A Students Quest for Knowledge

Hello Everyone, 

I am a college student with a bi-lateral hearing loss. I use a service called CART in all my classes and unfortunately I have yet to learn sign language. For those of you who don't know what CART is, it is exactly the same thing as what you see on TV when you put captions on. It is a real-time transcriptionist certified at over 200 words per minute who types everything that is said in class using phonetics which then appears as words on a laptop.

 

Since a young age I have always avoided bringing attention to myself as it relates to my disability. Over time this changed and now I find myself more and more engaged in the community of us who are differently abled. In my quest for knowledge I have written a few papers about my struggles and a few more about the struggle of others. I find myself perplexed by the shortcomings of public school districts and even more disturbed by colleges and their lack of understanding.

 

After fighting for services I was met with harsh resistance and told numerous times that I was "doing average". Approaching my last year of college after having an access to an equal education I am preparing to apply to law school. I have many concerns for students with a disability after having seen and gone through what I have. While I know change is in the air, I wonder what challenges I may face in trying to get into law?

 

I fear that the shortcomings I have already faced will continue. What can I do to make sure that once I leave my college, all the work I have done in getting the school to recognize the importance of equal education, will not disappear or become lost in school politics where architectural uniqueness of facilities and spending on sports outweighs the provision of services?

 

On a side note I was recently able to work with the Academic Support Center on campus to bring an honors society for disabled students onto campus. However, I am unsure where to take this group. I am in search of suggestions as to what I could do with this group.