It’s funny how we can get so wrapped up in our lives and focus on OUR difficulties and OUR troubles, whenever there are those who are thrown a curve ball in life and have more difficulty than we will ever know. These are students with disabilities and they are excelling in college.

Looking to NPR, I came across a story about autistic students in college and how they “thrive and survive,” each day of school. I found it an interesting piece to listen to, because it pointed out many things students must learn to develop the skills needed to find a job. There are certain things these students must learn.

For example:

How to work in groups with other students.

The reporter takes us into the life of one student with autism and his career advisor at Colorado State University. We hear him go through a typical job interview and learning how to master a handshake. This is a good moment to capture for any listener.

Although it is a typical NPR piece with natural sound and strong interviews, I felt like the story could have gone more in-depth of the student suffering autism and had more natural sound used in the piece. I lost some interest after the first 2 minutes. Also, she needs more variety in her voicing. I also felt like she had very little emotion toward the story, which needed more “feeling.”

Aside from these minimal things, the story was indeed an eye opener. It makes listeners realize the reality of some students and the things they must overcome to achieve success in this world.

So the next time you think about a difficult adjustment in an educational or work setting you’ve had lately, think about this story. I guarantee you will have another prospective on the situation. I sure did.

Check out the story here.