RIVERTON (AP) - Tom Lewis thinks he was allowed to finish high school simply because he tried hard.

"I think they gave me the diploma so they wouldn't have to look at me anymore," the Lander man said.

That was in 1964. But this month, he expects to graduate from college.

Lewis has struggled with dyslexia throughout his life. Although he was good in math and other classes where papers were not required, spelling and writing were impossible.

"I had trouble writing a shopping list," he said. "Going to college wasn't something I thought I could do."

When a back injury forced him to rethink his employment options a few years ago, a vocational rehabilitation counselor directed him to Central Wyoming College to broaden his job skills.

"I've done some tough things," he said. "But walking through that door (at CWC) was the toughest. I sat in the parking lot for a long time."

With the assistance of Elaine Patterson and CWC's disability services in Riverton, Lewis learned how to use voice recognition software "Dragon Naturally Speaking," which types words as he says them.

Patterson, an educational diagnostician, worked closely with Lewis to evaluate his skills, determine his strengths and weaknesses and carefully document his need.

"Your comprehension and ideas are very good," Patterson told Lewis. "You just needed a way to get it out."

Lewis was so pleased with the voice-recognition software that he bought it for use at home and at work. The software is one of several technologies the college uses to provide equal access to education.

Patterson, the only disability services staff person, is a part-time employee. Staffing and resources are provided according to the need of the student population, said Dean of Student Services Mohammed Waheed.

"We try to help the students we have and provide them with the proper tools needed for their success," he said.

This semester, five students with written language disabilities are enrolled. Patterson said there are generally two to five students each semester, but not everyone who needs help will ask for it.

"Often they want to try it without assistance if they can," she said. In addition to the voice recognition software, which is available on laptop computers that can be checked out by students from the library on CWC's main campus in Riverton, the college offers a reverse service for people with reading challenges.

The Kurzweil system reads aloud to students from scanned materials with different voices and includes a dictionary to look up difficult words.

What Patterson calls "the loop" helps hearing-impaired students in the classroom with a personal FM system. The professor wears a microphone and the student wears an earpiece, helping eliminate background noise and making sure students can still hear when the professor is turned away from them.

Other assistance offered includes quiet spaces and extra time for taking tests, help with note-taking in class, proofreading and other tutoring services.

These tools and services helped Lewis overcome the perception that his difficulty was simply a matter of not trying hard enough. He did so well in his remedial English class that he skipped the second semester of it and went into college English.

"I never knew I could write," he said. "Being able to communicate with the written word is something I love now."

Lewis is amazed at the experience. He said he felt like college was "the biggest waste of time" when he began, but now he has trouble finding words to describe how far he has come.

"Gee whiz," he said, shaking his head.

With increased confidence and practice, Lewis's reading skills have improved, but he still can't read novels because the flow of the language is difficult. No matter the words, Lewis said he reads them in the punctuated rhythm of "See Spot run."

Thanks to books on tape, however, he said he has had a "whole new world" opened up for him.

"I'm probably the best-read illiterate person," he added.

Three years after he began, Lewis was scheduled to receive an associate's degree in accounting last week. Despite his new degree, he planned to stay with his current employer, Eagle Bronze.

Owner Monte Paddleford has worked hard, Lewis said, to accommodate his education schedule, to make the environment easier for him to work and shifting him from the foundry floor to office work.

"He has been very understanding and compassionate," Lewis said. "He allowed me to support myself and be successful with school."

Support has been a key to Lewis's success. His wife, Kathy Dunham, has become a "college widow," he said. Her support, he said, plus that of his three daughters, enabled him to continue with school, as did the encouragement of professors and the support of Patterson and staff of the Student Success Center.

"The key for people is listening and being there when they need them," Patterson said.

"People are fixed, healed and strengthened," Lewis added. "The idea that I might graduate just makes me tingly."