[nabs-l] disability services in college
Karl Martin Adam
kmaent1 at gmail.com
Wed Dec 31 23:06:48 UTC 2014
I would definitely suggest talking to dss offices before you
apply. Maybe if you're thinking about applying to places far
from where you live it isn't worth it to go through the expense
of traveling their just for that until you've been accepted, but
definitely if they're local schools I would do it. As for
getting exempted from math, I think it's important as a blind
person to get the same education everyone else does. Employers
will expect it as will grad school if you intend on going there.
Partially it's also that I refuse to let people tell me that I
can't do things because I'm blind when I actually can.
----- Original Message -----
From: Vejas Vasiliauskas via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>, National
Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 12:29:10 -0800
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] disability services in college
Hi,
Thank you all so much for your answers. I just wanted to clarify
something.
Did you wait until you were for sure going to be accepted into
the
college before having the meetings? I'm still waiting to see if I
will
be accepted.
Also, Karl, you mentioned that sometimes DSS will exempt someone
from
taking a class because they don't want to make the diagrams. Is
it
worth fighting for that even if it's a class you don't want to
take?
For example, I might have to take math for one year but I want to
be
an English major. So is it worth fighting for even if it's just a
general ed class that you don't care to take anyway? Or should
you
still fight for a class that you don't want to take because your
sighted peers are taking it?
I would really appreciate oppiinions on this.
Thanks,
Vejas
On 12/30/14, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
Hi, Vejas and all,
First off, don't discount private colleges. I toured several
private
and public colleges before choosing the school I attend now,
which is
private and has a pretty awesome DS office and staff. One thing
that
I really like that my DS office does is that it employs students
to do
much of the book scanning, edits, and stuff in addition to
answering
phones and some basic emails that aren't specifically for a
staff
member. This is great, because if I have a simple worksheet or
a
packet of information I need to read for class, I can just give
it to
a student worker and have them email it to me once they're done
rather
than waiting for a DS coordinator to be free from meetings or
other
stuff. I would ask if such a system is in place, and if so I
would
plan to try to get to know the students who work there a bit. I
know
the girl who edits most of my books and she's an English major,
so in
addition to being already detail oriented, I think that knowing
who
the book is going to might help with making sure that it's
well-proofread. (She's also been very nice and bumped papers up
in
the cue for me if professors give them to me late so I could
still
turn work in on time).
As mentioned, you'll probably not get a lot in braille. So far
I've
only gotten my math stuff and some science diagrams in braille,
and
everything else has been electronic. I'm a stickler for braille
as
much as the next guy, but having almost everything electronic
really
helps, and cuts down on your load. If you thought carrying a
bunch of
books was hard in high school, you certainly won't want to lug
braille
volumes around a college campus.
I'd ask to see a testing room if you can, and to meet some of
the
other staff members. Your meetings will probably consist
largely of
your DS coordinator reciting some basic shpeel about
accommodations,
the ADA, etc, but it's the questions you ask and the other
people you
meet who will help you decide which DS office is the best fit
for you.
Additional Questions:
1. Do you have an assistive technology specialist on staff? If
so,
can I meet them? If not, are there any plans to bring one on
staff in
the foreseeable future?
2. Are there any assistive technologies I can loan/borrow for
academic or assistive purposes should I need them? (My college
does
this, and just requires me to sign a release stating that I'll
pay for
any damage or loss to the device if something happens while I
have it.
I also have to return it by an agreed deadline, but borrowing a
Focus
40 sure beats having to buy one).
3. Do you offer any training on assistive technology devices?
(Again
with the focus 40, I was able to get a quick half hour session
with
the assistive technology specialist without leaving campus).
4. What are the standard accommodations a blind person would
receive?
Just see what they tell you at a glance. You should at the
least be
guaranteed extended time on tests (usually double time),
assistive
technology on tests and for use in the classroom, text
descriptions of
pictures or videos shown in class, volunteer notetaker (if you
want
it), a reader (if needed), distraction-reduced environments for
test,
alternative formats for books and class materials (including
books),
and a scribe for tests (if needed). I would also see if they
have a
policy about electronic submissions. Most colleges don't, but
it
might be something to ask about. I had a professor who did not
want
to accept assignments attached to emails, and I was able to get
electronic submission to be a reasonable accommodation because
print
papers create organizational nightmares for me.
