[nabs-l] Lines

justin williams justin.williams2 at gmail.com
Mon Apr 1 04:56:13 UTC 2013


All my tests are multiple choice.  I was told specifically   to slow down by
the professor especially on the computer.  It's just his style.  He's
rooting of me, so it's good.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
Silverman
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 12:48 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Lines

I have only used time extensions when I was either using tactile diagrams or
when I got a late start on a test because of a technology problem. In the
former case, with the tactile diagrams, I don't think the extra time helped
my test performance very much. I tended to spend the extra time agonizing
over questions when I couldn't understand the tactile diagrams, and would
just take longer to guess the wrong answer. If I could have done it over
again I would have either asked for more guided practice reading the tactile
diagrams or just asked for verbal descriptions instead. In high school
geometry I not only got extra time, but my teacher sometimes allowed me to
"make up" test points by re-taking the test orally without the picture
questions. I ended up getting an A in that class and in hindsight, I think I
deserved a B and should have been given one. While my mathematical
understanding of geometry was very good, I had a clear struggle with
interpreting tactile diagrams and that's something that they should have
tried to address instead of just band-Aiding it with extra time and extra
credit points. If I'd been given a B or even a C based on the points I
earned, tactile diagram training might have been put on my IEP. True, we
don't usually encounter tactile pictures in everyday life, but on
standardized math tests that's often the only option, and I believe that my
math SAT and GRE scores could have been higher if I had been forced to
practice reading those diagrams in a more systematic way. Extra time on
those tests didn't help me much at all.
(I eventually worked on this with a GRE tutor and I did improve a little
bit, but it was slow going and perhaps if I'd done it in middle or high
school it would have been easier). I think the Band-Aid issue is even worse
when extra time is given to people with slow Braille reading speeds without
any attention to training faster reading. Since I learned Braille in
preschool, I never needed extended time for verbal tests or math tests not
involving diagrams, and my TVI and teachers always praised how fast I was.
It is sad that my finishing the tests at a typical speed has to be such a
surprise just because I use Braille. As I have stated here before, I think
that time extensions for students in K-12 education have to be handled on a
case-by-case basis, but I think it's really important that any time
extensions be coupled with individualized training in whatever skill the
student is struggling with enough to need the time extension. Of course, in
today's world of overworked TVI's, that is unlikely to actually happen.
I don't take tests anymore since I'm all-but-dissertation now, but if I did
I think I'd only use the extra time if I got a late start on the test
because of a technology issue or if I was working with a reader and had to
go over answer choices multiple times, which does inherently take up more
time than reading the answers independently in Braille or print.
Arielle

On 4/1/13, Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> wrote:
> Justin,
>   In high school I took the extra time way more than I should have; in 
> hindsight, I was using it to hide the fact that I wasn't as efficient 
> with braille as my peers were with print.  I know this is an entirely 
> different subject, but I think extra time is legitimate only when 
> inherently visual information like pictures and complex graphs need to 
> be presented tactally or verbally.  Even then, it ought to be used 
> with care because, as has been said ad noseum, you can't get the "time 
> and a half" on the job.
>   Best,
> Kirt
>
> On 3/31/13, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Do you take the time and a half on tests?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle 
>> Silverman
>> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 11:04 PM
>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Lines
>>
>> Hi all,
>> Thank you Kirt for making such a great point. When I was growing up 
>> my parents and friends often pressured me to use my blindness so that 
>> we could cut lines and sometimes my parents even required it without 
>> giving me a choice about it. I used to try and justify our behavior 
>> but in  the end when I did this I always felt a deep sense of shame 
>> and anger, but I could never figure out why. Since then I have 
>> learned about self-perception theory in psychology classes and I 
>> think I understand why it bothers me (and many of
>> us) so much. Basically, self-perception theory posits that we draw 
>> conclusions about ourselves by observing our own behavior. I think 
>> whenever I used my blindness as a reason to get a guest pass and skip 
>> the line, it made me start to see myself as a handicapped or crippled 
>> person, which was very upsetting. For some people who have trouble 
>> standing for long periods of time, or who have guide dogs who get 
>> uncomfortable standing out in the sun, cutting in line seems 
>> legitimate. But if we can physically handle the lines, accepting the 
>> special passes doesn't do us any real favors. I insist on standing in 
>> line with everyone else because I want to see myself (and my fellow 
>> blind friends) as strong, healthy, normal people. I feel I have 
>> little to gain by skipping the lines, and much to lose in terms of 
>> self-esteem and self-respect. I think every time we take an 
>> accommodation, we need to think about what we are gaining from that 
>> accommodation vs.
>> what
>> we are potentially losing in terms of normalcy. If an accommodation 
>> like a piece of technology is  truly necessary, it will give enough 
>> benefit that it's worth the self-esteem hit. But if an accommodation 
>> isn't really needed, I think we have more to lose than we have to 
>> gain by accepting it. For this same reason I also do not write off 
>> blindness as a reason to claim a tax deduction.
>> I am proud to be (barely) earning enough income to be required to pay 
>> taxes and paying taxes just like anyone else in my income bracket 
>> makes me feel good about myself and where I belong in the world.
>> There's also the argument that if we want to be allowed the same 
>> rights sighted people get, we need to be willing to saddle the extra 
>> responsibilities. If we want to be allowed to ride amusement park 
>> rides without discrimination, we need to be willing to wait in line.
>> It sends a mixed message to skip the line and then insist on equal 
>> treatment by the ride operators, just like it sends a mixed message 
>> to request unnecessary extra time on tests and then ask for a 
>> professor's letter of recommendation.
>> Again, though I'm not a dog user, I think having a guide dog is a 
>> legitimate reason to not wait in lines.
>> Arielle
>>
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