[nabs-l] Extremely frustrated with microbiology class

[Jewel]

An update! After bringing my problems to the director of the disability support services office, and Mary (who makes the tactile images) showed her the problem with the images, other images were found that, with Mary's hard work, are distinguishable as the cells they represent. We had a meeting; that is, my counsellor, the adaptive technology specialist, the aforementioned tactile image maker, my professor, and myself met. We discussed any and all issues around the lab practical this comiing Monday, including the cell identification part.   It was decided that I would go to my professor's office hours with my tactile images so she could give an in-depth description of the cells: colour, shape, what'ss inside them, etc. We have done this, and now I can identify the cells based on the images and color. She did say I need to ask my lab assistant specific questions like "Is this cell purple?" rather than "What colour is this cell?" because he may not recognize a cell's color unless I give it like the first question, if that makes sense. He has never taken Biology, so it's all new to him, which is good in some respects in that he will do only what I tell him to and not quuestion, and bad in other respects, such as not being able to recognize a cell's parts. Anyway, I am feeling tons better about the upcoming lab practical. I feel I have as much access to the information as everyone else, thanks to the school's amazing disability support services office and a professor who is open-minded. Thank goodness for that!
~Jewel

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 22, 2012, at 8:54 PM, "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Jewel,
> This sounds tough. Is your professor restricting the questions and discussion your lab assistant can tell you?
> It seems to me that any visual info including shape, size, and color would be fine questions for your assistant because sighted people get this info by looking at it. This aids them in identifying the organisms. If they restrict your access, this sounds discriminatory.
> 
> I'd first clarify what you can ask your assistant. Then explain why the tactile diagram is insufficient. Find an alternative.
> Could you make a diagram with your assistant from things you bring like wiki sticks, hard candy, and string?
> Another alternative is to do something in lou of the visual part as long as this isn't your major.
> If it’s a major course, this issue would arise again and you couldn't get out of this part for many classes.
> I'm thinking you could answer questions about cells. Your professor could name cells instead of showing you a visual image under the microscope.
> Then you could describe the cells or something like that. This is anothe r fair way to demonstrate your knowledge it seems to me.
> I know most federationists aren't big on alternative assignments or changing the work, but this seems more fair to me. I'm not into science. When I took general biology, however, my professor asked me questions on my exam instead of me looking at pictures. Other students looked at a picture and were asked to identify a certain part such as a cell part, a flower part, or muscles of the body. Mine were multiple choice questions as well, just without pictures. The question named the organism in the question.
> It asked me about that subject in the question. So I didn't have to identify any organisms via pictures or a microscope.
> 
> I also still had the same number of questions as other students; mine were just worded differently since I did not label pictures.
> 
> HTH,
> Ashley
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Jewel
> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2012 6:48 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: [nabs-l] Extremely frustrated with microbiology class
> 
> I'm taking a class in microbiology that I need for my degree program,
> and one of the things I need to do for the midterm lab praticle is
> identify cells under the microscope. The thing is, my lab assistant is
> not allowed to give an in-depth description of the cells, nor can I
> ask him questions like "What colour is it?"...I have to identify the
> cell by looking at a tactile image that I can't understand because the
> image is not of good enough quality for a tactile image to work, and
> I'm having trouble getting my professor to understand my problem. She
> says I should be able to recognize the cell based on the tactile image
> and specific questions to my lab assistant, but I can't ask him "What
> colour is this blob here?" or anything. I am not sure what kind of
> questions I *can* ask him, nor am I sure how I am going to identify
> cells based on images that are just blobs and dots to me. Please, can
> someone give me any ideas or suggestions? This has me frustrated to
> tears, beause I'm afraid I'm going to fail the lab practicle because I
> don't have access to the same materials as everyone else. Help please!
> ~Jewel
> 
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