What if higher education was made more accessible for visually impaired students in Virginia through online resources?
Earlier this year, I entered the 10 Ideas policy writing competition sponsored by the Roosevelt Network, the largest student-run think tank in the nation. For the competition, students were encouraged to come up with policy ideas and solutions that could be used to help people at the local, state, and federal level. These ideas came from a variety of different areas including healthcare, human rights, energy and the environment, foreign policy, economy, democratic access, and education.
My policy idea was on how to help students with vision impairments prepare for the transition to post-secondary education, as I had to figure out everything for myself when I was preparing for college. My school district didn’t have a transition specialist, I didn’t know of any programs that could assist me after college, and I spent many hours trying to figure out how to get services in college, what Disability Services could do for me, and what services I will need. My solution was to have my state’s Department of the Blind and Visually Impaired and the state Department of Education collaborate to create a website on transition resources for students with vision impairment that students, parents, and teachers could access at any time, from anywhere.
I was so excited to learn that other people were on board with this idea, and my piece was selected as one of two education-related ideas, and one of ten ideas overall, to be featured in the copy of Roosevelt Institute’s 10 Ideas journal. Below, I have copied their summary of my 10 Ideas piece:
“The support and accommodations that students with disabilities receive end as soon as they graduate high school, leaving them no transition assistance for higher education. In 10 Ideas, Veronica Lewis from George Mason University proposes a partnership between the Virginia Department of Education and Virginia Department of Blind and Visually Impaired to create a website that helps visually impaired students learn about resources for them to pursue post-secondary education.”
Want to read more? Click here to read my piece in the 10 Ideas journal on Scribd
And if you are interested in working with me to make this policy idea a reality in your state, email me here.
By Veroniiiica