But by December 2007, he had gotten a motorized wheelchair and in January 2008, he was taking six hours of credits at UNI, while attempting to live on his own, sharing a dorm room with another student.

After taking winter and summer courses at UNI, Ryan transferred to Iowa State University, in Ames. He increased his credit hours to nine and wanted to become more involved with campus life.

Ryan at UNI

However, he soon discovered that the challenges of taking college courses are insignificant when compared to overcoming the social and physical barriers that exist for those who are handicapped.

Ryan had to have someone read test questions to him and he needed a scribe to write his answers. He also found out quickly that when questions are not read correctly, due to misunderstood context, it had a negative effect on his grades.