Questions and Answers

Cassie is a 20-year-old adult college student who has
complete Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum.

She was recently asked some questions by a parent in an
ACC support group.

Gaining the perspective of an adult who has ACC is always
interesting, eye-opening and valuable.

With Cassie's permission I am able to include her input
here on the blog for you to read.


Cassie writes:

"A while back (names parent) asked me about school. At the
time I did not have the time to answer so here I go.

QUESTIONS ASKED:

What are you taking?
What do you like about it?
What are your ultimate goals?
What are some challenges you've faced?
and some successes you've had?
What has surprised you about school?
What has been just like you expected?

I am at (names college and location). Last January-August
I took a pre-health program with the intention of becoming
a Registered Nurse. I was not successful.

I am currently in the Transitions to College Program for
students with Learning Disabilities. It is a small class
of 15 and 2 professors. I take English, Math(individualized,
Human Development,and Learning Strategies. It is a great
program, it is helping me to improve my self advocacy
skills and organizational skills. We are encouraged
(well told to) use the assistive technologies such as:
Dragon Naturally Speaking, Kurzweil, TextHELP and
Inspiration (still learning to not HATE that one).
They also assist in vocational planning. Doing a really
thorough interests questionnaire.

This program has so far helped me to grow as a learner;
relizing my strengths and weaknesses, strategies for
organization, time management, note taking and study
and test taking strategies.

I have had many small and some big challenges but the
biggest would have to be living away from home: not
realizing when some household chore needs to be done,
budgeting and times management. It was really difficult
for me because I wanted to be the responsible Adult
everyone at home knew me to be but without my Mom to
guide me I started to fall through the cracks. Not only
was I trying to make friends and do well in school I had
to learn to do many things on my own without the guiding
from my Mom. After eight months of struggling I realized
that I need to get my Mom attached to my Bank account
because I could not deal with budgeting and finances on
my own, moved into an apartment with friends that I knew
were supportive and not rude about my being different and
I also sit down with someone from disability services and
they help me to structure out my week (when to do
homework, what chores when, appointments, etc).

Successes i've had: well realizing I need to ask for help,
passing the courses that I have.This semester getting 80's
and 90's in english and math. Also, getting up the courage
to attend a local church and makeing friends through the
post secondry small group.

What has surprised me about school: the large amount of
classes (i reduced my course load the first two semesters),
That I can actually get honour grades. that I am able to do
most assignments on my own without a professor constantly
looking over my shoulder.

What has been just like i expected:NOTHING!
I did not know what to expect when I began this new
chapter in my life. After all the trials the good lord
put me through the summer/fall before I started I really
had no expectations other than to survive this new
adventure.

I could continue to write much more but am beginning to get
finger tied...LOL"



Thank you very much, Cassie, for taking the time to share
your very honest and open feelings about your experiences
and challenges with college and life in general.


Please consider taking a few minutes to leave a comment for
Cassie. Or you can send me an e-mail for Cassie and I will
forward it to her.