[BlindMath] my personal assurance

Sat Sep 9 16:59:37 UTC 2017

There is nothing bad about being the "motivation" for an article, or research line being pursued.  

He entire motivation and the reason why I left my research scientist job in 2010 was based on watching the questions and complaints that exploded on the Blind Math list in 2008.  When SPSS went JAVA crazy and so many people had to start taking a research methods or Statistics course where SPSS was used is where the nightmare began.  I could easily just fire up SAS and do my calculations, but most did not have that type of option.  I soon learned to use "R", as it was open source and "free".  Most students don't have this choice as they actually do have to learn to program.  When the Psychology department at Georgia Tech tried to teach "R" to the undergrads, they and the professors basically rebelled.  They wanted the ability to use a GUI do most of their quantitative work.  Watching blind students struggle trying to survive their courses was my motivation and some are still on this list ten years later.     

I have written several articles and have also given presentations where I state the motivation for it was based on the experience of another person.  I never say it was done about them.  

I have a professor on campus who has an entire line of research dealing with the interaction of dogs "FIDO or Facilitating interaction between Dogs and their Owners, based on the experience I told her about when we walked through wet cement.  Until she asked me if she could actually use my name, she routinely told people that it was a "colleague".  

I have been interview for many television spots with her and her team and have worked with since and her research is now funded by the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation.  She also does Brain and Computer Interface work for Lou Gehrig's disease suffers as well.  She will always let people know that her research is inspired and motivated by actual "people" that she knows in person.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John Gardner via BlindMath
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2017 11:14 AM
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics' <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: John Gardner <gardnerj at oregonstate.edu>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] my personal assurance

Sabra, you yourself quoted Jonathan as saying that his article was motivated by your negative experience. That is quite different from saying he wrote an article about you. That article was not about you. But it was intended to help blind students avoid negative experiences such as you have had. 

John

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sabra Ewing via BlindMath
Sent: Saturday, September 9, 2017 7:57 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sabra Ewing <sabra1023 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] my personal assurance

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 pret
 ty 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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