[nabs-l] Concepts of Biology Class for the Spring Semester

Thu Dec 12 13:14:01 UTC 2013

Hi Helga,
I know that it is not as good as having Braille, but do you have a Learning 
Ally membership? Their books are in audio, and they describe all of the 
pictures, photographs, graphs, and other visual things found on each page so 
that you will know what they look like, and they read all of the captions 
too. I do not know if they will have your biology book, but they might, 
since they seem to have a lot of textbooks, especially for general core 
college classes like introductory biology. I am currently using Learning 
Ally for just about all of my textbooks for school, as I am in my second 
year of my associates degree and am planning to get a bachelor degree as 
well. The disability office at my community college is very small and 
consists of only one counselor and one computer with JAWS and scanner, but 
they have no embosser or any kind of equipment, and they tell me that I am 
the first totally blind JAWS user they have had in several years, so I tend 
to use Learning Ally or Book Share for my textbooks, and when they are not 
available, I can get them in pdf, but I try my best to find it on Learning 
Ally or some other way and get the pdf as a last resort.
I hope this helps, and I hope you can get the accomodations you need.
Misty

-----Original Message----- 
From: Helga Schreiber
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2013 11:17 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Concepts of Biology Class for the Spring Semester

Hi Kaiti, this is Helga. I How are you? I just wanted to tell you that I
already talked to my Biology Professor today in person and that's when he
told me the information regarding the course. By the way, the reason I went
to the vice president of my college is because I have many issues with my
DSS adviser due to the fact that that every time I told her that I would
like to have my Pre-Calculus book in Braille or any other book that I took
before for my classes,,, she tells me that the publisher doesn't have it.
And also whenever I tell her that I would like to have my class assignment
in Braille since my college has a Braille embosser, she would always tells
me, you have JAWS you can read it from there. And I actually still have
issues with her. And that is why I went to the vice president because she
wasn't really providing the accomodation I needed. Also, she only give me my
books in PDF format. Just to let you know, I don't really like books in PDF
format. And actually the Biology book has a lot of pictures. Actually, when
I went today to talked to my Professor, he told me that he will assign us 8
chapters to read in order to do quizzes and homework assignments that are in
Blackboard, and he actually told me that one of the chapters has more
pictures than the others. Thanks so much for listening to me. God bless!! :)

-----Original Message----- 
From: Kaiti Shelton
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2013 10:36 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Concepts of Biology Class for the Spring Semester

Hi Helga,

I will be taking a bio 101 course next semester-general biology for
non-science majors.  Here is what I did to prepare.

It sounds like you've contacted your professor beforehand, which is
good.  I don't know on which grounds he's told you the information you
have, but if you haven't already see if you can actually meet with
him/her in person.
TAlk with the DS office.  I am a little confused why you would go
through the vice president of the university, as getting textbooks in
braille is the disability resources office's responsibility.  They
should handle all of your accomodations.
Some tactile image books are already available.  If you're taking a
general biology course APH has a great book with all sorts of diagrams
including plants, organs, cells, etc.  I don't remember the name but
it helped me a lot.
See if you can get a lab assistant through your DS office if you need
to take the lab portion as well, and get the manual as far in advance
as possible as Suzanne suggested.
Do everything else as suggested in the way of getting image
descriptions or tactile images.
For the textbook, have you thought of putting an electronic file of
the book on your BrailleNote?  That way you can have it in braille,
but it would be a lot less bulky to deal with.

Hope this helps.
On 12/11/13, Suzanne Germano <sgermano at asu.edu> wrote:
> I use a CCTV but if I were not a print user I would prefer braille over
> speech. If you have to read the book then I would have it done. We were
> assigned chapters also but were told nothing would be on the test that was
> not covered in class so I didn't read any of the biology book.
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 5:11 PM, Helga Schreiber <
> helga.schreiber at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Suezanne, this is Helga. There is not a lab portion of this course. 
>> But
>> I forgot to mention that the when I talked to my Biology Professor today,
>> he actually told me that he will assign us chapters of the book  to read
>> in
>> order to do the quizzes and homeworks that are in Blackboard. He actually
>> told me that he is going to assign 8 chapters in order for ust to read.
>> So
>> that is why I was thinking in getting my book in Braill. I don't really
>> like the book in PDF format. What do you think about that? Thanks and God
>> bless!
>> P.S. By the way, Thank you so much for the suggestions!
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Suzanne Germano
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2013 6:53 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Concepts of Biology Class for the Spring Semester
>>
>> I have taken two semesters of biology for science majors. One at SDSU in
>> 1995 and I just finished one. I did not use the book at all. What I would
>> suggest is just have the specific diagram they go over or expect you to
>> know either done tactically or have a description of the picture written
>> up.
>>
>> Our professor only tested on what was covered in class so the book was a
>> huge waste of money.
>>
>> Here at ASU we have a blind biology grad student. She is working on
>> developing tactile diagrams for blind and visually impaired students.
>>
>> Is there a lab portion to this this course? If so get the lab manual
>> ahead
>> of time and find out in detail what will be required so the needed
>> accommodations can be made.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 3:11 PM, Helga Schreiber <
>> helga.schreiber at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Hi guys, this is Helga. What's up? I just wanted to tell you that I'm
>>> going to be taking a "Concepts of Biology" course next semester starting
>>> in
>>> February 3, This is actually a 12 weeks class. I just wanted to ask you,
>>> Did any of you guys took a biology class before? And if you did, How did
>>> you manage studying and learning for it? I'm just wondering! This is
>>> actually my first time taking a Biology course in college. Just to let
>>> you
>>> know, I already spoke with my Biology Professor today, and I ask him
>>> questions regarding the course, and he told me that this course includes
>>> a
>>> lot of pictures. For instance, he told me that the quizzes, which are in
>>> Blackboard include  some pictures, and the final exam as well. I was
>>> thinking probably in talking with the Vice President of my college, and
>>> ask
>>> him if he could buy me the Biology book in Braille, since he bought me
>>> my
>>> Pre-Calculus book in Braille for this semester. I will really appreciate
>>> it
>>> if you could give me some suggestions in h
>>>  ow to handle a Biology course. Thanks so much and God bless!! Sent from
>>> my iPhone
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-- 
Kaiti

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