Carissa Smith, 1st Year Information Technology and Information Systems

Carissa’s journey to DIT was not straightforward. Her school years were very difficult due to behavioural problems including being suspended on many occasions. She eventually moved to the Leaving Cert Applied which suited her abilities much better. Despite her problems she showed real initiative in fixing the computer system in the school and has been involved in volunteering all her life. 

Carissa left school and did a number of PLC courses including caring for a child with special needs and cisco networking systems. Her younger sister has special needs and Carissa has been involved in working with children with special needs for many years.

At the age of 20 Carissa was diagnosed with Dyslexia, a diagnosis which explained so much to her. She was terrified when she started DIT, “I found those situations hard but it was better than I thought……….without Access I don’t know if I would still be here”.

Now at DIT she is using her IT skills and interest in assistive technologies to support her own learning as well as developing project to support others by working with the DIT disability service. “I never thought I would go to college because school was so difficult….i just didn’t have the confidence to really want it.”

Carissa’s family situation made it difficult for her to live at home but it also affected her ability to get a grant. She couldn’t afford to pay rent so she works with a group of special needs children and teenagers each Saturday in exchange for a room. She is also developing an app to help people with special needs and their families. She is also working with the DIT Disability Service to help other students who might require support and praticularly in the area of assistive technologies. 

Please help us ensure that we can meet the needs of students like Carissa by making a generous donation to the Access Fund.