By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, only 10 percent of students with a learning disability are enrolled in a four-year college within two years of leaving high school, compared to 28 percent of the general population.
Brian Meersma of Princeton Junction, who although affected by dyslexia, the most common learning disability, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, is now an Ivy League undergraduate student at Cornell University.
Through assistive technology, family and educational support, college became an achievable goal for the 18-year-old who was diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school.
"Reading and spelling have always been difficult for me," Brian said. "Before I used technology, my parents read to me."
The Kurzweil 3000 program changed how Brian learned.
"The Princeton Friends School introduced me to that program," he said. "That really allowed me to explore things I was interested in. I still use it a lot."
Now, he said, there are numerous applications he can download onto any of his mobile devices that allow him to read anywhere.
Gone are the days when Brian would start reading a book on his own and he would get frustrated and not want to continue reading it.
"Then my grandparents would read me a couple of chapters and I would be able to understand it and I would really start to enjoy the book after that," he said.
Instead of relying on others to read to him he now relies on services like Learning Ally in Princeton and bookshare.org, which produce thousands of audio books for him to choose from.
"Assistive technology helped me succeed, and gave me the opportunity to go to college in the first place," Brian said.
The story of how Brian went from struggling school student to Ivy League undergrad is featured in a new video series from local nonprofit agency Advancing Opportunities, which provides education and support to people with disabilities throughout New Jersey. The video series can be found at youtube.com/user/assistivetechcenter.
He is also paying it forward with his own blog at bdmtechblogspot.com, where he posts app reviews and information on assistive technology devices and services for people with reading disabilities, dyslexia, low vision, blindness and other disabilities.
Brian’s struggle is not unique. Research suggests that dyslexia may affect as many as 15 percent of Americans. Although dyslexia can affect people differently, it is often characterized by difficulties with word recognition, decoding and spelling, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
