[nabs-l] questions and assistance needed for starting onlinecollege

Sat Aug 4 21:57:08 UTC 2012

Ashley, thank you for the information. Unfortunately, I'm not located in 
Fairfax, I live in Winchester and the Virginia Department for the Blind in 
Fairfax is the one I have to deal with, if I deal with them at all. Though, 
I will try and put some of the suggestions to use in my own area by going to 
a nursery or going to Shenandoah University to see if I can locate someone 
who is willing to be a reader/tutor to assist me. The two big subjects 
Shenandoah deals with is music and nursing/pharmacy students. I will contact 
the local parks and see if they can be of any assistance to me as well.

Melissa
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] questions and assistance needed for starting 
onlinecollege

> Melissa,
> You may be in my area if you potentially deal with the fairfax regional 
> office of  DBVI.
> You might investigate getting readers or tutors from nearby colleges such 
> as George Mason; tutors who took nursing or biology may help.
> About the accessibility, this is where IMO a face to face class comes in 
> handy. In class, you can ask questions of the professor and go to office 
> hours.
> You have labs too and you would get a description of the specimens and 
> whatever they see from lab partners.
>
> Online would present more challenges. I think you might want to have a 
> reader describe the pictures in the books and help you make tactile 
> models; this can be done with wiki sticks, graphic art tape, or there are 
> drawing kits from APH.
>
> If you can afford it, getting the atonomy book from APH may help; I think 
> its like $120. However, these pictures of the body systems are geared 
> towared general science and you may need more detail. They do have every 
> system of the body though.
> As for herbs, ideally getting a tutor to show you may help; not sure if 
> you could  get a tutor in your area in that subject.
> Other ideas were community resources:
> - going to a nursery and asking to examine them.
> - finding a neighbor who grows them.
> - talking to someone in the fairfax park authority. I know they are 
> knowledgeable about various plants and might be able to show you the herbs 
> you need. I'm thinking a naturalist may help. They have many nature 
> centers as part of fairfax park authority such as Hidden oaks and Great 
> Falls Riverbend park and nature center.
> - there are many hiking trails in the county. Maybe such herbs are along 
> these trails. I think tactile exploration is a great idea.
>
> - Frying Pan park might be a resource. It’s a great place to meet animals 
> and all can touch them; so maybe they have herbs and other plants too.
> - a library might have books on these topics.
>
> I hope you get into the school. Good luck.
> Ashley
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Mystical Charm
> Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 6:11 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nabs-l] questions and assistance needed for starting online 
> college
>
> I have copied and pasted below an email that I sent to the VABS (Virginia 
> Association of Blind Students) moderator but, I have not received any 
> response so, I am writing here in hopes I can receive some assistance of 
> some kind so that I can begin my studies.
>
> ------------------------- 
>
> Greetings to you Angie Matney,
>
> I wanted to write you in hopes that you may be of some assistance to me. I 
> was unsure if I would correctly qualify to join the list or not for the 
> Virginia Association of Blind Students or not so, I wanted to write you 
> directly and find out if you can give me any information or a direction to 
> go.
>
> Now to tell you a little bit about me and my situation.
>
> My name is Melissa, I am 32 years old and I am blind; I was born with a 
> visual impairment, Glaucoma. Over the years I did have the normal 
> treatments; the usage of multiple eye drops and in hospital surgery as 
> well as laser surgery but, none of these were effective so, my vision 
> declined over time and I am left with no usable vision.
>
> I truly believe I belong in the health field however, the particular area 
> in health is viewed by some as absurd, while others try out different 
> methods and can take it or leave it and others still like having the 
> option to incorporate in methods in their life's and others truly believe 
> in the benefits. What I am talking about is natural medicine. This covers 
> complementary methods as well as alternative therapies. It includes 
> anything from holistic dentistry and Chiropractics to Acupuncture to 
> Homeopathy and Massage therapy and goes into the subjects of Vitamins and 
> Minerals and exercise/fitness to energy work and meditation and so many 
> more other topics.
>
> The average university/College may only have a course or two in a subject 
> named above or something similar if they offer them at all. The only 
> colleges that I know of that deal specifically with these subjects are 
> Naturopathy Colleges and there are only perhaps 3-5 of them in the United 
> States. I don't desire to move to one of these states in which one of 
> these Naturopathy Colleges are located, the only alternative I have is 
> searching the internet for legitimate schools online so that I can do the 
> schoolwork from home. I have found a couple of Colleges that are of 
> interest to me with what they offer and I have checked to see if their 
> accreditation is legitimate or not and they do seem to be so.
>
> I do know that being a doctor is possible for a person who is blind; I 
> once went to a lecture/discussion at my local hospital and the man that 
> was speaking had been a doctor for a number of years and he was blind. At 
> the time, I wasn't interested in being in the health field, I was a young 
> teenager and was still trying to have fun and be me. Later, as I explored 
> the internet and searched for doctors, I found these articles:
