[nabs-l] Reasonable technology requests from Rehab and someother college questions
Chris Nusbaum
dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Tue Apr 26 20:20:11 UTC 2011
Hi, Jordyn.
Don't worry about the "loudness" of your PacMate. I have a
Braille-Note Apex and it's kind of loud, too. But everyone in my
class got used to it soon. My English teacher always thought it
was somebody tapping their pen and was always going to tell that
person to stop, until she saw me typing on my Braille-Note and
remembered. I get asked a lot about my preference between two
notetakers, but I can't really answer your question about the
Braille-Note vs the PacMate because I've never tried using a
PacMate. I do, though reccomend JAWS over WindowEyes, just
because I think the speech synthesizer on JAWS is easier to
understand and more human-sounding than the one on WindowEyes and
the commands are a little easier to remember, in my opinion. The
trade-off there is that (if I'm not mistaken) JAWS costs more
than WindowEyes. That might be something to ask rehab or another
foundation for. Hope this helps!
Chris Nusbaum
"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
----- Original Message -----
From: Jordyn Castor <jordyn2493 at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:05:58 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Reasonable technology requests from Rehab
and someother college questions
Right now I have a PAC Mate with a braille keyboard and a 40 cell
display which is mine. I'm just concerned about using the
keyboard in
class since it's so loud! lol I also use a laptop, but mine is
pretty
out of date and I have NVDA. So, I want a new laptop with Window
Eyes or
something. I also have a Booksense.
I'm just going to say this. My name is Jordyn, spelled J o r d y
n, just
so people don't think I'm a guy. lol! I've seen it spelled with
a lot of
variations on this list so I'm just letting you all know.
Anyway, thanks so much for the great suggestions on the
technology! What
do you guys think in your preference of the BrailleNote to the
PAC Mate
and why if it is just used for notetaking and book reading and
such? I
really don't want to get into a huge BrailleNote versus PAC Mate
debate,
just wondering though. lol You can email me off list with your
opinions
if you want.
Do you think people get annoyed with the loudness of your
notetaker in
class?
Thanks again,
Jordyn
On 4/24/2011 9:46 PM, bookwormahb at earthlink.net wrote:
Gordyn,
Technology depends on your needs and it has to relate to your
college
goals.
Everyone likes laptops now a days; but IMO an advantage to
bringing a
regular desktop to the dorm is its stable and you don't have to
worry
about battery life and its more fragile. Now if you intend to
take
notes on it during class, then yes bring a laptop to college.
Do you have a notetaker already such as a BrailleNote?
If so, you already have a braille display.
I agree ask for a scanner with OCR software like Openbook.
The braille display, your choice of screen reader, and computer
are
personal preference.
Rehab bought me my BrailleNote and Openbook software with
scanner.
But I already had some technology like jaws and duxbury because
my
family is supportive.
What are you going to use the braille display for? That is more
expensive than a computer, scanner, and OCR software combined.
So what justification will you have for them to spend that much
money
on it? Something to think about.
In VA I don't know one college student who got a
40 cell braille display! Students typically get a screen
reader, OCR
software, scanner and a notetaker; state buys either the PacMate
or
BrailleNote.
Just be prepared to justify the braille display as this is not a
common request. If you need it, go ahead though.
But the state might think "oh why should we buy this when we
paid for
a screen reader and Openbook to read to him?".
Regarding roommates, I'm with you. Get a roommate, unless you
have a
guide dog. Then the dog might pose a problem living with a
roommate
because of allergies or something.
Meet with housing so they don't assume you need a special
placement or
something. I think blindness should not affect where you live
as long
as you can walk down stairs in an emergency; so live whereever
freshman live and don't let blindness be a barrier.
Ashley
-----Original Message----- From: Jordyn Castor
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 8:09 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: [nabs-l] Reasonable technology requests from Rehab and
some
other college questions
Hi again guys!
I'm going to college in the fall, as I already said yesterday.
This is
why I have so many questions! I just want to be sure I'm doing
everything right, and what better way to do this then asking
other blind
students? :) So, thanks for all your great advice on everything!
My other question is, what are reasonable things to ask Rehab
for in the
way of technology?
I'm thinking a laptop, 40 cell braille display, Window Eyes, and
a
printer scanner combo thinggy with software like OpenBook or
Kurzweil. I
don't know if I'd get a notetaker though as these are super
expensive.
lol Any suggestions or other things you'd ask for? What are you
all
using as far as technology in college?
My college also has a place where I can, I think, borrow
technology like
an embosser or Braille Display. Should I use that rather than
asking
rehab for some of the things like the display and the printer? I
think
it would be awesome to have a printer in my dorm though lol!
Oh, speaking of dorms, do most of you have a roommate or a
single room?
A lot of my blind friends seem to have single rooms because of
the
expensive technology, but, I want a roommate, I think. lol
Thoughts?
Anyway, I'll stop rambling! :)
Thanks again,
Jordyn
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