[nabs-l] School is not accomodating

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

I have been very fortunate with my university experience because I
didn't not have to deal with the issues I have read many others have had
to face. I'm no expert, but I believe universities and colleges must
supply reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities which
would include accessible formats for textbooks in a reasonable amount of
time. My campus DSO required all registered DSO students to contact
instructors before each term with book info so the DSO staff could work
on finding accessible formats and scanning material if necessary. Along
with grad and honor students, students with disabilities on my campus
qualified for early registration too which helped with the entire
process. And I also have Kurzweil at home so I have the ability to scan
things at my own leisure. My DSO also outsourced for Braille, but it was
an option and it was done in a timely fashion. I agree with others that
you, Ashley, need to speak with your local agency for the blind along
with your DSO, and it may be helpful to request advocacy help from any
local Federation presence available. I'm not sure of all your rights
involved here, but I believe your DSO may not be working with you the
way in which it should.

The JAWS problem is a tough one as well. Nowadays, laptops are quite
light so "lugging" one around isn't all that bad. I started using a
Netbook for my last two years of university and loved it. It weighs less
than two pounds and works for what I need. I can access the internet and
use MS Office. And of course JAWS was installed on it. The keyboard is
condensed and some of the keys are placed differently than a regular
keyboard, but any laptop is laid out like this, and you adjust pretty
quickly to the smaller keys if you use the Netbook enough, which if a
student, I imagine you would. A Netbook is just one option though. I've
not had problems with my Netbook. If your DSO is not able to provide
JAWS in a way that works for you, I suggest you have your own laptop.

As for Braille signs, yes, Braille signs should be placed around
buildings for blind people just as ramps and accessible bathroom stalls
are suppose to exist for those in wheelchairs. However, as long as room
numbers and what office a door is, such as DSO or Registrar, that's all
that's necessary. Including instructors name on doors isn't practical
for rooms at large as multiple instructors will use the same rooms, and
for instructor offices, their office number should be made available to
students on syllabi and by asking an instructor for it, or calling
campus for it. So I don't find it necessary to also place a name on a
door if you have the number, and instructors don't always end up in the
same office areas all the time, though typically they remain in a given
office during their term as an instructor. At my university, most
instructor offices were large areas containing multiple rooms within one
are for particular instructors such as all history profs. In the same
area. So say room 140  will then hold multiple rooms within it so say my
profs. Room is 140 E. These areas would have a receptionist working in
the outer area. Anyway, as long as you know where their office is
located, you shouldn't also require a name along with the room number.

Finally, the world is not set up for easy navigation- blind or sighted.
Infrastructures, buildings, homes, neighborhoods, they're not always
constructed for easy navigation. As blind people, we need to understand
and realize this. We will encounter situations like this through life so
we can't expect anyone to follow a certain way of designing space just
for one purpose. Fair or not, this is life. I do not believe there are
any ADA guidelines requiring buildings to have "easy" navigation for
blind people, and I don't believe this is necessary. If you are
uncomfortable navigating a space, request help from an O & M instructor
or perhaps a friend who is also blind who has good travel skills to
help. This is a touchy subject, I know, but the interior design of a
building is not something a DSO or anyone needs to consider in terms of
accessibility. Again, fair or not, this is how it is. I do not claim to
be the best traveler, nor did I when sighted, but I do know that we
can't complain about how buildings are structured just because we are
blind. We must take the initiative to learn areas we frequent, and seek
the best travel instruction possible. It can be an adjustment, and like
anything, some will take to it quicker than others, but when we have no
true mobility issue, meaning we have full use of our legs, there really
is no reason we can't learn to navigate space independently and
efficiently even in areas not designed with blind people in mind. No DSO
is required to find a space "easy" to navigate when it comes to the
services it offers. This is something you and perhaps your rehab agency
need to discuss.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan