[nabs-l] waver

[humberto]

Hello all.
I can understand your points about readers and being able to get 
assistance in college. I understand that even sighted people 
request assistance, I don't blame them for that. I know things 
can be done this way, but isn't it the goal of the National 
Federation of the blind and the blind ourselves to be as 
independent as the sighted? Can't we do and fight for our freedom 
just like the sighted?

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: Arielle Silverman <nabs.president at gmail.com
>To: Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>, National 
Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 14:05:53 -0700
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] waver

>Hi Josh and all,

>I can think of very few cases in which getting a course waived 
because
>of blindness is justifiable. I know this has been mentioned 
already,
>but in my experience almost any course can be completed with the 
help
>of a good human reader, regardless of the accessibility of 
necessary
>software. A reader will be much, much less expensive than 
SuperNova or
>other software.

>I think one of the biggest misconceptions, held by blind and 
sighted
>people alike, is that if a blind person can't do a task 
independently,
>they can't do the task at all. But decades of blind students who 
were
>educated prior to the computer era have proven that true success 
is
>possible through appropriate collaborations with readers and 
other
>assistants. Many state agencies for the blind have provisions in 
their
>statutes requiring them to pay for reader services. If not, it is
>possible to hire readers on a volunteer basis, offering to 
provide a
>service such as food, babysitting, etc. as compensation or 
working
>with volunteers from an organization that requires them to 
complete
>service hours. Many college clubs, such as fraternities and 
sororities
>or service organizations, or even groups at a church or other
>religious organizations require their members to perform 
volunteer
>service.

>For example, I have been successful thus far in my doctoral 
program in
>psychology despite not being able to independently enter data or 
make
>poster presentations. I work with research assistants who enter 
the
>data and help me with formatting my posters and graphical
>presentations of my research. I also cannot independently grade
>handwritten tests for my teaching assistant jobs, but I can do so 
by
>working with a reader who reads the tests to me. It would be a 
real
>shame if I, or someone in my graduate program, thought I couldn't
>participate in the program because I can't do these tasks all by
>myself. Similarly, some people think a blind person cannot teach
>elementary school because they cannot watch all the kids at once 
and
>ascertain whether they are fooling around silently during class. 
Yet
>many blind elementary school teachers work with assistants who 
help
>with visual classroom monitoring so they are free to instruct the
>class. In both of these cases, the blind person is still 
performing
>the important work. I still independently develop the content for 
my
>data presentations and I decide what grades students will get on 
their
>tests after the reader has told me what the students wrote. The 
blind
>teacher is still the one in charge of the classroom and the one 
who
>decides how mischievous students will be disciplined after they 
are
>identified by the teacher's aide. It is also important to 
remember
>that in many of these professions, sighted people also work with
>similar kinds of assistants. Some sighted teachers have
>paraprofessionals (teacher's aides). Although my sighted 
classmates
>don't use their RA's to help them with presentations, they do 
often
>work with RA's who provide data entry assistance.

>My point is that I would caution against saying something is
>impossible just because it can't be done without assistance. Of
>course, the ideal is to have software designed to be accessible 
out of
>the box so we can do everything independently. But until that day
>comes, I would not give up on a class or an activity until all
>options, including use of human readers, have been exhausted.

>Good luck!
>Arielle

>On 1/9/11, Ashley  Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Josh,
>> Sorry to be blunt but your ideas seem like dreams.  Do you think 
your voc
>> rehab agency will buy you a different screen reader for one 
class?  I highly
>> doubt it because budgets are tight and its not cost effective to 
buy
>> something you'll use three months.  Any adaptive technology 
purchase has to
>> be justifiable and related to your employment goal.
>> Next for the companies to script their screen readers and make 
them
>> accessible its a large undertaking and will not happen in the 
time you need
>> it to.  Even if you take a semester off as you said you would, 
do you think
>> the companies will be ready?  Did you ask them the time frame of 
the
>> scripting process?
>> If MS project is graphical it may not be something that is 
rendered
>> accessible; some software is just not.
>> Also there needs to be a large demand for this.  Are many blind 
people
>> needing Ms project and made the request? I have no idea.

>> Rather than getting a waver, I suggest some things.  Hire a 
reader to help
>> you; get a course substitution for the class.  Could you use 
another program
>> to accomplish the same goals of the class?

>> Anyway, good luck figuring this out but I don't think asking 
companies to
>> script their software, and expecting it to be ready soon is a 
realistic
>> idea.

>> Ashley
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Josh Kennedy" <jkenn337 at gmail.com
>> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 2:13 PM
>> Subject: [nabs-l] waver


>>> Hi

>>> I used to think I would need a waver for this project management 
class.
>>> You see if I can get gwmicro or serotek or both to make their 
readers
>>> accessible, great. if not, I will get voc rehab to get me 
supernova.
>>> supernova is the only screen reader which makes ms-project2007 
and 2010
>>> accessible.

>>> Josh

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>--
>Arielle Silverman
>President, National Association of Blind Students
>Phone:  602-502-2255
>Email:
>nabs.president at gmail.com
>Website:
>www.nabslink.org

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