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

Sun Oct 26 13:18:05 UTC 2008

I didn't get much in the way of a training for mobility done anyway,
but still get support from a good organization here in Tallahassee.
Beth

On 10/26/08, Sarah Jevnikar <sarah.jevnikar at utoronto.ca> wrote:
> I've written a lot about this topic, but it's important and I keep thinking
> of good things based on what I'm hearing from other list members.
> Don't limit yourself with your disability. Or in any other way either, but
> disability is the focus of the tips. If you want to go away for school,
> don't let anyone tell you no and base their reasoning on your blindness.
> You'll have a lot of adjustments whether at home or away, and but so does
> everyone else so there's lots of support around. Be adventurous. It's a
> great skill that will help anyone in the future. Don't limit yourself to a
> certain program of study because of your vision either. Aviation may be out
> of the question for a cane user, but math/sciences aren't. Though they pose
> different and sometimes greater challenges than an arts degree because of a
> greater challenge in obtaining textbooks and such, it's not impossible. I
> love arts degrees by the way - I'm not trying to incite a rivalry here. I
> leave that to the engineers <grin>
> Have a great day,
> Sarah
> P.S.: Orientation and mobility training preferably before classes begin is a
> huge help. Again not something I had too much of but it would have been a
> great help. But of course they're a lot of people around who can help if you
> won't have a lesson for days and need a route learned ...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Harry Hogue
> Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2008 11:07 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] 10 Best Tips for High School Students
>
> Hello,
>
> Be prepared to laugh, both when things are going well and when things are
> stressful.  And always be able to laugh at yourself when you make mistakes,
> because it will happen; learn from them... we all, sighted or blind, make
> them!
>
> And most important of all, realize that people are people, whether you are
> in college, on the job, in high school, or anywhere else in life.  This
> means that social skills, advocacy skills, a sense of humor, etc. are skills
> that are not specific to students who are blind or have other disabilities,
> but are useful even if you have no disability... everyone in the world has
> had to use each one of these skills and techniques at some point in their
> lives, no matter who they are.
>
> Have fun!  It's a great experience!  Remember:  The little things are what
> you will remember most, so don't get bogged down with details!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Harry
>
> --- On Sat, 10/25/08, Beth <thebluesisloose at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: Beth <thebluesisloose at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] 10 Best Tips for High School Students
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008, 6:42 PM
>
> I've got a tip for high school students: please make sure that your
> social skills are up.  I know this because let's face it, I don't
> beleve that you should go anywhere without social readiness, so taking
> a social skills course in high school wouldn't hurt.
> Beth
>
> On 10/25/08, T. Joseph Carter <tjosephcarter at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'll add another:  Take notes regarding your meetings in whatever form
> you
>> need to.  After a meeting, send back an email to the person you met with
>> and thank them for meeting with you.  Even if it's someone you
> can't stand
>> and the meeting was hostile, do this.
>>
>> Also include a summary of what was talked about in the meeting with your
>> thank-you.  Send yourself a carbon copy of these things and file them
>> away.  If you interpret something wrong in the meeting, this gives the
>> person you met with a chance to clarify.  If the meeting was less
>> friendly, it gives the other person a chance to change what they are
>> saying now that it's written down somewhere.  File responses you get
> to
>> those messages as well.
>>
>> If it sounds like I'm saying to be paranoid, I'm not.  Generally,
> when
>> things go well--and we hope that they do--this is polite and it gives
>> people reminders of things they might otherwise forget.  It's a good
>> thing, and it makes everything much more efficient.  It only starts to
>> bother people if things get ugly and suddenly you have a written record of
>> how ugly.
>>
>> Develop this professional habit early and make it a standard practice for
>> the rest of your life.  It really is handy, and I don't mean in case
> you
>> need to call someone a liar, either.  It puts the important details in
>> electronic form, and makes it easily accessible to search algorithms.
>> You'll be the one person in the room who can figure out what the sales
>> figures were three years ago without going to find the archives somewhere,
>> and in most companies, that's the kind of organization that gets
> people
>> promoted.  This leads to higher salary and more than compensates for the
>> extra hard drives you'll have to buy to save all that email and back
> it up
>> regularly.  *grin*
>>
>> Joseph
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 01:39:37PM -0400, Liz Bottner wrote:
>>> The one thing I can think of off the top of my head is learn to
> advocate
>>> for
>>> yourself and by yourself. If students start to do this in high school,
>>> when
>>> they get to college it won't be as big of a shock, at least I
> wouldn't
>>> think. Even if it's starting out small, anything is better than
> nothing.
>>>
>>> Take care,
>>>
>>> Liz
>>>
>>> email: liz.bottner at gmail.com Visit my livejournal:
>>> http://unsilenceddream.livejournal.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
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