[Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?

Tue Dec 1 01:12:41 UTC 2015

Amanda

Shoot me an email sgermano at asu.edu

I am graduating on Dec 14th with a BS in Computer Science. I am legally
blind. I did my internship at USAA and was offered a full-time position in
January. They have two totally blind employees. One started there as a
programmer 27 years ago. They also have another employee who is losing his
vision.

I agree on Agile but only if they do pair programming even with me being
able to use ZoomText I have not found a way to do pair programming. Even
though some areas at USAA use pair programming most do not. I worked on my
own project in Java then even still have some mainframe applications.

as a female CS major you should be attending the Grace Hopper convention if
you are not. A huge career fair for both internships and full-time and they
are all looking for diversity.

Suzanne

On Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 4:38 PM, Amanda Lacy via Blindmath <
blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> I want a job so that everything will stop changing every semester. I
> intend to work as a programmer, doing I have no idea what. Apparently
> I was supposed to explore that in school, but I've learned not to
> explore in school.
>
> Several people tell me to avoid environments like agile programming
> since for the most part I can't work in groups. I'm now aware of some
> things to avoid, but not the things I should look for.
>
> Amanda
>
> On 11/30/15, Vincent Martin via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> > I, along with other friends,  actually have had much better accessibility
> > in
> > the private sector!  I am fifty-one years old and my Ph.D is my fifth
> > different STEM degree.  I have had many, many, jobs in the private
> sector,
> > state and local government, the Federal government, and as a private
> > consultant.  The private sector normally understands accessibility better
> > and lawsuits are much more damaging to a private corporation.  I can say
> > this from the fact that I also have served as an expert witness in
> fourteen
> > cases so far.  The worst offenders have been schools and the Federal
> > "Government.  I also serve as an accessibility consultant for companies
> and
> > accessibility is a really hot topic right now.  I make $2100 a month as a
> > graduate research assistant and made three times that amount last year
> > assisting "private" companies on making systems and jobs as accessible as
> > possible.  I literally worked two total weeks during the breaks from my
> > semesters on these projects.  One client who can't be named is very good
> at
> > accommodating its employees as they age as a middle-level manger that
> > leaves
> > to early retirement takes about a million dollars out the door in
> > institutional knowledge.  Their biggest problem (they are a Fortune 200
> > company) is getting people to self-disclose their disability.  When I
> > showed
> > them back in 2004 how much money they were losing to lost productivity to
> > hidden disabilities, they were floored.  They have spent over ten years
> > attempting to keep their employees and to hire qualified employees with
> > disabilities.  In 2005, I convinced them not to start a customer service
> > program for blind employees.  Instead, they try to hire very qualified
> > employs, disability or not, and then provide them with the best support
> > possible.
> >
> > That blind engineer that got her M.B.A. at Drexel lost her vision while
> she
> > was working for a private employer.  The State Voc Rehab people were
> unable
> > to solve her accessibility problem, but we blind people did.  I, along
> with
> > a Freedom Scientific tech support specialist, solved the interface
> problem
> > with her mainframe over the phone.  She was re-hired and my research lab
> at
> > the Veterans Administration "stole" her from her.  She had a pain in the
> > butt getting all of her equipment, such as an oscilloscope that attached
> to
> > a computer.  The Feds said that it was not assistive technology, because
> > anyone could use it.  Our supervisor bought it  out of his discretionary
> > funds.  At both of her private sector jobs, the assistive technology
> showed
> > up even when she did not ask for it.  When she left for the Feds, she
> hated
> > to give up her Braille Note PK.  It, along with all types of devices
> would
> > just be delivered out of the blue.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Jeremy
> > via Blindmath
> > Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 3:43 PM
> > To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
> > Cc: Jeremy
> > Subject: Re: [Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?
> >
> > While all this is great, what are these blind PhD students going to do
> when
> > they join the workforce and all these teams of individuals are no longer
> > available to insure accessibility of work related materials. Believe me,
> > you're not going to sick the government on your private sector employer.
> >
> > Now having left university life long ago, it is amazing to me how
> different
> > the real world really functions as opposed to the pseudo-utopia in these
> > educational institutions.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> vincent
> > martin via Blindmath
> > Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 12:03 PM
> > To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
> > Cc: vincent martin
> > Subject: Re: [Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?
> >
> > Amanda,
> > I will get back to the TVI topic, but wanted to lend you an arm of
> support!
> > The way you expressed yourself is the way in which so many blind students
> > feel each and every quarter/semester.  Don't let your bad experiences
> stop
> > you from going further if you so desire.  I am sure we can find a
> graduate
> > program at a school that would gladly have and accommodate you!  If a
> > school
> > starts to accommodate students and gets ones that are successful, then
> they
> > start expecting them to show up.  That has started to occur at North
> > Carolina State where they have had two blind Ph.D. students in Computer
> > Science recently.  Maybe we can start a list/database of schools that
> have
> > done a good job of making STEM related curriculum accessible.  That would
