[nabs-l] 10 Best Tips for High School Students

Fri Oct 24 20:04:15 UTC 2008

Yes I do also have to work so much harder than my classmates but that is 
also do to my learning disability in addission to my blindness. How ever I 
am still expected to meat the same requirements as my classmates I just 
might have to do things a little differently. I had a little bit of an idea 
as to what I would be getting in to but I still didn't know until I started.
Rania,
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <tjosephcarter at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] 10 Best Tips for High School Students


> Hope,
>
> I would like to echo what you said about the need to work harder than
> other students may have to.  Just because others know that you may need
> more time to do certain tasks does not mean they should "go easy" on you
> because of it.  Nobody is going to go go easy on you after you get out of
> school.
>
> That said, there is much emphasis on doing things in college as practice
> for the so-called "real world".  If ind often that this emphasis is
> misplaced.  For example, the insistence that blind people produce their
> own textbooks makes no sense whatsoever, in my opinion.  Certainly, a
> blind person should know how to scan a document themselves, but that does
> not mean they should be taking the time to scan several entire books the
> first week of every term.
>
> Also certainly, DSOs are unreliable as a general rule in terms of
> providing the necessary accommodation in a timely, efficient, and
> acceptable manner.  This does not, however, excuse them from their legal
> obligation to provide these things.  Moreover, the most efficient way to
> handle the textbook situation is to obtain an electronic book from the
> publisher directly, and the publishers will not provide this to a student.
> You MUST operate through your DSO to obtain this.  Not only that, but
> scanned documents may be lacking information you don't know is missing
> until you must scramble to find out what exactly you don't know.
>
> The simple reality is that university life is not the real world.  In
> fact, it has no relation to the real world.  It is an artificial
> institutional system and must be approached as one.  In the real world,
> you are free to provide yourself with whatever you need.  In the
> university world, you may not necessarily have the option to do the thing
> that makes the most sense.
>
> These are the lessons I have had to learn, usually the hard way.
>
> Joseph
>
> On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 10:13:02AM -0400, Hope Paulos wrote:
>> Hello Rania.  I have to agree with you.  In high school I never
>> really learned to advocate for myself until I started college.  I
>> learned to scan my documents in high but didn't have to do so.  I
>> had a full-time transcriber to do this for me.  Doing my school
>> work was enough of a challenge at the time.  Now that I've
>> graduated from high school, I urge current high school students
>> to not let teachers give you a "free ride." My teachers didn't
>> know how to teach me because I was the first blind student at my
>> high school.  They let by with a's and b's when I was doing D
>> work.  Don't let that happen.  It will come back to bite you in
>> the long-run.  I am in my senior year of college now and will
>> graduate in May.  I currently have a 3.8 GPA and it's all earned.
>> Please.  Enjoy the time you have in high school, but work hard.
>> Sometimes, as blind people, we have to work twice as hard as our
>> sighted counterparts.  It may take us longer to do our
>> assignments because we have to san documents, etc.  Don't let it
>> stop you.
>> hope and Beignet
>>
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> >From: "Rania" <raniaismail04 at gmail.com
>> >To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> >Date sent: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:58:23 -0400
>> >Subject: Re: [nabs-l] 10 Best Tips for High School Students
>>
>> >I think they should learn how to scan there own documents and
>> know how to
>> >use jaws.  I didn't know how to do that and using jaws on a
>> computer in high
>> >school was not pushed even tho I was getting training on how to
>> use jaws at
>> >home and did use jaws a little in high school.  I found out that
>> my high
>> >school had kerswale but it never got used because know one new
>> how to use
>> >it.  Depending on ware you go to school and the amount of classes
>> you are
>> >taking it might be better to do all of your scanning your self.
