I am a computer science major, and my name is Sean. I have a psychiatric condition called Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I was first diagnosed in grade school by a child psychiatrist. I also have some social phobias and physical tics, but the OCD is what most affects my academic work. I take medication that controls some of my symptoms.
My name is Rajiv and I'm a biology major. I have severe Dyslexia, a learning disability that affects my reading and writing skills.
I'm Nolan, a junior at the university. I am a physics and astronomy major. I plan to attend graduate school in physics. I have two learning disabilities: Dyslexia, a reading disability, and Dysgraphia, a writing disability. I was diagnosed by a clinical psychologist when I was nine years old, and have been reassessed two times.
My name is Nana. I'm a second-year student at a small, private four-year engineering/technical college, with engineering as my major. I have quadriplegia and use a power wheelchair for mobility. I have enough use of my hands to write and use a standard computer keyboard and mouse.
My name is Marika and I'm a math major in college. I'm visually impaired. I can read large print but have trouble seeing the content on a computer screen, especially when the lighting is poor. For the most part, I am able to read large-print text without any problems.
My name is Rodney and I am a student at a large Northeastern University. I have a mobility impairment and use a wheelchair. In the winter large amounts of snowfall require campus staff to plow all of the parking lots. It has been the policy of parking services to plow the snow from the parking lot into large drifts in the accessible stalls and to shovel the snow from the stairs onto the ramps.
My name is Kim. I am a nineteen-year-old senior majoring in biology and I'm determined to get my master's in genetics counseling. I want to be a genetics counselor in a large medical center.
My name is Javier and I'm a first-year medical school student. I am legally blind but have some functional vision. My condition is called Stargardt's Disease. It is a rare degenerative condition that results in the loss of central vision but not all peripheral vision.
I'm Hua, a junior in electrical engineering. I am profoundly deaf, meaning that I have no hearing, and I use American Sign Language (ASL) as my primary communication method in courses and for personal communication.
Interactions with your peers can reinforce your classroom learning, help you persist to graduation, and make your college experience more satisfying (Pascarella, E.T., & Terenzini, P. T. 2005. How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco). A group of students working together to advocate for increased accessibility on campus can also be more effective than a student advocating alone.