5. See if you can find other disabled students on campus to
talk to,
preferably blind ones but any should be able to provide some
insight
into how good or bad the DS office is with response to problems,
working with professors, etc.
Remember that a lot of the advocacy is going to come from you
first.
I know you've probably heard it a million times, but the DSS
rarely
gets involved unless the professor goes to them directly to sort
out
an issue, or there is some problem and after unsuccessfully
advocating
for yourself you ask them to step in and back you up.
Some DS offices are awesome; mine has really gone above and
beyond for
me, and while I don't use them often aside from getting my books
and
materials they've always been willing to help read something, or
help
me find something on campus if it's a location I've never had to
go to
before but need to for a class. The nice thing about student
workers
in a DS department is that they are often able to do these
things
because there are enough of them working at a time that work
doesn't
stop.
On 12/30/14, Suzanne Germano via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
I go to Arizona State and they have computers with JAWS, MAGic
in several
labs, libraries and in the high tech center in disabled student
services.
The will make tactile diagrams of things if needed. They offered
to make
me
some for Circuits. They also have a braille printer and braille
displays
on
some computers. So it seems there are really various levels of
what is
available and what is provided. They have an entire alternative
format
department to handle text books. I get electronic and if
requested I can
get large print. I prefer they get the pdf's from the publisher
because
they are better quality than scanned for reading with zoomtext.
On Tue, Dec 30, 2014 at 4:08 PM, Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l <
nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
These are some good additional questions. The only other thing
I think
is
important is to find out how they get your books. Do they
request
publisher files? If publisher files are not available--they
aren't for
trade books, which is most of what you'll be reading in upper
level
classes
and in things like English classes--does the office scan books
for you?
Do
they have someone proofread the things they scan if they scan
them? By
the
way, you almost certainly won't be getting books in braille at
all, and
if
you do they'll be embossed. Almost all colleges will give them
to you
electronically, which actually is more efficient. Neither of
the
schools
I've gone to (they were both public) had the capability to
produce
things
in braille. As for adaptive technology, most schools will have
a
computer
in the library with Jaws and maybe one or two more, but of
course you'll
have to provide your own personal computer and notetaker etc.
You might
also want to talk to them and try to figure out indirectly if
dss tries
to
control the classes disabled students take. I've heard horror
stories
from
friends at some schools where dss basically exempts blind
students from
taking certain classes, such as basic math, because they don't
want to
provide the accommodations that would be necessary. You
probably also
want
to talk about how accommodations for lab science classes work.
Best,
Karl
----- Original Message -----
From: NMPBRAT--- via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: alpineimagination at gmail.com, nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 18:03:32 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] disability services in college
Vejas,
Here are a few other suggestions for questions:
1) How many people work for the DSS?
2) What days and hours are the DSS open?
3) What accommodations are available to me, including testing
accommodations? What is the process for requesting those
accommodations?
4) How willing do professors seem to be when working with the
DSS
office?
(note: if you know what degree you are majoring in, you can be
specific
to
that particular group of professors)
5) Who do I talk to and what is the process in dealing with
issues that
arise in a particular class or with a particular professor?
6) What percentage of students that your office services are
blind or
visually impaired?
7) What resources, if any, do you work with outside of your
office?
Just some thoughts! Good luck!
Nicole
In a message dated 12/29/2014 5:51:16 P.M. Eastern Standard
Time,
nabs-l at nfbnet.org writes:
Hi All,
I am going to be meeting soon with the disability services of my
schools and have some questions/want some insight.
How do you know how good a DSS program is? (Of my three
colleges,
one is a Cal State and two are private, so the privates may not
have very good services).
If the DSS is poor but you like the college for all other
reasons, is this a big enough reason not to attend that
college?
Also, I'd really like your ideas on questions I could ask DSS.
I
already have 5, which I'll paste below my name, and I would
really appreciate if you could add some more or change any of
the
above.
Thanks.
Vejas
Questions to Ask DSS
1. How quickly is the turnaround time for Braille materials?
2. Is there a Braille transcriber/braillist on campus, or is
everything just going to be embossed?
3. Is there anyone on campus who can create raised diagrams
for
subjects such as chemistry and mathematics?
4. What kind of adaptive technology is offered at the school?
5. Should anything go wrong with my hearing aids, is there
anyone who can help with them?
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--
Kaiti
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