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In this episode, Paralympic swimmer and blind college student Evan Wilkerson explains real campus accessibility features like braille signage, accessible vending machines, safe crosswalks, and how he’s adapted to college life and campus navigation without sight.

This is Part 3 in my series with Paralympic swimmer and blind college student Evan Wilkerson.

As an IEP Coach and parent, I’m looking at Evan’s experience through the lens of transition planning for students with visual impairments and other disabilities, so parents can better understand what to look for in a college campus and how to prepare their teens for independence.

In this part of our conversation, we focus on:

Watch the full Evan Wilkerson series on YouTube:

Work with Tonya as an IEP Coach: If you’re looking for personalized support, a trusted partner, and expert guidance through the IEP process, I would be honored to be part of your team. Find more information about my IEP coaching services here: https://waterprairie.com/iepcoach

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Music Used:

“LazyDay” by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Evan Wilkerson is an accomplished US Paralympic Swimmer, Bronze Medalist, and college freshman from North Carolina.

Competing in the S12 classification for visually impaired athletes (due to Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis), Evan achieved a career milestone by winning a Bronze Medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2025 Para Swimming World Championships in Singapore.

He now attends Ouachita Baptist University, where he balances competitive swimming with his studies. Evan navigates college life and training with increased independence, thanks to his guide dog, his new partner. Evan plans to continue his swimming career while pursuing a degree for full-time ministry.

(Recorded October 8, 2025)

Full Transcript of Episode 143:

Evan: As a parent, you’re going to have to give them their independence. You can’t do things for them. They have to do things for themselves.

INTRO: In today’s episode, Evan shares what that actually looked like for him starting college as a blind student, and training for the next Paralympic Games.

Welcome to the Water Prairie Chronicles. If you’re new here, I’m Tonya, and this is part three of my conversation with Evan Wilkerson, a blind college freshman and world championship medalist.

In this episode, we’re jumping into the part of our talk where Evan explains how he started college, the supports he does and doesn’t use, and how he’s planning his future as a Paralympic athlete.

If you’re a parent of a child with a visual impairment or a disabled teen, I want you to listen for the quiet ways his independence was built over time.

Let’s join the conversation.

Tonya: You’re a college freshman and a world championship medalist. How do you introduce yourself to people?

Evan: Honestly, I really gloss over, um, a lot of the world championship stuff. I, I, I don’t want to be seen as, you know, just this one thing. You know, a lot of the times I’ll, if someone asks me who I am and, uh, what I do, you know, I say, Hey, you know, I’m Evan.

I, I swim here for college at, uh, OVU, and I’m a Christian Studies and sports management double major. Um. You know, if they, they know me or they’ve seen me on social media, yeah. They know I’m a, you know, Paralympian, world Championships medalist, all this other stuff. But, um, you know, I think it’s really bad to just put your identity in all of those things.

And so, you know, not like I’m gonna hide it, but it’s also not gonna be the first thing I introduce myself as.

Tonya: Good answer, by the way. So, what was your biggest fear about leaving home, um, for college at, well, I, the question was as a visually impaired athlete, but that really doesn’t matter.

What was your biggest fear about leaving home and going off to college?

Evan: That’s a really great question, and honestly, I think I’d have to say that, you know, I wouldn’t be prepared to get around campus or to. You know, create a, a friend group or anything like that, which, uh, you know, uh, as we talked about earlier, both of those things were quickly, quickly dispelled from my mind.

Um, navigating this campus is very easy, especially with Titus. And then having kind of coming into campus already as part of a team is tremendously helpful in establishing those social connections. And, um, you know, even though. I, I, I don’t, I wouldn’t consider myself a huge extrovert. I, I know how to be outgoing, and I’m not afraid to just walk up to some random person and introduce myself and start talking.

Um, and so that’s helped me out a ton as well.

Tonya: I don’t see you hiding out in your dorm room and never going anywhere.

Evan: No. Not at all.

Tonya: So in regards to the academic life, what supports are you plugging into that the school has to offer for you?

Evan: Honestly, not much.

Um, a lot of the things I’ve come across have been very easy to make accessible, either by me or by my professors. Um. You know, they just send me, if it’s a paper assignment, they just send it to me in a Word doc. I fill it out that way, email it back to ’em. Um, we did have a geography test, which was interesting, um, because it was 152 locations, no, 252 locations.

