
Kira: And yeah, I had one thing about technology quick. First, though, it was a really big learning curve because I was used to using an iPad and a Braille display. And then I jumped to using a laptop and Microsoft instead of Google. So I kind of was thrown into the deep end.
Shane: Thank you for bringing that up, Kira. And I’m gonna put a side note on my first question. Can you talk a little bit about how important it was for you to learn the laptop and Microsoft products?
Kira: It was really important because our school, you get a free Microsoft Office account with your school email. It’s all under Microsoft. And my laptop was the only device I had besides my phone until recently. So I had to really learn the key commands, which there are many, but there are nice websites on Microsoft to for key commands and different things. But I call myself tech savvy but not savvy as in coder, but more savvy than most people. So I think that also helped the learning curve be a little less challenging. But definitely take advantage of tech training if you need it.
Shane: Yeah. Would it be safe to say that being exposed to the laptop and Microsoft products earlier on in high school would have been beneficial for you?
Kira: Definitely. It would have been nicer to get it before March of my senior year. And then I was trying to use it my senior year. But then like my school didn’t use Microsoft products or any of this stuff, so I didn’t really know how to work it.
Shane: I just wanted to make a note that Kira is making that switch to learning the laptop and learning the Microsoft tools Wolves that is setting you up for future success in the workplace, because the workforce is still predominantly Microsoft based. Using a laptop. I know many students in high school. Their school may issue them an iPad or another piece of technology that we don’t see primarily used in the workplace. So when students have those skills in high school, but then want to further their education and get a job, they need to learn those mainstream technologies that the workplace is going to provide with a laptop being one of them. And Microsoft, Google is using the workplace a little bit, the Google Suite, but having skills on the laptop and Microsoft and other Predominantly used applications like here mentioned is vital. And if you don’t get that in in high school, there’s going to be a big learning curve to catch up to those demands.
Kira: But I can talk about O&M now that I got that.
Shane: Thank you.
Kira: O&M was very useful. I went through SSB because, well, I didn’t have an O&M instructor after I graduated, like through my IEP and everything. I’ve been doing more O&M recently, but usually what I would do is once I got my class schedule, email my counselor and tell them, oh, I need O&M training because it takes like a month, if not longer to get the authorization and then to schedule with the person. Because if you have a busy life and your instructor has a busy life. It can be pretty hard to schedule things. So. And then usually they would drive me down to campus and then we would spend the day on campus practicing my class schedule, finding my dorm room, making sure I found all the places I wanted to go like finding the rock wall or finding the pool. Making sure you know where the dining center is, or knowing the nice food area in the student union isn’t really super accessible, so I’d rather go with friends. If I’m going to go there than go there by myself and finding the resource center for accommodations, because that’s pretty important, because that’s where our testing center is. So if you’re going to take a test in person, you need to know where that is.
Shane: Absolutely. So, you know, high school students, those are two things that SSB is going to make sure we do with you during your senior year. One being that assistive technology assessment to see what technology skills you currently have, maybe make any recommendations for some technology training that’s going to help you be set up for college and looking at any devices that you may need in college. It’s crucial to do that early. If you’re a high school senior right now and you haven’t done an assistive technology assessment, please reach out to your counselor to get that scheduled. And then also looking at orientation and mobility and any mobility needs that you may have for college, whether that be learning a new environment, learning your class schedule and the layout of the campus learning public transportation options. If you’re a Mohamed and you’re taking a metro transit to and from your academics, SSB is here to help.
Kira: I do that too.
Shane: Yes.
Kira: And so to figure out our bus system.
Shane: Mhm. At first because here’s a resource to help you gain that knowledge and training so that you are ready for college when classes start.
Jesse: And this is Jesse chiming in. Hello everybody. I just wanted to really quickly say Shane had mentioned. So I am the transition assistive technology specialist who you would likely meet with either virtually or in person, depending on how we figure it out. But what I’d also say is really quickly that if you are a freshman, sophomore or junior in high school, we will definitely meet with you your senior year. But if you’re at all curious what is all out there for technology, or you think you want to learn some skills that you may not yet have, you know maybe you’re using an iPad and you haven’t used a computer. Maybe you don’t know keyboarding or whatever. It’s not a bad idea to still reach out to your counselor earlier on in high school, because we will still meet with you, and we can still kind of give you ideas and suggestions and have you try things so that by the time you get to your senior year, maybe you’ve tried a few different things and you can figure out what works better for you. And then as you’re getting ready for college, you’re not having to scramble and figure out where I’m going to live and what I’m going to do and get my O&M. And on top of that, now I get to learn technology that I don’t know. So, you know, just being able to get those skills while you have those extra supports in high school, including SSB. So that’s all I really had.
