[BlindMath] my personal assurance

[Sabra Ewing]

I just found this when I was looking for the message I'm about to show you. I was going to post it on another thread where Jonathan says not to assert on a public forum that he wrote an article about me, but I'll put it here so as not to clutter up that one. he wants everyone to think I am crazy, but you will see in the following message that he says my negative experience was a major source of inspiration for the article he and his friend wrote. here is the message.

Preston,

Sabra doesn't know it and I've not ever shared it explicitly in public before now, but her negative experiences and their ongoing airing via this list were a major source of inspiration for the article Theodor and I wrote. We believe that there is no reason for a student to fail in statistics courses due to their blindness, because there are ways  to address the seemingly numerous access barriers. We felt that we needed to be the ones to write the article because we've been through more statistics courses than most blind people, we've made it work for us, and now we're both teaching statistics in those same settings. Demonstrating our own personal successes offers evidence of the value for the sighted world getting off their chuffs and helping other blind students. We wrote an article as that is the way to reach most academics, speaking to them as equals; we present some challenges, but we were not explicit in challenging them by demanding they do more. We preferred to show them how they could be helping and let their moral compass guide them from that point onwards. 

The success of a blind person in any discipline will almost certainly rely on the successful interaction between student and teacher at a level not necessary for the majority of students in the classroom who just so happen to be sighted. I accept that in some disciplines this interaction is fairly minimal, but in STEM disciplines, we need to put in the extra (often hard) yards. Those efforts will be made all the easier if people do share their positive experiences, but we ought not lose sight of the more sobering reality that comes when things don't go so well.

I'm pleased you reached out to the list, as I have been pleased so many times over the last ten years, by students, their teachers (less often I admit) and disability support staff. In general, I think you will find list participants are willing to help and constructive; yes, you might hear some things that you don't want to hear or look a little daunting but the bad news will usually come with positive suggestions, advice or strategies based on real experience of success.

Sabra Ewing

> On Aug 11, 2017, at 5:53 PM, Godfrey, Jonathan via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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
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