[nabs-l] doing research in a lab and a blindness question

[Mary Oliver]

Hi Jedi,
I definitely don't want to discourage anyone from working in a lab, but to me, this doesn't seem that simple. Yes, Cindy could get a reader who could tell her what the rats are doing, but then what would Cindy be contributing to the lab? Often as an undergraduate lab assistant, you get the "grunt work" of collecting data or physically running experiments while the more experienced faculty and graduate students do a lot of the thinking. There are certainly lots of exceptions, but if the main point of Cindy's job would be to observe the rats and gather data about their behavior, and she hired a reader to help her accomplish those tasks, wouldn't she just be hiring someone to do her job? Maybe it would be better if she could find a lab project she could contribute to independently with marginal, if any, assistance from a reader. There are probably several options, and personally, I would feel a lot better about my job if I knew I wasn't relying on a
 sighted person to do most of it.
 
Respectfully,Mary
--- On Tue, 10/27/09, Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net> wrote:


From: Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] doing research in a lab and a blindness question
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 5:48 AM


Who says you can't watch rats when you're blind? Why can't someone just describe what's happening with the rats just like in DVS or when using a live reader? So long as the experiment doesn't actually require you to visually perceive the rats, who cares if you're blind? Just get a reader.

Respectfully,
Jedi


Original message:
> Hi,
> If it is the professor and not an assistant, yes, by all means email
> her, and let her know that you are still interested in her research,
> however, you are blind and cannot watch rats on videos. However, there
> are plenty of ways  that oyu could effectively work in a lab, so
> request a meeting. Let her know though, since that way se will be able
> to think about ways htat you could work. Also, I hope you sent her a
> resume, so that she knows about your experience and evaluates you on
> that rathr than on your blindness.
> Mary

> On 10/26/09, Cindy Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I am very interested in working in the psych lab on campus. There are
>> opportunities for undergrad students to get course credit for doing
>> this, but they have to interview with and be accepted by a professor.
>> I met with one of my psych professors today who I know does research
>> just to learn the logistics of the process, and he told me a lot of
>> details and answered a lot of my questions which was helpful. So I am
>> now in the process of corresponding with professors whose research
>> interests me.

>> My question is this. In my initial email, I simply expressed my
>> interest cordially and explained why I was interested in their
>> research. However, I got a reply of a professor who is willing to work
>> with me, but her research is concentrated on observing rats’ behavior
>> and taking measures such as wait and stuff. She may very well be the
>> only professor to reply positively to my desire to do research with,
>> so I want to say in an effective way that I may not be able to perform
>> these tasks, but I am still interested in meeting with her to discuss
>> whether there are jobs that I could effectively do in her lab. Should
>> I just respond that I am interested and arrange a time to meet, or
>> should I say that I am blind in my email but still request a time to
>> meet as well as mention the fact that there still might be ways in
>> which I contribute? I guess what I am curious about is, is it wrong
>> for me to say that I am interested but rather than meet with her to
>> confirm things like my response would connote, I would really be
>> meeting with her to let her know that there are several aspects of her
>> data collection that I cannot do? Should I turn down the opportunity?
>> I am all about the belief that I can do anything, but I wouldn’t want
>> some professor to take me on if there wasn’t enough things that I
>> could effectively do.

>> I would appreciate your input; in whatever I say, I just want to be
>> sure not to make my blindness look like a major hindrance, because
>> then she might rethink whether she wants to accept me, but I don’t
>> want to mislead her.

>> Thanks, and any lab tips that any of you experienced research
>> assistants have are helpful.

>> Cindy

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> Mary Fernandez
> Emory University 2012
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> Atlanta Ga.
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> Phone: 732-857-7004
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