[nabs-l] Research Paper Help

Thu Jun 18 21:56:13 UTC 2009

Marc,

Your tone suggests it would be wrong of me to say it is the responsibility
of the blind person to find their own classrooms?

This is your criteria for deeming a campus accessible:

1. Fully accessible maps

2. Braille on every classroom door

3. Accessible elevators

4. Constructed in a way that requires little orientation for the blind
individual

I'm going to assume you are being sarcastic, correct me if I'm wrong.  But
no institution could come clean on all four points, and even if it planned
to do so in the future, there is still the matter of the here and now where
the blind student still needs to find their way.  My e-mail very clearly
suggests a school should have no excuses not to show the blind student to
their classrooms.  Imagine how that would pan out in the local newspapers?
But, yes, ultimately, if the university is taking its sweet time about
getting its act together, it is the responsibility of the student to find
their way around campus just as it is their responsibility, and not the
school's, to have the assignments completed.  The student should file a
complaint or do whatever they need to do to rectify the situation, but I'm
referring to what needs to be done today because when classes start the
student needs to get there with or without the university's assistance.
College is, after all, one step away from real life, and accessible maps,
labeled doors and such are certainly not a part of finding the office for an
interview.

Joe Orozco

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the
crowd."--Max Lucado 

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of mworkman at ualberta.ca
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:39 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Research Paper Help

I'm curious Joe, if not through public funding, and if not 
through assistance from the university, then whose 
responsibility is it.  My gut tells me you will say that it is 
of course the blind person's responsibility, but my gut has 
been wrong in the past.

Just in case my gut is right this time, I would say that unless 
the university provides fully accessible maps, braille on every 
classroom door, accessible elevators, and is constructed in a 
manner that requires little in the way of orientation for a 
blind person to get around, then the university does have a 
responsibility to offer this sort of assistance.  In Canada 
anyways, I think it would be pretty easy to argue that this is 
a reasonable accommodation that doesn't impose an undo 
hardship, and I suspect the same would be true in american law.

But I am genuinely curious whose responsibility you believe  it is.

Marc

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
Behalf Of Joe Orozco
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:35 AM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Research Paper Help

Someone from the disability office should be able to undertake 
this task.
If such an office does not exist, as may be true in a private 
institution, there is still some type of compliance officer on 
hand who should find a student worker to show the blind person 
to his or her classes.  A blind student need not have 
government assistance to be shown this courtesy.  In turn, the 
school need not be expected to carry out this courtesy, but I 
think they will be hard-pressed not to do such a small favor.  
Keep us posted, and write to me off list if you need someone to 
help you move forward with something more solid with the school.

Joe Orozco

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on 
the crowd."--Max Lucado

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of V Nork
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:48 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: [nabs-l] Research Paper Help

Hi all, Hope any of you can help me with some information for a 
research topic on mobility.  It involves a hypothetical 
question.  What would happen to a visually impaired student on 
your campus if he or she needed help with orientation and 
mobility but had no funding from government or social agencies?
 Let us say in this example the student already had basic white 
cane skills, but just needed to have someone walk with them 
until they had a route planned?  Would the college or 
university offer direct help?  On my campus, such help is seen
as the individual responsibility of the blind student.   It is
simply sink or swim if one does not have help or money to pay 
for it.It was suggested to me that someone who needed help 
should post a flyer on college bulletin boards.  It just seems 
to me that is reasonable to think that some member of the 
college or university could be designated to offer some 
assistance as a kind of mobility aideto do an initial run 
through so a student could get to classes each semester.  I 
have tried to lobby for this in a low key way, but so far my
suggestions have fallen on unreceptive ears.   My request for
tactile maps has also been seemingly ignored.  Is this similar 
or not to the situation on your campus?  Thanks for any 
thoughts, Ginnie _______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account 
info for nabs-l:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jsorozco
%40gmail.com

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of 
virus signature database 4160 (20090616) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of 
virus signature database 4160 (20090616) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nabs-l:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/mworkman
%40ualberta.
ca

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account 
info for nabs-l:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jsorozco
%40gmail.com

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of 
virus signature database 4168 (20090618) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 4168 (20090618) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com