[Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?

Tue Dec 1 18:02:53 UTC 2015

Hi Maureen,
One thing to tell your students is that in college, and even in high 
school, they need to ensure that no matter what, they have someone 
proctoring or scribing the test that knows the material. I once had a 
proctor try to proctor a math exam in high school and the person didn't 
know what the square root symbol looked like, let alone any of the other 
symbols such as infinity, pi, theta, so on. I basically said well you 
can't proctor this test, and then explained that this just wouldn't 
work, and we rescheduled the exam. Most good universities will try their 
best to do this for students, but it is important to speak up if a 
scheduling conflict is encountered, and simply say okay, I don't need 
someone who can read x subject for this test. The same is absolutely 
true of the reverse case. If I need a scribe for a comp sci test or more 
likely a math test, I usually inform disability services that the test I 
am requesting accommodations on requires a scribe who knows math. I 
assume that music majors may need to ensure these types of 
accommodations get put in place as well. There are probably other 
subjects this happens in. Also, if the proctor has experience in the 
subject being proctored, I can ask them questions like "Is this dot that 
brailled wrongly really a theta or tau?" Even if I don't think I will 
need a scribe, if the material requires it, I usually request a proctor 
who can read the subject being tested.
HTH
On 11/30/2015 10:42 PM, Anna via Blindmath wrote:
> Maureen,
> I applaud your dedication to preparing your students.  If only everyone did this...
> Thank you for asking.
> I don't know how much help I will be because I did not have a TVI or anything like that in high school as I had significant vision then and used it just fine.  but I am in college now and no longer have that.  I am majoring in neuroscience.  And I feel completely overwhelmed.  It is not the fault of anyone at my high school, obviously, but how great it would have been if i had been able to have someone help prepare me for everything I would have to deal with as a blind college student and more specifically, a blind STEM student.
> If you know or can find out very specifically what is required of blind college students then I think you could teach those skills to your students.  In college nothing should be expected.  Perhaps accomodationsare provided, but even if they are, they are usually not very helpful and you have to accommodate yourself.
> These are things I have to do in college, and if I have to do them in college, students should already know how to do these things when they arrive.  The complexity of trying to learn how to do them in addition to learning all the material you have to learn in college anyway, is, I would say, one of the most difficult things I have done in my life.
> Things I do in college:
> Find books that work for me,
>   Read and write math,
> Deal with graphics,
> Communicate effectively with professors who have great misunderstandings about blindness and accomodations, read and create presentations such as powerpoints,
> Write papers containing graphs, tables, spreadsheets, mathematical work,
> work with a reader (which is not as easy as it may seem, and actually requires skill and experience),
> Manage time effectively,
> Work in groups with students that try to work around me,
> Know what accomodationswork best for me,
> Communicate how to make things accessible to the Disabilty office staff (although they should know, they dont actually tend to),
> Or learn how to work around them,
> Work with complex scientific and graphing calculators,
> Navigate and enter complex material online,
> Mostly what I am having to do is learn to be creative, and unfortunately I am having to educate and train the people hired to accommodate me.  This is extremely difficult when I am new to this and really have little idea of how things work.  So I guess I would say give your students as much training as you can so that they know how to accommodate themselves.  You may do it for them, but they should be familiar enough with the process to be able to explain to you how to do it.
> Of course, I am not entirely certain how things work for blind kids in k-12, and I'm not sure this is really what you were asking for.  But hopefully you can get something from this message.
>
> Thanks,
> Anna
>
>
>> On Nov 30, 2015, at 8:07 AM, Lewicki, Maureen via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> 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
>>
>>
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