[HumanSer] HumanSer Digest, Vol 247, Issue 1

Wed Feb 11 15:29:36 UTC 2026

hi erica,

I would agree with Serena. For an institution to deny someone assistive technology is a real violation of the law.

Regarding obtaining an MSW at an older/non-traditional age, I wasn’t necessarily someone who would be considered “older,”but many of my peers in my grad program were returning to school after 15+ years being out of the classroom. I was completing my MSW as a part-time student between 2019-2021. It’s not unusual for individuals to pursue graduate degrees well after completing a bachelors program. I don’t have research to back this up, but my observations have been that masters programs in the helping professions tend to appeal to folks wanting to bolster their skills and/or assist with a career transition.

Hope this helps.
Be well,
Abigail

Abigail Shaw, LMSW 
she, her

> On Feb 11, 2026, at 7:00 AM, humanser-request at nfbnet.org wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Wanting to obtain my MSW at an older age (Ericka)
>   2. Re: Wanting to obtain my MSW at an older age (Serena Cucco)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 12:13:57 -0600
> From: Ericka <dotwriter1 at gmail.com>
> To: humanser at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [HumanSer] Wanting to obtain my MSW at an older age
> Message-ID: <6F82D5D7-0821-471B-A8C3-CF5304099CCA at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
> 
> Greetings everyone!
> 
> I haven’t been checking in lately on here, but I know that there are many here that can help me as I see lots of people with MSW and other letters behind their name.
> 
> I know there are people from other states here. What I’m wondering is has anyone of you had a problem with finding out the college that you accepted into? Did not allow you to use JAWS? The director of our vocational rehab program in my part of Wisconsin told my counselor that some colleges will not allow blind people to use JAWS because there’s an easy way to cheat. Now I’m not the kind of person that would even pursue that and I figure , and I figure people can play your eyes with cut and paste no matter whether the other sided or blind. I am going to call some Disability programs at local colleges in the state and see what they tell me. I’m looking to get my medical social work degree. I have my bachelors in social work, but it’s not gonna cover anything these days. And it’s 20 years old to boot. Any advice about getting a masters, especially someone who is Low Vision and cannot read with magnification any longer or 40s plus would be appreciated.
> 
> Thank you very much in advance!
> 
> 
> Ericka Nelson
> KE9DYN
> Proud general class him license owner
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:19:54 -0500
> From: Serena Cucco <serena.c.cucco at gmail.com>
> To: Human Services Division Mailing List <humanser at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [HumanSer] Wanting to obtain my MSW at an older age
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAE5rYmfPmv_rwjj6VmGvMW90pDPXq97rt7Ohuw8vh1fZYyFFpQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> 
> Hi Ericka and all,
> 
> I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure colleges' not letting blind people
> use Jaws is illegal!  If you indeed come across colleges telling you this,
> please let the NFB legal team know!  legal at nfb.org  Besides, Jaws doesn't
> let us cheat any more than sighted people.  It even gives us less of a
> chance to cheat, given the inaccessibility of many websites.
> 
> I got my MSW in 2013, so I don't have any particular advice about getting
> it at an older age.  Good luck!
> 
> Serena
> 
> On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 1:14 PM Ericka via HumanSer <humanser at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> 
>> Greetings everyone!
>> 
>> I haven’t been checking in lately on here, but I know that there are many
>> here that can help me as I see lots of people with MSW and other letters
>> behind their name.
>> 
>> I know there are people from other states here. What I’m wondering is has
>> anyone of you had a problem with finding out the college that you accepted
>> into? Did not allow you to use JAWS? The director of our vocational rehab
>> program in my part of Wisconsin told my counselor that some colleges will
>> not allow blind people to use JAWS because there’s an easy way to cheat.
>> Now I’m not the kind of person that would even pursue that and I figure ,
>> and I figure people can play your eyes with cut and paste no matter whether
>> the other sided or blind. I am going to call some Disability programs at
>> local colleges in the state and see what they tell me. I’m looking to get
>> my medical social work degree. I have my bachelors in social work, but it’s
>> not gonna cover anything these days. And it’s 20 years old to boot. Any
>> advice about getting a masters, especially someone who is Low Vision and
>> cannot read with magnification any longer or 40s plus would be appreciated.
>> 
>> Thank you very much in advance!
>> 
>> 
>> Ericka Nelson
>> KE9DYN
>> Proud general class him license owner
>> _______________________________________________
>> HumanSer mailing list
>> HumanSer at nfbnet.org
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>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> HumanSer:
>> 
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/humanser_nfbnet.org/serena.c.cucco%40gmail.com
>> 
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> ------------------------------
> 
> End of HumanSer Digest, Vol 247, Issue 1
> ****************************************