[Blindmath] Consultation regarding an Academic Mission Needed

[Tim in 't Veld]

Hamid,
What graduate program will you take in which university? Do you depend 
on speech or can you effectively read large print?

Regarding course load you'll just have to see how it works out - it all 
depends on your individual circumstances, time you can commit to the 
courses and previous experience. If you just turned visually impaired it 
would be reasonable to assume you'll probably need some extra time for 
your program but nobody can give you a generalized advice. Just check 
how it goes only don't carry on trying to keep up with all courses for 
too long if you notice you can't keep up, drop one of them in time.

Your equipment list looks good. You may consider a magnification product 
such as Magic for which you can download a demo at the freedom 
scientific website to check if this is effective for you. Jaws is 
probably the best screen reader for programmers and even supports 
Microsoft visual studio 2010.

A large screen is very beneficial when programming, but what size you 
need depends entirely on your residual vision and the only way to find 
that out is by trying a few options. Personally I have a very limited 
vision and a 19" screen is optimal for me, larger screens or widescreens 
just make it harder for me to keep an overview of the screen.
I have my monitor on a monitor arm, so I can bring it very close to my 
face. If like many visually impaired users you have to bend over your 
desk to see your monitor I highly recommend a monitor arm, the Newstar 
D940HC is a very flexible choice.

On 6/2/2012 11:54 AM, Hamid Hamraz wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I am going to start a computer science graduate program in US in the upcoming fall. However, this is my first academic mission after I got visually impaired. The standard load for a semester would be 3 graduate courses. On the other hand, as you know, we blinds and VI folks are remarkably slower in CS-related assignments like math, programming, etc.
>
> Now, I greatly appreciate it if experienced people in the list offer me suggestions regarding the course load, etc. Besides, I should order VI-related equipment for my workplace well in advance. So far I've thought about these:
>
> 1. A large LCD (+25 inch)
> 2. Headphone
> 3. Scanner
> 4. Printer
> 5. Whiteboard (on which I can read single letters and digits or very large figures/diagrams)
> 6. Software (JAWS and Open Book to which I am very well accustomed)
> 7. An ergonomic keyboard with many extra function keys
>
> Please note that I can not read Braille effectively (mostly because of some very little tremor in my hands and fingers).
>
> If anybody has some other things to add to the list, I'd be glad to hear.
>
> Look forward to hearing back both your academic and non-academic advices.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Hamid
> _______________________________________________
> Blindmath mailing list
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Blindmath:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/tim%40dvlop.nl