Welcome to a special six-part series featuring Megan Bailey. Megan speaks openly from her perspective as a young woman living with a lifelong disability. In her early years, she received therapy services through Rainbows United.
Today, she’s a college graduate, a professional, and an advocate—ready to share her journey.
Special thanks to Brandon Paulseen, host of the ICT Podcast, who sat down with Megan to hear her story—you can listen in here.
I always have to tell myself that even though I have a disability, I can still do the things I enjoy, just a little differently. When I was in middle school and high school, I wore my hearing aids every day and had an FM microphone so I could hear my teachers better. I could understand my teachers better without so much background noise and their voices going directly into my ears.
When I entered Wichita State University, I noticed that when I was trying to take notes and listen to my teachers at the same time, I missed half of the important information. Thanks to the Office of Student Accommodations and Testing (OSAT) at Wichita State University, I was able to get an Echo Smart Pen and a notebook that had the ability to record lectures. It was awesome! The best part of it was that I could upload the lectures to my computer so I could listen to the lectures again in case I missed something important.
Another challenge I had since middle school was my test-taking skills. I have never been a good test-taker, and my anxiety ramps up when taking tests. I remember when I took tests in the classroom, I felt like I was rushed and ended up doing badly. There was too much noise and distractions, and everyone else was getting up and turning in their tests before me. That made me feel rushed even more. I got hot and felt like I had to get done, whether I did well or not.
OSAT has a Testing Center that allows students with disabilities extra time to take tests. I was grateful to have this accommodation because I was able to take tests without any distractions. I had double the time to complete the test. Eventually, I did not need extra time since I was doing better. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all the tests for my classes were online. There were some tests that were timed, and I was allowed to have double the time. I still felt anxious, but at least I was able to complete the test before time was up.
Another accommodation that OSAT offers is golf cart rides for students with disabilities to get from one building on campus to another for classes or meetings. I was grateful that WSU had this accommodation because the people who drove me from one class to another were very nice and helpful when I got on and off the golf cart. During inclement weather, I always used the golf cart, so I wouldn’t slip on the sidewalks. I scheduled my classes further apart, so I would have enough time to get from one class to the next with the golf carts.