[nabs-l] Equipment Coming In

Mark J. Cadigan kramc11 at gmail.com
Thu Sep 2 20:40:06 UTC 2010


I know this is not a possibility for all people, but I keep a 2nd laptop 
just incase my primary laptop brakes. I was able to procure an old windows 
2000 laptop and then I put a copy of XP home on it, and increased its ram. 
It is only a Pentium 3, but it is just about as fast as the net books 
available, and, most importantly free.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie McGinnity" <kaybaycar at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 2:33 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Equipment Coming In


> Jewel.  For what it's worth, I think you made the right decision.
>
> I have very bad luck with technology.  I had 2 computers become
> infected this Summer, which meant that I spent my first week back to
> school without a computer.  I used my braille note to take notes, but
> if teachers sent me anything, I couldn't get it.  I couldn't access my
> email and my RFB&D books.  I felt so helpless.  What sucked even more
> was that I had to pull the blind card to get my technology fixed when
> it was because I just couldn't use any old computer.
>
> What I am trying to say is that not having technology is going to
> happen at one point or another.  I've just resigned myself to that
> unfortunate fact, and if I hadn't had my braille note to take notes I
> don't know what I would have done.  It's horrible, but it seems that
> we depend on technology so much.  I am an A student, but my work has
> been suffering because of that one week without my computer.  I am
> still behind in one of my classes because of it.  You have made the
> bright decision that you don't want that to happen.  It may be the
> perfectionist in me, but I don't want to take a class unless I believe
> I can get an A in that class, and if needing the technology helps that
> happen, well I need that technology in order to take the class.
>
> Hope this ramble made any sense.
>
> On 9/2/10, Serena <serenacucco at verizon.net> wrote:
>> Joe:
>>
>> With respect, although I agree with your point that people have to learn 
>> how
>> to deal with difficult times in their lives, I think being in the working
>> world is easier than being a student, as far as blindness services go. 
>> Once
>> you have a steady career and assuming your equipment doesn't totally 
>> break,
>> you won't have to have the Commission for the Blind involved.  At least 
>> in
>> NJ, once the Commission buys you equipment, it's yours forever.  If you
>> change jobs, you can use the equipment at your new job.  I'm not sure, 
>> but
>> I'm guessing that Juel's Commission issue added to her mobility 
>> impairment
>> seemed like too much pressure for her to handle at this time of her life. 
>> I
>> know it was her decision not to use a wheelchair, but what's done is 
>> done.
>>
>> Serena
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 7:55 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Equipment Coming In
>>
>>
>>> Jewel,
>>>
>>> I apologize, not for what I wrote but for still not understanding.
>>> Several
>>> suggestions were made for you on how to locate loaner equipment.  I 
>>> wonder
>>> if you contacted your NFB affiliate to raise hell on your behalf at the
>>> agency.  I think it easy to utilize the organization's lists but 
>>> sometimes
>>> forget that there really is a machinery in place behind the lists to 
>>> help
>>> people in these types of everyday situations.  I specifically offered to
>>> write or call on behalf of students experiencing difficulty in obtaining
>>> accommodations.  Did you get in touch with your local Lions' Club? 
>>> Since
>>> we
>>> spoke of accommodations on campus, did you fully assess the availability
>>> of
>>> equipment at your school?
>>>
>>> I am one individual who did not receive their equipment until November 
>>> of
>>> my
>>> freshman year.  Actually, the boxes arrived just as I was checking out 
>>> of
>>> my
>>> dorm to go home for Thanksgiving.  The only reason things sped up is
>>> because
>>> after speaking to my counselor's supervisor I threatened to take my
>>> grievance to the top of the agency, never mind regional office nonsense.
>>> Until that point I was using an old desktop I'd scrounged up from my
>>> parents' house and a slate and stylus.  Looking back, I probably took
>>> better
>>> notes on the slate because I was concentrating on only taking down main
>>> points.  But, fine, my abilities are not the abilities of others, and no
>>> one
>>> likes being compared to other people.  Yet, I think it important for us 
>>> to
>>> realize that just as someone is out there doing something better than 
>>> us,
>>> there is also someone who is having it a lot worse.
>>>
>>> My fear with your situation is that you feel the answer to your success 
>>> in
>>> school relies on the availability of a long list of equipment. 
>>> Technology
>>> breaks down.  My freshman year was not the first time I found myself
>>> slating
>>> notes, and so when one of your devices breaks down, are you going to 
>>> drop
>>> your classes midway?  Later in your professional career are you going to
>>> not
>>> show up to work if your Braille device malfunctions and breaks down one
>>> day?
>>> People have offered various ways to make the equipment that you do have
>>> work
>>> to your advantage.  If you feel genuinely at a loss, perhaps training is
>>> something worth considering.  I don't say this in a spirit of
>>> condescension
>>> but rather as a feasible suggestion.  There is a lot wrong with forced
>>> rehabilitation training but nothing at all wrong with voluntary
>>> enrollment.
>>>
>>> Your schedule was a tough one but is not altogether an abnormal one.
