[nabs-l] Studying to be a Teacher of the Visually Impaired

[T. Joseph Carter]

I have a secret to tell you:  I know a woman who has a visual impairment 
and can drive.  She is discriminated against almost as much as I was, and I 
use a white cane.  Can't see is can't see in the eyes of someone who is 
biased in that direction.

A totally blind person would not have completed the first term of the 
program I'm in because in that first term we learned some things that 
conventional wisdom says absolutely require vision.  Neither the professor 
nor I knew how to adapt the techniques for a blind teacher because the 
students who need them typically are not successful using other teaching 
methods.  The question becomes how does a person teach without sight to a 
student who cannot learn without seeing a visual representation of each 
concept?

My professor didn't know, and neither did I.  I have the first inklings of 
answers to that question now, but I have had to invent the solution from 
scratch because nobody else has.  The professor involved is the one person 
in the department I can trust, and she's all the more eager to learn what I 
can come up with because she is such a visual learner herself.

Much has happened since then, and I will probably not have the opportunity 
to finish this thing I have started.

Joseph

On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 09:50:31PM -0800, Rob Lambert wrote:
>I'm not 100% blind, actually, I'm low vision. My vision is good enough in A FEW states (not many, just 3 or 4) for me to have a VERY LIMITED driving license (i.e. daytime only, slow speed, no rain, no snow, no freeways, etc). 
>
>--- On Sun, 1/18/09, T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com> wrote:
>From: T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Studying to be a Teacher of the Visually Impaired
>To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>Date: Sunday, January 18, 2009, 7:02 PM
>
>I offer warning that not all teaching programs out there are friendly to the
>idea of blind people receiving a teaching license.  You can discover a whole
>pattern of abuse and discrimination and still essentially lose everything if the
>right people don't take the decisive actions at the right time.
>
>I know first hand, but I'm honestly tired of telling the story, so I will
>not tell it here.  Trust me: Just because it seems that we as people with
>disabilities seem ideally suited to working with others with disabilities and
>just because the people who run these programs are supposed to be in the
>position of helping people like us achieve our potential...  None of that means
>they won't have the same prejudices everyone else has.
>
>Joseph
>
>On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 06:47:46PM -0500, Jedi wrote:
>> Hmmm. I'd recommend at least a Bachelor's in Special Ed at the
>very  least. If you can shake it, I'd also recommend getting a Master's
>in  Special Ed. Afterward, I'd highly recommend getting your TVI training at
>Louisiana Tech through their TBS/O&M program. The generalized Special Ed
>programs are always a good idea because some of your students will have multiple
>disabilities, and you'll want to know the current philosophies on disability
>that your colleagues will operate under. That way, you'll have an idea of
>what to expect in your colleagues for good or ill. You'll also know what
>laws affect your practice, especially in the way of writing IEPs and the like.
>> 
>> -- REspectfully,
>> Jedi
>
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