[nabs-l] The Carroll Center for the Blind

Mon Aug 15 23:05:41 UTC 2011

agree Liz. Did you attend a non nfb center?

-----Original Message----- 
From: Liz Bottner
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 6:57 PM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] The Carroll Center for the Blind

Hi all,
    Personally, my view is that if you have some remaining vision, you
should be taught how to effectively use that (visual efficiency) as well as
nonvisual techniques so that you have both tools in your toolbox. There may
be times when using your remaining vision for a task is preferred and
totally fine, and yet others where employing a nonvisual technique is more
feasible. My concern is that NFB centers do not focus on teaching those with
low vision how to use their remaining vision effectively alongside nonvisual
techniques. If I am wrong in this assertion, someone please feel free to set
me straight. I realize and completely agree that the value of sleep shades
to a person with low vision is of crucial importance because it builds
confidence and instills the idea that vision isn't everything, but as I said
earlier, if someone has usable vision, they should be encouraged to use it
if it will end up helping them.

Just my view, for what it's worth.

Take care.

Liz Bottner
Guiding Eyes Graduate Council
GEB Voicemail:  800-942-0149 Ext. 2531
e-mail:
liziswhatis at hotmail.com
Visit my LiveJournal:
http://unsilenceddream.livejournal.com
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http://twitter.com/lizbot

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Salisbury, Justin Mark
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2011 8:58 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] The Carroll Center for the Blind

I attended the Carroll Center for the Blind for two consecutive summers with
Justin Young, and I would like to give my personal take on it.

Justin and I had this joke where we started the Justin Corporation, an
underground mafia meat market.  It was an amazing social experience with all
of the other students involved.  If only considering the social frontier, I
highly recommend it.

I attended the Youth in Transition (YIT) program in 2006 and then the Real
World Work Experience (RWWE) in 2007.  I valued every bit of the experience
both years, but I want to first make clear a fundamental disagreement that I
now have with the training that I received.  I lost my vision in 2005, so I
was newly blinded when I went to the Carroll Center.  They taught me to use
my remaining vision as much as possible and taught me ways to use my
remaining vision.  I wish that they had taught me how to do everything
non-visually.  I wish that they had occluded (blindfolded) me during O&M
lessons and other lessons in general.  I learned a lot of great things, but
blindness skills should be about knowing how to do things non-visually.  I
am now planning to attend an NFB training center (Louisiana Center for the
Blind, Blind, Inc, or Colorado Center for the Blind), where I will learn all
of the skills I need non-visually.  Also understand that I have a stable
visual field and acuity.

I am much better off having gone to the Carroll Center than I was before I
went there, but it wasn't the best possible program that I could have
chosen.

In the Youth in Transition program, they worked with us on our confidence
and social skills.  They taught us some basic cooking skills, how to do
laundry, a lot of O&M, housekeeping skills, how to use low vision devices,
and they had a class called "personal management," where they taught us
about shaving, tying a tie, sewing a button, and things like that.  If we
already knew how to do something, they would watch us do it and suggest
modifications in technique if necessary.  They also had a class called
adaptive technology, where they introduced me to ZoomText and other students
with less vision than me to Jaws.  We had a lot of great group activities
and social opportunities that I will remember for a long time.  We also saw
a counselor while we were there on a weekly basis to make sure that we were
adjusting well to the environment.  Another activity, called "people talk,"
was a time that we all gathered to talk about certain issues that often led
to self-awareness and confidence building.

In the Real World Work Experience program, we were evaluated on our skills
for a week and prepared for a month of work.  Once we started work, we
worked for three days per week in volunteer positions, and we were paid by
the Carroll Center.  The other two days were used for field trips and
training days.  Again, it was an amazing experience.  Different students
were placed in different positions in the Boston area.  We were responsible
for using public transportation to get to and from our work sites.  We had
two job coaches in charge of about 10 or 12 students in the program, so they
weren't with us all the time.  They were sighted people who watched us at a
distance while we were in the environment.

At the beginning of the RWWE program, I met a few adults who were at the end
of their adult program, which runs during the regular school year.  They
spoke well of their program, but they told me that there wasn't an
aggressive Braille standard that they had to meet in their program.  They
studied it a little bit, but they didn't become what an NFB training center
would push them to become.  Also, students at the Carroll Center live in a
dorm and eat at a dining hall, which gives them a comfortable crutch, but it
does not push them to really be independent.  When you walk into the dining
hall, you are expected to put your cane in a docking station and navigate
the dining hall without it by walking in either a clockwise or
counter-clockwise direction.

The Carroll Center is a good training center with good people in it, but it
is not the very best option available.

I'd be happy to answer specific questions on- or off-list.

Justin

Justin M. Salisbury
Undergraduate Student
The University Honors Program
East Carolina University
salisburyj08 at students.ecu.edu

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."    -MARGARET MEAD

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