[nabs-l] Schools

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Keri,

Hello.  I'm sorry you've met with a less than stellar college
experience.  College is a new experience for anyone full of challenges
and new beginnings, then add in requiring certain accommodations, and
depending on some variables, your experience brings aspects many other
students take for granted; such as finding textbooks in accessible
formats.

College should, and can, be a great learning environment before stepping
out into a full adult world.  Making the transition from high school to
college and then college to the professional world, is an important part
of the puzzle, and when these transitions provide more frustrations than
positive experiences, we don't learn and grow, reaching the next level
in our bucket of potential capacity.

In order to best meet your needs and answer your questions, it would be
beneficial to know what your experience was like.  What were you
expecting?  Did you have prior meetings/information from your DSO before
starting the semester?  What, if any, request did you make?  How were
your accommodations met, and what steps did you take, as a
self-advocate,  to ensure accommodations were timely and appropriate?
What specifically was negative about your experience?  And other similar
questions following this line of thinking.

Once we have a full understanding of your experience, we may better
tailor our responses to your specific needs and questions.  Just as each
college is different and each person is different, each experience will
be different.  It seems you're at square one, and to help you make an
informed decision, it would be helpful to know what you're looking for
and what you're expecting.

Very few people enter college knowing what program they want to pursue,
and most students switch their academic plans multiple times before
graduating.  Regardless of what major you may or may not pursue, it is
still beneficial to understand what your expectations are for school;
academically as well as concerns relating to accessibility and
accommodations.  If you can provide us with, if you're comfortable, an
overview of your experience, I think we can better answer your question,
focusing on specific issues important to you.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog for Live Well Nebraska.com at
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

Message: 2
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:51:05 -0400
From: "keri" <wvucountrygirl729 at gmail.com>
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [nabs-l] schools
Message-ID: <4EF7E75174C74753893016F53B8CFCF7 at klhurstl1>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

I'm looking to hear of personal experiences with colleges.
what college did you attend, your major, how was the accessibleness for
you, and how were disability services there. keri

"Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away; and all the things I want
to say can find no voice. Then, in silence, I can only hope my eyes will
speak my heart." --Robert Sexton