> > be
> > a great benefit to students considering which schools to attend in the
> > future.
> >
> > I am the first totally blind student in the history of Georgia Tech.
> > Although things were terrible when I got here as far as accessibility is
> > concerned, I have done whatever I can to open the doors to the ones that
> > follow me.  That included filing complaints with the Department of
> > Education.  Things got much better once the Feds showed up!  We even
> have a
> > new disability access policy that has been publically circulated for open
> > comment before it becomes standard institute policy.  Last year I
> > encountered a visually impaired student at the Empowering Blind students
> in
> > STEM workshop sponsored by DO-IT at the University of Washington.  He was
> > interested in the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering here.  He was
> > accepted and enrolled this Fall and all of his documents are accessible!
> >
> > We now have a professional on campus who is responsible for making sure
> our
> > documents are converted into the format we need in a timely manner.  PDF
> > documents can be converted with OCR software to a readable format either
> > Word or .PDF  and she will even re-format tables into readable formats.
> We
> > can get descriptions of images and or tactile diagrams created.  Those
> are
> > usually outsourced to AMAC Accessible Solutions which is an organization
> > based on campus that makes content accessible to all colleges and
> > universities in the state system and has partner institutions all over
> the
> > country.  I have seen them get an entire college level Math book
> > transcribed
> > into Braille in less than a month.  They now also convert documents into
> > Math ML as well.  I am getting two Statistics books converted right now.
> >
> > The network of people that you meet can also be of assistance, depending
> > upon the situation.  I was fortunate that my advisor was an acquaintance
> of
> > mine before I applied.  His lab does research into assistive technology
> and
> > the other students in the lab just help me because it is the right thing
> to
> > do.  One of them is the person that created the descriptions for Zack at
> > Mississippi state a few weeks ago.  The others love to have me in a class
> > with them as they know that the PDF documents for studying will now be
> > readable!  Sighted students get crappy stuff (bad scan of a bad copy) and
> > many now use the text to speech engine in Acrobat Reader to read their
> > materials. .   My fellow lab mates also created the first totally
> > accessible
> > fantasy football league just so I could play with them.  After using up
> the
> > ESPN seed grant, they did it as a side project and did anything to make
> it
> > relevant to our research goals.  We have had one publication, one CSUN
> > presentation, and two more current journal submissions concerning the
> data
> > collected from our projects and studies.  These are the same people that
> > know to ask me if I have a text copy of any book that they are using for
> > research.  They know that many hundred page printed book on their desk is
> > not nearly as useful as the electronic one I have.  Sometimes, we have
> the
> > print book on the table next to a computer with the electronic one when
> we
> > are writing papers and citing our references.
> >
> > It is a constant fight for most of us, but there Aare some schools that
> do
> > such a great job that is actually surprising.  I had a former student
> just
> > graduate from the M.B.A. program at Drexel as an almost totally blind
> > student and the school went out of their way to accommodate her.  They
> even
> > ended up contracting with a second company to insure her Statistics and
> > Economics books were accessible to her.  She got accessible .PDF's and
> > tactile maps and graduated on time.  She had completed a degree in
> > Electrical Engineering when she was sighted, but she says that the
> > accommodations at Drexel, especially from her professors, is what made
> her
> > graduate program enjoyable.
> >
> > I spoke with a very low-vision TVI friend of mine yesterday that wishes
> she
> > had a student that was STEM interested or was at the level that she had
> to
> > provide some of the things we have been discussing.  She moves between
> six
> > middle and high schools in our county and does not have any of her
> students
> > who have gotten past pre-Calculus.  The higher functioning ones are
> usually
> > low-vision and the rest stop at basic high school Math and Science.
> >
> > On the other hand, I have another TVI in a county North of Atlanta that
> has
> > assisted in making every STEM related course in high school accessible.
> > She
> > has seen students go on to the University of Georgia in Genetics and to
> > Duke, Emory, and Wake Forrest in other STEM related fields.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Amanda
> > Lacy via Blindmath
> > Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 1:18 PM
> > To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> > <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> > Cc: Amanda Lacy <lacy925 at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?
> >
> >> University ought to be enjoyable and not be like standing on a beach
> >> watching a tidal wave coming, especially for those that can't see it.
> >
> > But that's exactly how it is, at least for me. Just as I'm starting to
> gain
> > my balance again I'm knocked over by another wave. People are telling me
> I
> > should explore, have fun, and enjoy the challenge, but all I have time
> for
> > is survival. I experience no joy, not anymore.
> > Meanwhile, the sighted ones are all talking about what they want to take
> > next semester like it's some great adventure. It's always some course I
> > couldn't dream of taking because I can't read the textbooks.
> >
> > Yes, I'm fully aware of LaTeX. Usually I have to beg for it, and I don't
> > always get it. And y'all should see some of the barely-usable LaTeX I've
> > received. It wasn't much better than no LaTeX at all.
> >
> > There are also plenty of CS courses about graphics, but none about sound.
> > They poison everything with graphics.
> >
> > I'm graduating with a bachelors in CS in May, and I don't think I'm ever