>>> First,
>>> I somehow doubt your schedule was the same every day since you would 
>>> have
>>> had to have been taking a ridiculous number of hours for this to be the
>>> case.  Since you've made it pretty clear that there is only so much work
>>> you
>>> can handle, I do not think an exceptionally full load was the case.  I
>>> think
>>> it possible for you to have caught up on transcribing notes during down
>>> times, whether at home or on campus at a library somewhere.  Second, 
>>> part
>>> of
>>> your extended schedule is owed to your mobility.  It may very well take
>>> you
>>> longer to walk about, but not using a wheelchair is a choice you
>>> independently made.
>>>
>>> I promise I am not nearly as mean as I may be coming across.  I 
>>> thoroughly
>>> enjoy reading your posts and think you generally have excellent ideas. 
>>> A
>>> lot can be gleaned from a person's writing style, and although it is no
>>> substitute to knowing a person, I feel it is enough to sense you are a 
>>> lot
>>> more resourceful than you are giving yourself credit.  I do not like the
>>> precedent this sets for younger students who may think it okay to stop
>>> something just because the situation is not perfect.  Life is not 
>>> perfect,
>>> but many people did it, and did it well, long before the idea of Braille
>>> notetakers and screen readers were conceived.
>>>
>>> Now, moving forward, let me first suggest you consider using Jarte. 
>>> It's
>>> an
>>> editor that you might think of as WordPad on steroids and is fully
>>> accessible with screen readers.  You can find it at Jarte.com.
>>>
>>> Next, are there any online courses you can consider enrolling in?  Are
>>> there
>>> perhaps any Hadley courses you can take and gain credit for one or two 
>>> of
>>> your college credits?  Time's too valuable to let a semester slide by. 
>>> I
>>> might also consider maintaining contact with the professors you would 
>>> have
>>> had this semester to see about pre-arranging things for the next round.
>>>
>>> Third, you may not be enrolled in class this semester, but this does not
>>> mean you can't start to become active with some of the campus groups. 
>>> Can
>>> you contact some volunteer organizations about potentially arranging
>>> transportation for the spring term?
>>>
>>> Finally, what can your disability office start doing to help reproduce
>>> some
>>> of your textbooks?
>>>
>>> The overriding point here is not to let challenges get the best of you.
>>> You
>>> can do a killer job at whatever you commit yourself to accomplishing.
>>> There's nothing wrong with venting, and I'm sure during my undergraduate 
>>> I
>>> did plenty of it.  There's also nothing wrong with building ourselves up
>>> with the support of other empathetic individuals, but just know that in
>>> every supportive group there is at least one person willing to give you 
>>> a
>>> healthy kick in the ass to get you moving again.  It's not out of 
>>> malice,
>>> just a little tough love.  Ask Mike Freeman how many times he's set me
>>> straight.
>>>
>>> Anyway, there I go writing a damn novella again.  Whatever you do, I 
>>> hope
>>> you try your hardest, and whatever you do in the future, do, not, give,
>>> up!
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Joe
>>>
>>> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their 
>>> sleeves,
>>> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Jewel S. [mailto:herekittykat2 at gmail.com]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 9:30 PM
>>> To: jsorozco at gmail.com; National Association of Blind Students
>>> mailing list
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Equipment Coming In
>>>
>>> I don't think you realize the computer I'm using...this computer is
>>> over ten years old, doesn't have Microsoft Office (so I use WordPad
>>> only), and has NVDA only, whic can be a mjaor pain. I use this
>>> computer for internet use only, and it's not even reliable for that,
>>> since it can randomly freeze up and require a reboot. It has also
>>> completely crashed several times in the last year, requiring repairs
>>> that left me without a computer for a minimum of a week (and once, it
>>> was out of commission for a month, since I couldn't afford the
>>> repairs). Other than what little I can do on this computer, I have to
>>> go to the public library (which takes minimum half an hour bus ride
>>> and quite a bit of walking to get to) or to the community college's
>>> computer lab (which takes me two hours to get to). With my school
>>> schedule, I was getting home at 6:30pm after classes already, so
>>> staying after school really wasn't an option, and I was leaving at 6am
>>> just to get to school 10 minutes before class started, so early
>>> arrival was out, too.
>>>
>>> Don't assume that I wanted to postpone classes for my own reasons. I
>>> would do anything to be in classes right now, but now that I've
>>> dropped, I can't get back in. I *want* to be in classes, and I thought
>>> long and hard before dropping from classes, giving it a full week of
>>> trial without equipment. Between my physical condition deteriorating
>>> and my limited ability to participate in classes, it simply wasn't
>>> possible for me to stay in classes and work at my full potential.
>>> Sure, I could have stayed in and worked at less than potential, but I
>>> need to keep up a great GPA in order to get into the college I want to
>>> transfer to and get the grants and scholarships I need to attend that
>>> school. Because I am a visual and tactile learner, the audio books and
>>> recorded classes were difficult for me to work with. I needed hands-on
>>> learning, which I will get with the refresthable Braille display and
>>> the Victor Stream (which is audio, but allows me to spell words as
>>> needed, so I can write things down knowing the right spelling, like
>>> vocabulary and names).