I apologize, um, that you had to know where they were. Um. And of course labeling a map was gonna be a little difficult for me. And so we did it. I had to describe everything in text. It was pretty brutal. But, uh, I ended up doing really well on that. Um, so, you know, there’s always a way to figure out this sort of stuff out, especially, uh, when the professor is willing to work with you and willing to kind of think outside the box a little bit.

Tonya: Great. Are you using extended time or private setting or anything like that?

Evan: Not as of now, no. Um, I find myself very, very easily able to keep up with the workload. Um, and for quizzes and things, it’s, I’m a, I’m a fast typer and a fast listener, so a lot of the times, by the time, you know, a normal sighted person is halfway done I’m, you know 70, 80% of the way done.

Uh, just because I can, I can type quick and I can read quick. Uh, of course if I had to take a math class, it would be a whole different story. But, um, I haven’t really found myself in need of anything like that.

Tonya: Did you, did you register with disability services, though, or whatever they call it at the school?

Evan: Um, just to have a safety net and then also just to get some stuff made accessible around campus. Uh, we’re missing some truncated domes in some pretty key places. Uh, and so they’re getting those put in for me as well as kind of just simple things like getting room numbers for some of the older buildings, um, and labeling the drink machines and that kind of thing as well.

Tonya: Nice. So it, it sounds like across the board they’ve embraced you being there and working with you.

Evan: Oh yes, they are fantastic.

Tonya: Listeners, the school that he’s in is not a 5,000-student school, so wherever your child ends up going to school, the size of the school should not keep them from being able to work with them.

Evan: No, I shouldn’t. We are 1,500 students, and I think they have probably done a better job than what ___ College did for my sister. And of course, that is a huge school, so I think the, the size of the school isn’t really going to impact the school’s ability to make things successful or not.

Tonya: All right. So what are your goals for the next Paralympic cycle while you’re finishing college?

Evan: So this Paralympic cycle, um, is gonna be pretty key. Uh, a lot of it’s going to hinge on if I get classified this year or not. Um, and you know, if I get classed down as an 11, uh, the goal is to really get as big a lead in the a hundred backstroke as I can. Go into LA uh, with. You know, plans to podium in as many things as I can, um, just because that’s gonna be more my level of vision, people I’m racing against.

And so it’s gonna be a really equal playing field. And, uh, you know, I’m feeling pretty confident in my training, in my schedule, uh, in the good people I have here to support me. And so going into that, I, I’m feeling very good if I get put down as an 11. Uh, if I’m still at 12, same thing. Um, it’s gonna be a lot harder because a lot of people in my classification don’t even use tappers, um, internationally, I believe I’m the only swimmer who uses a tapper, and so it we’re gonna have to work a lot harder in the race itself.

Um, but the goal in LA is still to make the podium in as many things as I can, whether that’s, you know, gold, silver, or all bronze. Uh, in my book, podium is Podium. And so that’s kind of generally my, uh, my general outline for the next few years. Uh, of course we have Pan Pacific next year and World Championships in 27, but, uh, I don’t, I haven’t really sat down and, uh, established complete goals for those yet.

Tonya: Right. And for school, when does the season begin?

Evan: Um, so the season started, uh, we pretty much start right off the bat and, uh, the regular season goes all the way through. Um, I believe it’s March, and then I’m of course, being on a national team. I’m going to keep training, uh, just kind of keep going in that way, whether that’s with my college coach or going back home to my club team.

I’m not sure yet, but, uh. You know, I’m more than likely not going to be on the scoring team for anything like conferences here. So, you know, I’m really here to train, to have fun, to be able to support my teammates, um, you know, show up to these meets and throw down some fast swims to build confidence in my racing ability.

And then also gain that racing experience, because that’s of course very important.

Tonya: Yeah the times are different, listeners, if you haven’t thought about the fact of waiting for a tap is a huge amount of difference in how long it takes to make a turn, even. Um, so it’s not an apples-to-apples competition between a sighted swimmer and a blind swimmer.

Um, how do you want to use your platform as a student and as an athlete?

