[blindlaw] Retinitis Pigmentosa New Law Student Needs Guidance

[James Fetter]

Hi Kathy,
First of all, welcome to the list and this community. I hope you can find resources here that are helpful.
I’m more than a little surprised that you can’t receive any services until your second semester. If your visual impairment is sufficiently severe to qualify as a disability, then you are entitled to services under the ADA, whether your school decides it’s convenient to provide them or not. As for immediate solutions, I guess it depends on how you learn and how easy it is for you to read visually at this point. Apple devices have accessibility options built into them. Voiceover, Apple’s screen reader, can be turned on in settings within any apple computer or phone. If you’re mainly using Windows, then you can obtain or activate free products as well, such as Microsoft Narrator or NVDA, a free screen reader. I’m totally blind, so I’m not the person to ask about magnifiers or other aids for reading visually. If you feel that you need more blindness skills, then taking time off, as suggested, might not be the worst idea. But I’d really try holding your school’s feet to the fire on providing accommodations first. There are a few people on this list who practice in the area of disability discrimination/ADA. I will soon start work at a firm and will focus in this area, although I’m just a newly minted law school graduate and haven’t been admitted to practice yet. Regardless, please feel free to reach out off list, and I’ll help however I can.
All best,
James


Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 18, 2018, at 1:24 AM, Kathy Gustafson via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello, 
> 
> I am a  new subscriber to this listserve and also am a new law student. I am
> so glad I found this resource and happy to be here!
> 
> I have been diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa for the last 30 years. I was
> just accepted to law school and I already am seeing, after this first week,
> that my vision loss is affecting me more than I thought it might. It is also
> progressing even faster now than ever before.
> 
> 
> 
> I just met with the Department of Rehabilitative Services last month, but it
> won't be until next semester that I will start receiving services. I do not
> have any formal training at all on any technology or mobility aids. My
> central vision is still healthy, but everything else is either gone or is
> dying, so essentially my vision is closing in quite fast. 
> 
> While I wait for services to teach me cane, braille, and provide me with
> assistive technology, does anyone have any advice on how I can navigate?  I
> have been using my tablet to either take video, photos, or to blow-up
> presentations which I can't see (such as the board or overhead monitors.) It
> still is frustrating because I know as things become more intense I may get
> further behind through the compounding of these issues. 
> 
> I am quite slow because my law school is old and the lighting is not that
> great. I am slower getting where I need to go, which is really making my
> disability a hindrance for others in my class, I feel. Of course I am 51 and
> the oldest in my class, but I don't think that is the issue at hand here!
> 
> Any help or advice that you found helped you through law school or your
> practice will be much appreciated. 
> 
> 
> 
> Kathy in Rockton, Illinois (1L at Northern Illinois University School of Law
> - DeKalb, IL)
> 
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