[Blindmath] Visually Impaired Students Needed for Research Study

Fri Mar 13 23:30:49 UTC 2015

I agree. The denotation of the word is very important. I did not particularly find the post hurtful or malicious. I do agree that visually impaired seems to mean that you have vision, which isn't working correctly. If you have no vision, then there is nothing that is impaired. It just isn't there. For example, if you get a laptop that has no USB ports, you can't say that the USB ports aren't working. I do think that most of the people who end up participating will be blind because most visually impaired people read large print. And this reminds me of the quibble I have with the disability category. Because I do things differently, sighted people try to say that I have less ability than they do, and I don't think this is true. It is true that sighted people can do some things like drive a car that I can't, but that is because cars have been designed using output and input they can understand. To say that I don't have the ability to drive a car, you would have to prove that no matter what design you made or what you did, there would be no way for me to drive a car. Then, I would be perfectly fine with you calling me disabled. I consider my lack of spatial intelligence a disability for example because no matter how things are designed or what changes, I will not be able to operate spatially at the level that the majority of people do. I'm like blindness, my lack of spatial intelligence has no positive attributes, and The problem exists inside my brain, not with society, so I would consider that a disability. It is true that the majority of people can see, but it is unfair to say that someone has less ability just because they have a characteristic that puts them in the minority. If someone is Hispanic or African-American, you would not call them ethnically disabled, so in the same way, I don't think of blind people as disabled. Even in the case where a true disability exists like with my lack of spatial intelligence, I still don't agree with the use of the category because focusing on what you don't have and what you can't do won't get you anywhere. If later, I am proven wrong, and somehow I learned that what I perceive to be a lack and a deficit of spatial intelligence does have positive attributes and that changes in design can help me function spatially at the same level as other people, I will agree that it is not a disability. These designs would of course have to enable me to function spatially instead of getting around or compensating for the problem. For example, writing down instructions about an area would not fall under this category because it just skirts around the problem that I can't remember a new area as well. I'm not saying that compensating for the problem is bad. I am just saying that for it not to be a disability, I would have to function spatially at the same level and not compensate for the problem. I do not consider down syndrome a disability because Studies have shown that these students often have an increased spatial intelligence, social intelligence, and athletic intelligence. People say that I have a high academic intelligence, so if we could prove that the attribute they gave me a high academic intelligence also gave me a low spatial intelligence, I might use that as grounds to say that spatial intelligence is not a disability because it is a byproduct of another attribute rather than actually being it's own attribute. In a broader sense though, I don't think it's fair to get some detrimental attributes and label them as disabilities and Mark people out for them, but ignore others and say that they are just part of being human. Sorry, I got way off topic here.

