[Blindmath] Question about having an assistant in the classroom for stem subjects

Thu Nov 12 04:20:37 UTC 2015

Sabra,
Often blind students studying STEM subjects do not have assistants.  However, I have known some that have used assistants at times, even in lecture classes.  For example, someone in a chemistry class had an assistant who was an art major sit in the lectures and draw shapes and structures and diagrams on a tactile drawing board   as the instructor drew it on the board.  This allowed the blind student to feel what the other students were seeing, that was not or could not very well be verbalized.  This is just one of many examples.  
Ultimately, it should be the blind student's choice whether they use an assistant, and who that assistant is if they choose to have one. 
I do not know what problems you had in your class exactly, but having an assistant or not having an assistant is irrelevant if the instructor is doing their job to include all students.  
An assistant can do whatever you want them to do.  And if you have a way of doing things you need to do in a class without an assistant then it is between you and your instructor to work it out, potentially with the help of your disability resource office.

Anna E Givens

> On Nov 11, 2015, at 5:01 PM, Sabra Ewing via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Basically, I am having a situation where I had problems in a lecture style course. It came up while at resolving these problems that the professor said I declined an assistant at the beginning of the class, implying that if I had an assistant, everything would have been hunky-dory. I know that the problems I had had nothing to do with whether assistant or present or not. The only thing I think an assistant would have been useful for is as a witness to things that happened inside the classroom. Because I can't even understand what an assistant is supposed to do in a situation like mine, I can't explain why the lack of an assistant did not cause my problems.
> 
> Sabra Ewing
> 
>> On Nov 11, 2015, at 5:07 PM, Suzanne Germano via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Notetakers for blind students
>> 
>> I have partial vision so I use a cctv to se the board but I can say in my
>> stem classes: Calculus, linear algebra, several programming, theory of
>> computer science etc that the professors often do not verbalize much of
>> what is on the board or on the power points. They also like to use laser
>> points and say things like "you start here and then go to here and then
>> here before you finally get to here." So not at all helpful if you can not
>> see it. Even the ones that try to remember things like I am color blind
>> will often forget and say "the area circled in green"
>> 
>> So there are situations where depending on the student and the professor
>> that a notetaker may be beneficial
>> 
>> I have used lab assistants in courses like chemistry to tell me color
>> changes. I prefer not to use another student as they may not be doing
>> things right or understand the lab being performed. The couple of times I
>> asked for someone in the lab, I requested somewhere who was majoring in the
>> subject and well above the course I was taking.
>> 
>> On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 3:46 PM, Dave M. Thomas via Blindmath <
>> blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>>> Sabra,
>>> 
>>> You do not come across as being at all confused to me I think you're spot
>>> on. Blind people can and do perform perfectly well without assistants in
>>> STEM lecture classes. As was the case in your Ceramics course, there might
>>> be times in STEM labs when some assistance would be helpful ... for
>>> example, in a chemistry lab. But you are right about not needing it in the
>>> lecture classes.
>>> 
>>> Dave
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Dave Thomas, M.A.
>>> Academic Counselor, Learning Effectiveness Program
>>> University of Denver
>>> Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, #424
>>> 1999 E. Evans Ave.
>>> Denver, CO 80208
>>> Phone: 303-871-7758
>>> Fax: 303-871-3939
>>> E-mail: dave.m.thomas at du.edu
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sabra
>>> Ewing via Blindmath
>>> Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2015 3:21 PM
>>> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
>>> Cc: Sabra Ewing
>>> Subject: [Blindmath] Question about having an assistant in the classroom
>>> for stem subjects
>>> 
>>> I am having trouble understanding the concept of using an assistant in the
>>> classroom for lecture style stem subjects as it relates to blindness. It is
>>> getting to the point where it is becoming a problem in my interactions with
>>> people who believe that blind people should have assistance for these
>>> subjects. I understand that if you are paralyzed, you would use an
>>> assistant in lecture to take notes for you because you can't write with a
>>> pencil and maybe you can't use an alternative device to take notes on a
>>> computer. I understand that if you are deaf, you would use an assistant to
>>> translate everything from English to sign language, you could have a
>>> condition that would make you run around for no reason or not be able to
>>> stay on task in an assistant would help with that. However, none of those
>>> apply to me. Let's say A blind student is in a lecture. It could be
>>> anything like math, science, or programming. If that person had an
>>> assistant in the classroom, what with the assistant do
>>> 
>>> ? If the
>>> assistant is supposed to be taking notes, why can the student not take
>>> their own notes and why has an assistant been chosen instead of removing
>>> excess ability barriers? I am just really trying to understand this, and
>>> I'm not going to go into details, but I am in a situation where I need a
>>> rational explanation for why I did not have an assistant in one of my stem
>>> classes. After fourth grade, I never really had an assistant in the
>>> classroom. If you are saying to just think about why I had an assistant in
>>> the fourth grade and before, I tried that, but I can't remember why. In the
>>> future if I am offered an assistant for class, should I just take it even
>>> if I don't know why so the professor can't blame any problems that occur in
>>> the class on the lack of an assistant? It would seem wrong to have an
>>> assistant just for that though. I had an assistant and my ceramics class
>>> who helped me find things in the room and know how to use the tools and
>>> glaze and keep track of my pieces, but
>>> 
>>> I did no
>>> t do any of those activities in a stem class. I have really tried to
>>> think very hard about it even though it doesn't seem like it, but I just
>>> get more confused.
>>> 
>>> Sabra Ewing
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