Transitioning to college from high school and home

Wed, 11 Aug 2021 12:22:12 -0400
accommodation, adaption, anna, disability, freshman, high, llapa, marimba, miguel, mom, parent, sales, school, scoliosis, transition

Transitioning to college from high school is a big shift, for students and parents. Anna Sales speaks with Miguel Llapa, a rising college freshman with a disability. "As I got older, I started to feel more dependent when I wanted to be independent. Because I was always in and out of the hospital, I always had someone with me. I always had someone accompany me, which I loved. But after some time, you know, I started to grow, to feel like I wanted to test things out on my own."

Miguel, alongside his mom, talks about his excitement about heading off to college and living independently for the first time - in conversation with his mom during this Death, Sex and Money podcast (linked) episode. -Transcript available at the link.

UMBC encourages students (graduate and undergraduate) with any health condition that may qualify as a disability to partner with Student Disability Services to explore the accommodation process. Incoming and returning students may register for accommodations online 24/7 (link). The SDS registration form is linked here.

Those returning to campus can look at campus accessibility updates on UMBC's most recent 2021 Accessible Route Map. Facilities Management has been busy while faculty, staff and students were remote - beyond upgrades such as installing hospital-grade air filtration systems. Additional assisted doors have been installed in several academic buildings, accessible door handles have been added, and five (5) elevators are being replaced: two in Fine Arts, two in Sondheim, and one in Biology's Schwartz Hall, so the campus is welcoming new upgrades as well.

The post is accompanied by a photo of a musician with brown forearms holding mallets that are poised to play a marimba.

P.S. Campus maps get updated from time-to-time, and the most recent accessible route map is posted to the Campus Maps page within Visit UMBC, to better inform people, especially those who are coming to campus for the first time.