Mohamed: I want to add one thing like, I think I met Jesse when I was in 10th grade in high school. So it’s a it’s a great thing. Yeah, to meet him, to meet with him earlier so he can learn about this technology. Assistive. So yeah that’s great.
Kira: Yeah I think yeah I think I did around the end of middle school, early high school and then did a second one once I got closer to college.
Mohamed: Yes.
Shane: Awesome. Two great examples of utilizing that resource. I do want to ask Kira, what is one piece of advice you’d give to high school students with vision loss who want to go to college?
Kira: It is very hard, but you can do hard things and you might second guess yourself, but I think it’s worth it. And also one other thing College isn’t for everyone and it’s okay to take breaks. A couple of my friends have taken breaks.
Shane: I love it. Mohamed, what’s one piece of advice you give to a high school student who wants to go to college?
Mohamed: Advocating for yourself. We kind of talked about this a lot today. When I was in high school, I used to hear about, like other college students saying, oh, you have to advocate for yourself. And I never understood it until you’re in college and you have to advocate for yourself. So it might be hard, you know, for the first time, you know, advocating for yourself, but it will come in natural. So because we need the help, you know, so they don’t really I mean, I’m not going to say they don’t care, but I’m saying like they don’t they need you to advocate for yourself. So you could try right now in high school to practice that a little bit. I would say, yeah, advocating is very important in, in in college because you’re, you’re independent. So. Yep.
Kira: Oh yeah. It gets tiring sometimes.
Mohamed: Yeah it is.
Kira: But sometimes when you start doing it with a specific professor, you start to learn that they aren’t willing to accommodate.
Mohamed: And all professors aren’t the same.
Kira: So yeah. So sometimes that gives you the clue of, okay, I don’t want to take this class anymore.
Mohamed: And you have the choice to do that too. So yep.
Kira: Yeah, because there’s always another chance to take it.
Mohamed: Yep.
Shane: What’s one thing that you wish someone had told you before you started college?
Mohamed: How much independent you have? Like how much free time? I would say not like meaning. Like free time. Meaning, um, like you manage your own time so that I would say how independent you are. I did not, because I used to hear the word independent a lot, but like when you’re actually in it, so you, you understand why, how independent you are. Yeah.
Kira: Yeah. How much independence and how much work it is.
Tou: Uh, this is Tou. We got a question in the chat from Jada. Thank you. Jada asks what happens if professors won’t meet my accommodations?
Kira: I can start on this one, at least through our school, there’s a way to report professors. And usually my first step is to talk to the professor. And then if nothing changes, my second step is to get the person I’m working with who helps me get accommodations involved. And then my third step is to report them, and that doesn’t it? One of my classes, I didn’t go through all those steps because for one, I was told I could leave class early because she didn’t have anything for me to work on, which was a red flag. And two, I just had a bad feeling about her because like, we paid extra for online materials and then she was passing out printed off materials. So it was just kind of like, okay, I’m not gonna deal with this professor, and you can drop and change your schedule like a week into classes. So that’s what I did. And then I took a different class that I was able to go to the next day to see if it would work.
Mohamed: Uh, I never had that experience, so I think that I would be the worst person to ask about on that. So, I mean, all my professors were accommodating, so. Yeah.
Kira: Well, yeah.
Shane: That’s great to hear, Mohamed and hope we are. No one runs into that scenario where professors aren’t meeting your accommodations, because if they are not, then there are some repercussions. Like Kira had mentioned that you as a student can take to seek access that you’re entitled to in college.
Well, I have a slew of questions that I didn’t even get to tonight because we had such a rich dialogue in various areas. So I want to thank Kira and Mohamed for your time tonight, students, everyone who showed up tonight, Thank you for your time and commitment to learn about this important topic, and how you prepare for your success in your college journey. Know that if you have any more questions about any of these areas we talked about tonight, or if you want to engage in any of the training or opportunities that Mohamed or Kira spoke about, you can reach out to me. You can reach out to your counselor, know that SSB is here to help you be prepared for your academic future if you are going off to college. With that, again, I just want to thank everyone who showed up tonight. Thank you interpreters. Thank you, Kira and Mohamed. Students, parents and SSB staff. I hope we all learned a little bit tonight, and I hope to see you at the next college workshop that we’re going to be doing in January. Take care. I hope you all have a great rest of your evening.
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Jeff:
To find out more about all the programs at State Services for the Blind, contact Shane.DeSantis@state.mn.us. That’s shane.d-e-s-a-n-t-i-s at 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.
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