>
> blind doctor sees patients in a different way
>
> http://nfb.org/legacy/bm/bm01/bm0105/bm010514.htm
>
> blind medical student earns his me.d.
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7318398/ns/health-health_care/
>
> This next article is about a woman who went to one of the Naturopathy 
> schools I had briefly mentioned above:
>
> PAC Mate User Story: Chris Cooke, Medical Student
> http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/PAC_Mate_HQ_ChrisCooke.asp
>
> This woman does have her own practice, which I hope to have one day, and 
> she also does have a website:
>
> http://www.healing4you.net/
>
> I believe that Holistic Practitioner is what I am aiming for because 
> again, the Naturopathic Colleges are just not possible for me to attend. I 
> would eventually do what others would need to do by becoming board 
> certified and then having a license to practice.
>
> One of the biggest challenges is the tuition for these programs/courses 
> online and I am not sure how to go about finding out if there may be any 
> possible scholarships I could apply for or not. Both of the Colleges that 
> I would like to study from does not participate in any federal or state 
> financial aid programs at this time, therefore, no federal grants are 
> applicable (including Stafford and Pell). I would like to mention here 
> some of the possibilities that the Admissions had told me about from one 
> of the Colleges-- 
>
> -I was told that a private loan or alternative loan is possible, most big 
> lenders (e.g. SunTrust, Wells Fargo, Citibank) will offer such options. 
> However, I would like to stay away from loans if possible.
>
> -Other suggestions that were mentioned to me either do not apply or that 
> are not possible for me. One of the Colleges does have a scholarship 
> available to students however, with the requirements to be able to apply, 
> I do not qualify. Also, an employer tuition grant does not apply to me.
>
> -Local Community Service Organizations such as Masonic Organizations,
>
> Eastern Star(OES), Moose and Elks Lodges, or Chambers of Commerce may 
> provide grants.
>
>
>
> I was possibly thinking about contacting one of these but, didn't know how 
> successful I would be. What came to mind was the Lions Club since they 
> assist with people who are blind. I am not sure if they would have a 
> grant/scholarship or what they may be able to provide. I did notice in the 
> list of mailing lists the NFB has available to the public is the NFB Lions 
> so, I would like to know if you recommend me writing to that list and 
> providing this same information that I am sending to you?
>
>
>
> -Another suggestion that was mentioned was
>
> Vocational Rehabilitation Programs
>
> for assistance. What came to mind was the Virginia Department for the 
> Blind and Visually Impaired. I know I would need to deal with the one 
> located in Fairfax since that is the closest to me and I have also dealt 
> with them in the past. I am apprehensive about contacting the Virginia 
> Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired because my experiences with 
> them in the past were quite unpleasant and some were even unprofessional. 
> I don't know if the Virginia Department of the Blind and Visually Impaired 
> can be of help in assisting with expenses or  what they may be able to do 
> in my situation or if it would be willing to assist me in making my desire 
> to help others come true.
>
>
>
> -Other suggestions were for women who have been harmed violently and 
> again, this does not apply to me.
>
>
>
> I am willing to do what is required to earn a scholarship of some kind so 
> that I may be able to proceed with taking these programs/courses if a 
> scholarship's requirements apply to me.
>
>
>
> The only other thing that concerns me is, when I am enrolled into certain 
> programs/courses, how to have certain materials more accessible or even in 
> an alternative method like having something tactile. The doctors who are 
> blind have had to have alternative and/or tactile materials of some kind. 
> Whether in the Allopathic field or the Holistic field of health care, you 
> need to study Anatomy/Physiology and reading the text book is good and all 
> but, having something tactile to possibly go over the different areas of 
> the body would be wonderful and also knowing where to get something like 
> this is a question of mine as well that I need some assistance with how to 
> find. In Holistic health care, you also have to identify the different 
> types of herbs and the woman I had mentioned above, would have had to do 
> so when she was going through her schooling and I would like to find out 
> ways to be able to do this. I don't know if she had sighted assistance and 
> someone did a very thorough job of explaining the look while she may have 
> had the chance to examine the herbs tactily or not.
>
>
>
> So, what i would like to know is:
>
>
>
> -if the Virginia Association of Blind Students mailing list would apply to 
> me or be of benefit.
>
> -if you have any suggestions of other lists or people I can contact to 
> find out more about how to proceed with scholarships or finding out about 
> certain alternative materials I will need and where to locate it so that I 
> can have them as I move through the programs/courses.
>
> -If the Lions Club would be of help.
>
> -any other suggestions you may have for me.
>
>
>
> Thank you for your time and any help would be appreciated. Helping others 
> in a more natural, holistic way has been a passion of mine for quite some 
> time but, I really never knew where to begin and the more I looked into 
> it, the more questions I had about beginning the process because of the 
> finances as well as the materials I may need because of my disability.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Melissa Hambleton
>
> mysticalcharm at comcast.net
>
>
>
>
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