[BlindMath] my personal assurance

[Godfrey, Jonathan]

Hello all.

I have never written a case study about anyone, with or without their permission, aside from the joint writings by me and Theodor Loots which reflect on our own experiences.

Any comment taken from the publicly available archive of this list was attributed to the author after seeking their permission. If I couldn't track that person down then the quote was never used. I have retained a copy of that permission as part of my records for the relevant publication, just in case an editor asked me for proof.

As an academic who cares deeply about his discipline (nothing unusual in that) and as a blind person who seeks the best for all blind people, I will continue to use the best resources I have available to make STEM a more enjoyable and successful educational experience. I, like many others in the STEM disciplines, feel a that we have failed our students if they do not finish their course with  a successful outcome. For me (and again) many of my colleagues, success is not just about a grade at the end of the course that indicates some degree of understanding of the content being examined. We contend with a large number of students who not have a positive attitude towards our subjects, although perhaps it is the compulsory mathematics and statistics courses that create much of this negativity. My greatest successes as a teacher come when a student with a negative attitude is turned onto a subject so much that they continue taking courses in that subject. I admit that that this is pretty rare but it has happened for me.

I am encouraged by the contributions of many list participants who show me a different way to do something or present their positive attitude to life as a blind person; I am also motivated to do what I can by reading the frustrations expressed by people who can benefit from my help. That's why I have remained on this list for more than ten years. I still see the occasional post come from good people who have been on the list even longer. As a consequence, I attribute this list as a major factor in my personal and professional development

Have a great weekend everyone,
Jonathan