Evan: I’ve really been thinking about that a lot recently. And, um. You know, being at a Baptist school, I’m really growing in my faith a lot. Um, and we had a really unfortunate event last month with the assassination of Charlie Kirk and, you know, you can say what you will about him politically, but at heart I think he was an evangelist.

And you know, he left a lot of young men like myself with the tools and the knowledge and the experience, um, that he was able to pass on through, you know, his teaching and his videos and all the things he was able to do. And I think that, you know, as men, we need to, you know, he left big shoes. I think it’s gonna take a lot of people to fill them.

And, uh, if I happen to be one of those people, uh, you know, I, I would be honored to be able to go out and spread the gospel and use my platform for that purpose as well as just, you know, spreading, spreading hope. It doesn’t matter where you are in life. Um, you know, look at me. I’m, you know, I’m blind from North Carolina, a town outside of Raleigh that no one’s probably ever heard of much.

Uh, and I’m, you know, I’ve made it to this international level. I’m successful in college. Um, you know, it really doesn’t matter where you are in life. If you have the, the goal and the drive, and you’re willing to find the tools and adapt and have a purpose and be willing to take huge, massive risks and, you know, but be reasonable with them and know that they’re gonna pay off for you as much as they can.

Um, you know, you’re going to be able to do just fine in this world.

Tonya: I like that. And I appreciate you mentioning Charlie, too, in that. The, um, so final question before we close up this.

How in, in one sentence, what would you tell parents who worry about their child’s independence?

Evan: As a parent, you’re going to have to give them their independence. You can’t do things for them. They have to do things for themselves.

OUTRO: I hope Evan’s story encouraged you, especially that final reminder, that WE can’t do independence FOR our kids.

As parents, our job is to give them the space, tools and expectations they need so they can do hard things for themselves.

If you missed parts one and two of my conversation with Evan, where we talk about his vision loss, burnout, getting his guide Dog, Titus, and winning a World Championship medal. I’ll link those for you in the show notes so you can go back and watch those next.

If this episode helped you, share it with another parent who’s wondering what’s possible for their child, and subscribe so you don’t miss more stories like Evan’s. And in the comments, tell me, what’s one area where you’re working on giving your child more independence right now?

I’ll see you next time.

A1. The best college preparation for visually impaired teens actually starts long before move-in day. Look for everyday ways your teen can practice independence at home: managing their own schedule, communicating with teachers, advocating for accommodations, handling money, and traveling familiar routes with a cane or guide dog. In the episode, Evan shares how these skills made starting college as a blind college student feel challenging, but not impossible.

A2. Every campus is different, but Evan’s experience shows that a blind college student can live a very typical college life: attending classes, hanging out with friends, eating in the dining hall, and training as an athlete. The biggest differences are usually in how they navigate campus, access materials, and communicate with professors. With some planning and self-advocacy, visually impaired college students can be successful both academically and socially.

A3. Most colleges have an office for disability services in college that can provide accommodations like extended test time, electronic versions of textbooks, note-taking support, and accessible formats for assignments. In the episode, Evan talks about registering with disability services as a safety net, even though he didn’t always need every accommodation. The key is teaching your teen to ask for what they need and to communicate clearly with professors before problems arise.

A4. Yes, a guide dog in college is typically allowed as a service animal, not a pet. That means the student has the right to have their guide dog in classrooms, dorms, and most campus spaces. Parents can help by making sure their teen understands how to care for the dog independently, follow campus policies, and educate roommates and friends about how to behave around a working dog. In Evan’s story, his guide dog Titus is both a mobility tool and a big part of his daily routine.

A5. This is one of the hardest parts of raising independent disabled teens. As Evan says in the episode, “As a parent, you’re going to have to give them their independence. You can’t do things for them. They have to do things for themselves.” A good rule is: support the planning and problem-solving, but let your teen handle the actions whenever it’s safe. That might mean you talk through how to email a professor together, but they send the email themselves.

A6. In most cases, yes—college for visually impaired students is absolutely realistic with the right preparation and support. Your teen may need accommodations, orientation and mobility training, and extra practice with technology like screen readers or Braille displays. But Evan’s journey as a visually impaired college student and Paralympic swimmer shows that disability doesn’t have to limit big goals. It just changes how you and your teen approach them.

The post Episode #143: Blind College Student & Paralympic Swimmer on Campus Accessibility & Safety appeared first on Water Prairie.