[nabs-l] Introduction

Fri Jan 2 21:20:34 UTC 2009

Not that I have anything against nerds, but that is exactly my point.
Although I am sure there are less technology oriented means of living life,
I would like to help advocate an easier way of utilizing the technology that
is available. 

Some of this is a matter of pulling resources and construct other things
into a user friendly format. I had the privilege to volunteer with a high
school transition program this past summer, and the students had no
technology training of their respective software or devices. One young girl
that was a joy to work with, had both Jaws and a Braille note, but only new
basic navigation and computer processing concepts on the laptop, and had a
Braille note that apparently no one could get online. Although I felt that
the students learned a decent amount in the eight weeks I had them, there is
still plenty more that I would love to share in order to feel confident of
their college experience. 

I get that there are a lot of resources and more so that the computer
experience with a blind user is completely different than that of our
sighted peers. An old room mate of mine was a Computer Science major, and he
had a very difficult time grasping how I understood and maneuvered my
computer. Although he was a huge help in other areas, as we tackled
questions of accessibility with wireless routers, ftp servers, and we are
currently working on web servers. I sold my old room mate to the vision of
making normal software accessible, and him and I are both occasionally
writing Google as they seem to be a great advocate. Then again I am spending
endless hours of my own time learning this stuff, and unfortunately leave
many blind peers behind. Trying to figure out some bridges to teach and
offer at least some tools for people to learn would be great. Especially as
I am self taught, and do not know of many resources for the blind.

Mandarino,

P.S

Has anyone else noticed that this list serve is a little slow? Not to
mention that I received an email in which someone was requesting more
information about a Maryland get together, but it took fifteen minutes for
me to get the original post that he apparently already responded to.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Beth
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 2:55 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Introduction

I'm also a self-taught computer nerd, but no matter what, I'll never
be as nerdy as the men in my family. lol
Beth

On 1/2/09, Jason Mandarino <blind.subscriber at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Albert,
>
> I am intrigued by a part of your message to Jessica. You were asking if
> whether she was thinking about specializing in Braille or computer
training.
> Outside of college programs such as the Commission for the Blind, I have
> never met a computer instructor for the visually impaired. Are there such
> things for grade school students that are visually impaired?
>
> I only ask for technology was quite the fight for me in grade school, and
> the RESA system hat provided the Brail and mobility instructors were not
> very helpful in the technology arena. I had to find alternative means to
> obtain what I wanted, but that also meant having to train myself as well.
>
> The technology learning curve can be steep, and I would like to see more
> access to practical resources for upcoming youth. I did not find the
> computer classes that my public high school offered to be any help, and
> unless you have the interest to invest endless hours into learning new
> software or hardware, you will be ineffective compared to your sighted
> peers.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Mandarino
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf
> of Albert Yoo
> Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 1:46 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Introduction
>
>
> Jessica would you have to do student teaching? Would there be help to
write
> on the braille writer or teach the blind students the computer? What grade
> would you teach? Would you be a vision teacher tvi is what I think they
are
> called? Teacher of the visually impaired> From: jess28 at samobile.net> To:
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org> Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 09:39:00 -0500> Subject: Re:
> [nabs-l] Introduction> > Ashley,> Yes I want to teach. I'm going to get my
> bachelors degree and then my > masters degree in Teacher of the Blind and
> Visually Impaired. I don't > currently read Braille but I'm going to
> hopefully be learning grade two > through the Hadley School for the
Blind.>
>> -- > Jess> Jessica Trask> > Email services provided by the System Access
> Mobile Network. Visit > www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility
> anywhere.> > _______________________________________________> nabs-l
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