>> I have to do
>> >that since I don't have any one to help me with it.  You also
>> have to work
>> >with how the scanned documents come out because not every thing
>> is going to
>> >scan well.Be prepaired to have a limited number of things
>> brailled or none
>> >at all because in college you don't see much of it at all if any.
>> I can say
>> >that I kind of new to expect that but I didn't really understand
>> that until
>> >I actually got there.  Record your classes if you feel that will
>> help you in
>> >addission to taking notes in class.  as for looking for colleges
>> look for the
>> >school that you want to go to that has the major you are
>> interested in.  If
>> >you are the first blind student to ever attend at that school
>> have an idea
>> >or know what accomadations you need.  Don't be afraid to ask
>> questions of
>> >your instructors  and anyone else helping you.  Learn how to
>> advicate for
>> >your self.  If something doesn't work try to find a way to work
>> with your
>> >instructor to come up with another way that you both agree on so
>> you can get
>> >the job done.  Have fun! even tho it is a lot of hard work I
>> enjoy what I am
>> >doing.
>> >Rania,
>> >----- Original Message -----
>> >From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com
>> >To: "Arizona Students" <arizona-students at nfbnet.org>;
>> "'California
>> >Students'" <cabs-talk at nfbnet.org>; "Colorado Center"
>> ><ccb-alumni at nfbnet.org>; "'Colorado Students'" <cabs at nfbnet.org>;
>> "Florida
>> >Students" <fabs at nfbnet.org>; "'Illinois Students'"
>> <iabs-talk at nfbnet.org>;
>> >"'Kansas Students'" <kabs at nfbnet.org>; "Kentucky Students"
>> ><nfbkabs at nfbnet.org>; "Louisiana Students"
>> <la-students at nfbnet.org>;
>> >"Michigan" <mi-abs at nfbnet.org>; "Minnesota Students"
>> <mn-abs at nfbnet.org>;
>> >"Missouri" <mabs at nfbnet.org>; "National" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>;
>> "Nebraska"
>> ><nebraska-students at nfbnet.org>; "New Hampshire Students"
>> ><new-hampshire-students at nfbnet.org>; "New Jersey Students"
>> ><njabs-talk at nfbnet.org>; "'North Carolina Students'"
>> <ncabs at nfbnet.org>;
>> >"Ohio" <oabs at nfbnet.org>; "Pennsylvania" <nfbofpa at att.net>;
>> "Presidents"
>> ><Nabs-presidents at nfbnet.org>; "TABS Students"
>> ><tabs_students at googlegroups.com>; "Tennessee Students"
>> <tabs at nfbnet.org>;
>> >"'Utah Students'" <uabs at nfbnet.org>; "Virginia Students"
>> ><vabs at www.nfbnet.org
>> >Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 9:30 PM
>> >Subject: [nabs-l] 10 Best Tips for High School Students
>>
>>
>> >> Hello all,
>>
>> >> I just discovered my mass mailing announcing the NABS web site
>> development
>> >> skipped a handful of student divisions.  You didn't miss
>> anything.  The
>> >> short of it is that I am working with the NABS board to launch
>> the
>> >> official
>> >> NABS web site in the next few months.
>>
>> >> One of the items I am incorporating into the site is a
>> compilation of
>> >> quick
>> >> tip sheets on a number of subjects of interest to students, tip
>> sheets
>> >> generated based on your own personal experiences.  To start, I
>> am looking
>> >> for college students who can share their top ten best tips for
>> high
>> >> schoolers on the verge of applying for college.  What did you
>> look for in
>> >> a
>> >> college or university?  How should high schoolers prepare for in
>> the way
>> >> of
>> >> readers, accommodations, dealing with professors?
>>
>> >> My own tip is this:
>>
>> >> Learn how to use Microsoft Office.  Downloading illegal music,
>> swapping
>> >> e-mails and chatting on messengers is only going to get you so
>> far, and I
>> >> am
>> >> still surprised by the number of students who enter college
>> unable to
>> >> correctly format a research paper.  For that matter, learn how
>> to write,
>> >> or
>> >> at least spell, but one step at a time.
>>
>> >> Send us your own tips.  One or ten.  Help us make this a good
>> list for
>> >> high
>> >> school students to peruse as they make preparations for this
>> very
>> >> important
>> >> step in their lives.  I'll work with the NABS board to
>> incorporate your
>> >> suggestions into a final document which will then be made
>> available on the
>> >> site when it is launched.
>>
>> >> Regards,
>>
>> >> Joe Orozco
>>
>> >> "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for
>> humanity."--James
>> >> M.
>> >> Barrie
>>
>>
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>>
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