Sabra Ewing

> On Mar 13, 2015, at 2:34 PM, Amanda Lacy via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I care about words and their literal meanings. I also believe that
> lumping us all into one big category called visually impaired can be
> harmful. My favorite example: when I first came to the University of
> Texas, the disability coordinator said that there was an accessible
> campus map I could use. She meant that I could blow up the map on the
> screen. Obviously, this didn't work for me. Lots of my time gets
> wasted with inappropriate solutions when people categorize me as
> visually impaired. That encompasses way too many people. Besides,
> blind is a great word. It's short and accurate.
> 
> Sina, I loved the way you parsed the phrase to mean ugly. I'll have to
> remember that one.
> 
> Amanda Lacy
> 
>> On 3/13/15, Lewicki, Maureen <mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org> wrote:
>> Hi, Richard, it may seem cold hearted of mr, but when my students bristle at
>> the term Visually Impaired, I try to encourage them with this
>> thought...whatever the title, what matters most is what you do despite the
>> challenge, despite the term.
>> 
>> I used to be a teacher of the visually handicapped. Now I am a teacher if
>> the visually impaired, and I often see the job listed as a teacher of people
>> who have a visual impairment. Funny though, the job did not change.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Maureen Murphy Lewicki
>> Teacher of the Visually Impaired
>> Bethlehem Central Schools
>> 700 Delaware Avenue
>> Delmar, NY 12054
>> http://bcsd.k12.ny.us/
>> 
>> 
>> On Mar 13, 2015, at 1:14 PM, Wheatley, Richard via Blindmath
>> <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> An interesting point, I am registered as blind, and I used to hate the
>> phrase"visually impaired" but over the last few years I have come to use it
>> to describe myself more and more. Is there techniqually a difference? I
>> always thought that blind was a subset of visual impairment. I just didn't
>> like the sound of being impaired.
>> Best wishes
>> Richard
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Amanda
>> Lacy via Blindmath
>> Sent: 13 March 2015 16:42
>> To: derek riemer; Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
>> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Visually Impaired Students Needed for Research
>> Study
>> 
>> It was a joke, geez.
>> 
>> I'm blind, not visually impaired. I've never been visually impaired, so the
>> language the researcher used felt like it excluded me. I thought I was
>> pointing out the obvious.
>> 
>> Also, Sabra is a friend of mine. She didn't think my message was sent by the
>> researcher. She may have found it annoying, but not hurtful.
>> 
>> Lighten up, folks.
>> 
>> Amanda Lacy
>> 
>> On 3/13/15, derek riemer via Blindmath
>> <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> +1. Please note that the person who replied with the nasty post is not
>> the person who is doing the study. I don't know what the heck happened
>> there, but that was indeed rude.
>> 
>> On 3/13/2015 9:18 AM, Lynn Reed via Blindmath wrote:
>> That is the most rude and hurtful response I have EVER seen on this blog.
>> WTH???
>> Why would someone that is not blind need a screen reader for math??
>> If you are not trying to help the blind then what are you doing on this
>> blog??
>> 
>> What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
>> ----Ralph Waldo Emerson
>> 
>> On Mar 12, 2015, at 4:31 PM, Amanda Lacy via Blindmath
>> <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> Sorry, you don't qualify. You're blind, not visually impaired.<G>
>> 
>> On 3/12/15, Sabra Ewing via Blindmath
>> <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> I am interested in this study. Right now, I do my math and computer
>> braille.
>> I either do it on my note taker so that I can read it, or I type it
>> on the computer and I send it to my teachers. I also read my math
>> that way too.
>> They say my man when you're in awkward for them to read, but I like
>> it that way, so I was thinking maybe a program like this would be
>> able to produce mass that we could both enjoy reading. I do know
>> Nimeth, But sometimes I have to look up a symbol if I don't know it
>> because I don't think it's possible to know all of them and less
>> you have taken the most advanced math courses. I am in calculus
>> right now, and have started getting some electronic braille files
>> that show up on my braille display that way, and I have been able
>> to read them fine, but I did have to learn some new symbols because
>> I had not  done things like take the derivative of a function
>> before so I didn't know that symbol.
>> 
>> Sabra Ewing
>> 
>> On Mar 12, 2015, at 1:50 PM, P. McDermott-Wells via Blindmath
>> <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> What is the study about?
>> If you are a visually impaired student who knows Nemeth Braille,
>> you are invited to participate in a research study. A computer
>> software program is being developed that will provide tools to
>> assist visually impaired students in doing mathematics. This
>> program will provide a Nemeth Braille editor and a real-time chat
>> feature.  It will translate Nemeth Braille to MathML, which can be
>> inserted into a Microsoft Word document. The chat feature will
>> allow you to communicate real-time with a math instructor, by
>> translating Nemeth Braille to MathML and back as you communicate.
>> The goal of this study is to determine if this program will reduce
>> the time required for a visually impaired student to create math
>> documents representing typical math assignments encountered in
>> high school or entry-level college mathematics courses.
>> 
>> When and where will this study occur?
>> We will schedule a test session with you at your convenience. You
>> can participate from home, and do not need to travel to the
>> researcher's location.
>> 
>> Why are you asking me?
>> You have been invited because you have been identified as a
>> visually impaired university or high-school student who knows Nemeth
>> Braille.
>> 
>> What will I be doing if I agree to be in the study?
>> You will be given two sets of math problems typical of coursework
>> found in a high school math course or an entry-level college math
>> course, and asked to work through those problems.  For the first
>> set, you will use your current methods to work the problems and
>> produce results in a form that could be submitted to a sighted
>> instructor.
>> 
>> You will need to tell us what tools and methods you normally do
>> your math homework, and you will need to measure the time it takes
>> you to complete the first set of problems.
>> 
>> For the second set, you will be asked to use a computer program
>> that allows you to enter and edit Nemeth Braille math expressions
>> and produce a document with your work in a form that could be
>> submitted to a sighted instructor.
>> You will have the opportunity to utilize a real-time chat
>> communication feature that will give you access to a math
>> instructor who will be able to help you solve the math problems as
>> needed.
>> 
>> You will need to spend some time practicing with the program to
>> become comfortable in its use prior to the study session.  We
>> estimate that you will need a minimum of 1 hour of use to become
>> comfortable with its use.
>> You
>> will spend 60-90 minutes during the actual research study session
>> using this program.
>> 
>> We are NOT testing your math abilities!  We are testing to
>> determine if this program will make it easier for you to produce
>> your math work and/or to get instructor help when you need it.
>> 
>> Is there any audio or video recording?
>> This research project will include audio and/or video recording of
>> your actions using the computer program. Your computer screen is
>> what will be video-recorded, and your voice will be audio-recorded
>> during the test session.  These audio and video recordings will be
>> available to be heard only by the research team.
>> 
>> Will I get paid for being in the study?  Will it cost me anything?
>> There are no costs to you and there will be no payments made for
>> participating in this study. You will, however, have an
>> opportunity to obtain a copy of the final version of the software
>> program for your use when it is released, at no charge to you.
>> 
>> You will have to install on your computer the computer program we
>> provide, and also install the free personal version of the
>> TeamViewer software program
>> (http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx) that will allow the
>> researcher to watch your actions while using the program. You will
>> also need to have a working microphone on your computer, or be
>> able to use a cellphone during the study session.
>> I have some questions.
>> 
>> If you would like to know more about this study, please contact
>> the researcher (contact information is at the end of this document).
>> 
>> Researcher: Patricia McDermott-Wells, PhD student at Nova
>> Southeastern University
>> Telephone: 561-798-3940
>> Email: pmcdermo at nova.edu<mailto:pmcdermo at nova.edu>
>> 
>> 
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>> --
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --
>> 
>> 
>>   Derek Riemer
>> 
>> Department of Computer science Undergrad, proud CILA member, music
>> lover, avid skier, and much more.
>> 
>> "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be
>> changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin
>> 
>> email me at derek.riemer at colorado.edu<mailto:derek.riemer at colorado.edu>
>> <mailto:derek.riemer at colorado.edu>
>> Phone: (303) 906-2194
>> 
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