> > going back.
> >
> > Sorry for the reality, guys.
> >
> > Amanda
> >
> > On 11/30/15, Godfrey, Jonathan via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> >> Hello,
> >>
> >> I'd like all professionals in the business of helping students ask
> >> their former students what things they actively did that left them
> >> unprepared for university. This is not really covered by the questions
> >> posed in Maureen's message.
> >>
> >> All too often I am observing 18-20 year old blind people lack
> >> independence and confidence and therefore struggle at university. The
> >> support mechanisms they had on hand during high school are no longer
> >> there; the disability support systems are not ready to help them; and
> >> the educators they must work with have even less idea. The issues are
> >> even further compounded in the STEM fields where so many additional
> >> skills
> > are needed.
> >>
> >> In particular, I'd like to have seen more of the students I've come
> >> across gain experience preparing their own homework during high school
> >> so that they have experience before they get to university where there
> >> are so many other new things to have to deal with.
> >>
> >> University ought to be enjoyable and not be like standing on a beach
> >> watching a tidal wave coming, especially for those that can't see it.
> >>
> >> Jonathan
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> >> derek riemer via Blindmath
> >> Sent: Tuesday, 1 December 2015 5:41 a.m.
> >> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> >> Cc: derek riemer
> >> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?
> >>
> >> Hi,
> >> If your student is planning to pursue a stem degree, then introduce
> >> them to la tex a bit. They should learn it asap as a college student
> >> because many stem materials may be more accessible in la tex format.
> >> Also, ensure that they know nemeth braille. It is insane how many
> >> people I know don't know nemeth braille, and it is essential to have
> > tactile feedback of the math.
> >> Also, having them transcribe math to you as well as having them use a
> >> tool like nemetex will help them ensure they are prepared for the
> >> process of converting math in college. I don't know anyone in a
> >> college setting who can have a tvi or someone interline their
> >> homework. It is essential to learn how to verbally transcribe
> >> homework, especially in more complex courses. You can mostly survive
> >> calc 1 and 2 with a tool like nemetex, but in upper level courses such
> >> as linear algebra, I found it necessary to use paper with braille to
> >> even understand the material. Some of it is spacial enough that the
> >> tech isn't quite ready to present the math correctly. Also, without a
> >> transcriber to transcribe (verbally I read them what I wanted them to
> >> write) math in linear algebra, it meant at least 3 hours of typing out
> >> the matrices in la tex. This is compared to half an hour reading it to
> >> someone who was skilled at writing that level of math.
> >> Hth.
> >>
> >> On 11/30/2015 8:07 AM, Lewicki, Maureen via Blindmath wrote:
> >>> Good morning!  I am a TVI of some great and capable students. Would
> >>> you do me a favor? Could you reflect back on your high school years
> >>> and let me
> >>> know:
> >>>
> >>> Did you have a TVI supporting you?
> >>> What did he/she do to prepare you for college and career?
> >>> What do you regret the TVI did not do to prepare you?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks for your input! My career is not long enough to make all my
> >>> own mistakes! I would rather learn from others' mistakes and
> strengths!!
> >>>
> >>> Maureen Murphy Lewicki
> >>> Teacher of the Visually Impaired
> >>> Bethlehem Central School District
> >>> Bethlehem High School
> >>> 700 Delaware Ave
> >>> Delmar, NY 12054
> >>> http://www.bethlehemschools.org<http://www.bethlehemschools.org/>
> >>> Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through
> >>> experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,
> >>> ambition inspired, and success
> >>> achieved.<http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/30186.html> Helen
> >>> Keller
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> 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/derek.riemer%4
> >>> 0 colorado.edu BlindMath Gems can be found at
> >>> <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
> >>
> >> --
> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >>     Derek Riemer
> >>
> >>   * Department of computer science, third year undergraduate student.
> >>   * Proud user of the NVDA screen reader.
> >>   * Open source enthusiast.
> >>   * Member of Bridge Cu
> >>   * Avid skiier.
> >>
> >> Websites:
> >> Honors portfolio <http://derekriemer.drupalgardens.com>
> >> Non-proffessional website.
> >> <http://derekriemer.pythonanywhere.com/personal>
> >> Awesome little hand built weather app that rocks!
> >> <http://derekriemer.pythonanywhere.com/weather>
> >>
> >> email me at derek.riemer at colorado.edu
> >> <mailto:derek.riemer at colorado.edu>
> >> Phone: (303) 906-2194
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> 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/a.j.godfrey%40m
> >> assey.ac.nz
> >> BlindMath Gems can be found at
> >> <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> 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/lacy925%40gmail
> >> .com
> >> BlindMath Gems can be found at
> >> <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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/vincent.martin%40gate
> > ch.edu
> > BlindMath Gems can be found at
> > <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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/jeremy.richards7%40gm
> > ail.com
> > BlindMath Gems can be found at
> > <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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/vincent.martin%40gate
> > ch.edu
> > BlindMath Gems can be found at
> > <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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/lacy925%40gmail.com
> > BlindMath Gems can be found at
> > <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/sgermano%40asu.edu
> BlindMath Gems can be found at <
> http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
>