How Does a Visually Impaired Person Prepare for College?

Welcome back! I am so glad you have come to visit my corner of the worldwide web! Today I am goin to give you some tips on preparing for the upcoming college semester as a blind/visually impaired person. While this may be a scary transition, I am here to help you transition as smoothly as possible. Summer is finally here! Bring on the hot weather, the beach days, the iced coffee, and that long awaited summer vacation! In all your fun, did you forget that there are things to do over the summer to prepare for your upcoming college semester? Oops! Here are a few things you can do to make the beginning of the semester go smoothly:

1. Register for classes. Now, this one might seem too obvious, but it is the most important thing you can do at the beginning of the summer. The earlier you register, the better your chances are at getting a class at the time you want. The worst thing that could happen is that you go to register, and there are little to no spaces available in the classQ This step will also help you with the next tasks I am going to list.

2. Set up disability accommodations with your college. This step is important, as it insures that you will have the right tools to succeed academically. In just a couple days, I will have a post out about what accommodations you may want to request. For now, check with your college to see what the process of getting connected with the disabilities office entails, as every college is different.

3. Visit your college. For someone who is sighted, visiting the college and planning the route between classes important, but this is about 10x more important for someone who is blind or visually impaired. If you have a cane, learn the tactile landmarks around your classrooms. If you have a guide dog, train him the routes and the locations of each classroom you will be enterring throughout the semester.

4. Collect your school supplies. What classes are you taking? What do you need in each of these classes? Do you need notebooks, pens, paper, a slate and stylus, braille display, laptop? The list is endless! Sometimes you may not know until after the first day what you will need, but getting a general list is always a good idea.

5. Collect your textbooks. I recommend you get digital books if possible. These are less expensive, take up less space, and have many accessibility tools built into them.

Well, that is it! There is not too much to do, but getting these few essential tasks done will insure that your semester will start out smoothly.

What ideas do you have? What posts would you like to see in the future? Let me know in the comments! While you're at it, don't forget to like this post and subscribe to my blog.

That's all from Aries and me. Until next time, have a fantastic day.