>>>
>>> Please don't make assumtions like this when you can't possibly know
>>> the full story. You are putting the blame on me for not being able to
>>> accept my fate and work at less than full potential. I *will* work at
>>> full potential, and I will not allow other people to stop me from
>>> that. Me stopping me is a different story, but other people stopping
>>> me from being all I can be is not acceptable.
>>>
>>> ~JEwel
>>>
>>> On 9/1/10, Joe Orozco <jsorozco at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Jewel,
>>>>
>>>> How does that Darryl Worley song go?  Sounds like life to me?
>>> You know, I'm
>>>> not downplaying the necessity of equipment to successfully
>>> complete class
>>>> assignments, but between a recorder and a computer that appears to be
>>>> working reasonably well to write posts, I think you could
>>> have made it work.
>>>> >From this position it sounds as though you were looking for
>>> reasons to
>>>> postpone class, and now you'll have several months to
>>> contemplate why you
>>>> should not give up too soon.  Circumstances will not be quite
>>> so forgiving
>>>> when your sustainability depends on a job salary.  You may
>>> liberally yell at
>>>> me for assuming and for pretending to understand your
>>> situation, but it's
>>>> frustrating to see up and coming students generate much
>>> larger lists of the
>>>> challenges than the abilities.
>>>>
>>>> Respectfully,
>>>>
>>>> Joe
>>>>
>>>> P.S. You can hear the song here:
>>>>
>>>>
>>> http://s0.ilike.com/play#Darryl+Worley:Sounds+Like+Life+To+Me:10
>>> 5008242:s315
>>>> 60646.12494198.9720862.0.2.233%2Cstd_a3cbac552e9145ca912afe1e8fdd407d
>>>>
>>>> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up
>>> their sleeves,
>>>> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>>> [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jewel S.
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 8:38 PM
>>>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Equipment Coming In
>>>>
>>>> Hey all,
>>>> I got my VictorStream Reader today, and have it authorized for RFBD
>>>> already and have the process started for NLS books.
>>>>
>>>> DSB says that my equipment is coming in and as soon as all of it is in
>>>> (except the VictorStream, which was shipped directly to my apartment),
>>>> they'll deliver it and get me set up and start learning it. This from
>>>> the people who said they likely wouldn't have it until the end of
>>>> semester...I am so mad that I dropped my classes now, since it's only
>>>> 3 weeks into classes now. I wish I had waited until the final drop
>>>> date.
>>>>
>>>> So I'm saying Yay for my stuff, but Grrrrr that now I have to wait
>>>> till next semester to get going with school.
>>>>
>>>> In the meantime, I'm going to be on DSB's butt about this. In NC, the
>>>> funds are not released until August 1, which is two weeks before
>>>> school starts...this gives no time for equipment to get shipped in in
>>>> time for school to start. This means that any student who needs
>>>> equipment to be able to work to their full ability in class can't
>>>> start in the fall but must wait until Spring semester. That's
>>>> ridiculous, in my mind. I wasn't able to keep up with classes on the
>>>> first week even because I didn't have even basic tools, like a way of
>>>> taking notes that didn't hurt me more than it helped or a good
>>>> accessible way of reading textbooks in class. Now I have the
>>>> VictorStream, so that'll be good for next semester, and they already
>>>> have my laptop (though they won't release it until all of the stuff
>>>> comes in).
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone else have trouble with late funding release in their
>>>> state? My local president and state president are pushing me to
>>>> self-advocate this, but I'm having trouble speaking up for myself (I'm
>>>> a bit timid in person), and I'm really not sure what I should be
>>>> demanding. Any suggestions on what I should be doing here? I think I
>>>> need to advocate for the fund release date to be changed to allow more
>>>> time, and I know I need to advocate for more students being allowed
>>>> into the college prep class at the Voc Rehab (they have a 15 week
>>>> maximum, and there was  a really long waiting list for college prep,
>>>> so I was unable to get into the college prep class at all). I'm also
>>>> hoping to see if they'll let me back in the voc rehab for intensive
>>>> college prep training to make up for the training I didn't get when I
>>>> was there full-time. They do allow intensive training (one week of
>>>> working on one subject only), but it is usually computer training, and
>>>> there is only one teacher there who can teach a scanner, one of the
>>>> things I'll need to learn, and she's the one who teaches the college
>>>> prep *and* consumer education classes, plus she has an intern she's
>>>> supervising, *and* she teaches a cooking class)...they have this poor
>>>> woman way overworked., and they aren't helping the students meet all
>>>> their goals by having a limited college prep placements...
>>>>
>>>> It's all a bit mess, and any suggestions, ideas, or advice would be
>>>> gratly appreciated. And horray for my equipment coming in finally!
>>>>
>>>> ~Jewel
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> ~Jewel
>>>> Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
>>>> Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> ~Jewel
>>> Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
>>> Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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>
>
> -- 
> Julie McG
> Lindbergh High School class of 2009, participating member in Opera
> Theater's Artist in Training Program, and proud graduate of Guiding
> Eyes for the Blind
>
> "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
> everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
> life."
> John 3:16
>
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