{"id":9685,"date":"2026-11-03T12:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T18:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=9685"},"modified":"2026-11-03T12:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T18:12:21","slug":"tools-for-school-college-planning-cool-tech-and-student-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=9685","title":{"rendered":"Tools for School: College Planning, Cool Tech, and Student Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1138\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-9685-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ToolsForSchoolCounselors.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ToolsForSchoolCounselors.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ToolsForSchoolCounselors.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Podcast Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What comes after high school, and how can you help shape what happens next? In this Tools for School episode, State Services for the Blind counselors Lindsey and Kat explain how to build a relationship with your counselor, prepare for college, and speak up for the support you need. Students and parents will hear practical guidance on technology assessments, campus travel training, financial aid paperwork, and getting approval before making purchases. Questions from the audience bring the process into focus. Earl Harrison of Selvas BLV introduces technology including the BrailleSense 7, with touch-sensitive braille cells and Smart Scroll, alongside braille displays and magnification options. SSB assistive technology specialists add more possibilities. Then Peer Ambassadors Preston and Ava get students talking, laughing, and swapping strategies for identifying groceries and matching clothes. From counselor conversations to everyday problem-solving, this interactive session invites you to ask questions, explore tools, and take the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Links of interest:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=9672\">College Student Panel \u2013 Tools for School<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mn.gov\/deed\/ssb\/teens\/news.jsp\">The Spectacle Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mn.gov\/deed\/ssb\/teens\/\">Youth Services at SSB<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:shane.desantis@state.mn.us\">shane.desantis@state.mn.us<\/a>&nbsp;or call Shane at&nbsp;651-385-5205.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=9682\">Full Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1140\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-9685-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ToolsForSchoolCounselors.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ToolsForSchoolCounselors.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ToolsForSchoolCounselors.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p>https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/blindabilities\/ToolsForSchoolCounselors.mp3 Podcast Summary: What comes after high school, and how can you help shape what happens next? In this Tools for School episode, State Services for the Blind counselors Lindsey and Kat explain how to build a relationship with your counselor, prepare for college, and speak up for the support you need. Students and parents [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,263,559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bapresents","category-college","category-ssb","post_format-post-format-audio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6rcRg-2wd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8522,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=8522","url_meta":{"origin":9685,"position":0},"title":"The Future of Accessibility: Tools for Success in Education and Beyond: Insights from Jesse Anderson","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"December 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Podcast Summary: Jesse Anderson, Assistive Technology Specialist at State Services for the Blind of Minnesota, discusses the latest advancements in assistive technology for high school and college students. He highlights tools like Aira's AccessAI, BeMyAI, JAWS, and smart glasses, emphasizing the importance of learning both mobile and computer-based\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4337,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=4337","url_meta":{"origin":9685,"position":1},"title":"My Thoughts on Braille: &#8211; and The Braille Support Group on Facebook by Jo Fishwick","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"January 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Show Summary: I wanted to bring up this audio from a couple years back that Jo Fishwick submitted to a conversation the Blind Abilities Channel on Audio Boom was having. Now, we have moved on to BlindAbilities.com yet, I went back to the channel in hopes to find Jo\u2019s conversation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5075,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5075","url_meta":{"origin":9685,"position":2},"title":"Career Expo: Life Throws Curves &#8211; Get a Well-Balanced and Broad Foundation, Meet Manager of Braille Programs &#8211; Jennifer Dunnam","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"June 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Show Summary: State Services for the Blind hosted a Career Expo for high school and college students who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind . The event took place on Saturday, April 27. Throughout the Expo students had the opportunity to: Connect with adults with a vision loss\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image of man with cane and woman with service dog and City Skyline with Job Insights in bold letters.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/jobinsights.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5776,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5776","url_meta":{"origin":9685,"position":3},"title":"Online with Simon Bonenfant: Meet Becca Weber &#8211; Transitioning to the Workplace, Volunteering with the National Homework Hotline  and Online Learning for School","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"April 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Show Summary: Becca Weber joins Simon in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about her educational journey, her online learning, her assistive technology and her volunteer work with the National Homework Hotline. Becca gives some great advice about having a well-rounded knowledge of assistive technology. The need to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4084,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=4084","url_meta":{"origin":9685,"position":4},"title":"A Conversation with Dr. Cary Supalo: STEM \u2013 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and of course, Braille and Mobility (Transcription Provided)","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"November 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Show Summary: Please welcome Teen correspondent, Simon Bonenfant, as he steps into the interviewer role for Blind Abilities. While attending and presenting at the Pennsylvania NFB convention, Simon pulled out his recorder and went to work. Conducting 5 interviews from vendors and presenters. In this first interview, Simon talks to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4556,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=4556","url_meta":{"origin":9685,"position":5},"title":"Assistive Technology: Choosing the Right Tools for Success &#8211; Meet Jesse Anderson, Assistive Technology Specialist and Accessible Game Advocate","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"February 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Show Summary: Full Transcript Screen readers, Refreshable Braille, Magnification, Audio Books, Computers and Smart Devices are just a few of the Tools for Success that are available to the Blind\/Visually Impaired community. From education to the workplace, Assistive Technology enables people with a visual impairment to do just about anything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Career&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Career","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=373"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_0035.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9685"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9687,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9685\/revisions\/9687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}