[nabs-l] Lines

Tue Apr 2 04:55:43 UTC 2013

Justin,
  I don't know your situation, so I can't really say you're right or
wrong.  However, I can say that taking extra time in high school, at
least for me, gave me the delusion that my skills were at the level
they needed to be and that I could rely on special priviliges to get
me by.  I can tell you that  that attitude, which I fostered but which
was certainly reinforced by me taking extra time every chance I
possibly could, did me a real disservice once I started college and,
all of a sudden, I could see that my abilities weren't all that I had
convinced myself they were.  In my mind, although we should of course
use the tools at our disposal, we should handle them with care, lest
they become double-edged swords and end up hurting us more than they
help.
  Best,
Kirt

On 4/1/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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>>
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