[nabs-l] Mentoring a younger student; when enough is enough

Tue Feb 11 15:39:34 UTC 2014

Oh, I feel your pain, Kaiti.  When I was a freshman in high school,
there was a blind senior who had forgotten his notetaker on the day he
was to take the SAT.  He asked to borrow mine and, because I was so
annoyed at having to give my notetaker away and use a Perkins brailler
in class, I put the notetaker in Spanish so that the guy would have to
figure out how to switch it back.  Our para wasn't too pleased that I
had done that, but no one asked to borrow a notetaker from me ever
again, so I guess it worked.

Ryan

On 2/11/14, Joshua Hendrickson <louvins at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Katy and all.  I completely agree with you.  I hope you didn't let
> that girl use your notetaker when she forgot hers at home.  That
> wasn't your fault.  The girl should have gotten all hjer school stuff
> ready the night before so she didn't forget anything.  I also agree
> about getting your parents or O-M instructor to help get you oriented
> when it comes to figuring out your classes.  My mom used to run
> through with me my class schedule for each semester of college all the
> time.  Granted, I didn't always pay as close attention as I should
> have, but that was my fault.  The older I get, the more I learn how
> importatant it is to learn your routes to your classes as soon as you
> can, and as well as you can.  The sooner you can find your way to your
> classes the better off you'll be.  This will give you much needed
> independence and help you in the long run.  Good luck to Lily and the
> rest of you in your schooling.  I just received my associates degree a
> couple weeks ago.
>
> On 2/11/14, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I totally agree.  You come first, so do what you can to be helpful but
>> not at the expense of your academics or other school-related
>> obligations.
>>
>> As competent blind students we often are asked to help those students
>> who are younger, could use more independence skills, etc.  I've been
>> asked to do it several times with several students in my school
>> district as well, and the requests have ranged from reasonable things
>> like braille tutoring and understanding tactile diagrams when the
>> student came from a school district with really horrible VI services,
>> to absurd things that jeopardized my schooling.  Heck, one time
>> another girl in my school forgot her notetaker on the day of a state
>> exam, so I was asked to give her mine and go through my classes
>> without access to my notes or textbook files.  Helping is not truly
>> helping if it is at anyone's expense.
>>
>> I do have one question though.  I may just not understand because I
>> was always either the only blind kid in my school, or the oldest one
>> without multiple disabilities, but why exactly does the VI want you to
>> give the tour?  I can see why she might want to connect the two of
>> you, but I personally have always done campus orientations and run
>> through my class schedule with my mobility instructor or my parents
>> once it became silly to call in the instructor when my mom and I could
>> get it done in 15 minutes.  I'm just curious as to why the mobility
>> instructor who's job it is to familiarize this student with a new
>> school layout isn't involved in this, or if he isn't for some good
>> reason why her parents aren't taking initiative.
>>
>> On 2/11/14, Ryan Silveira <ryan.l.silveira at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Lillie,
>>>
>>> I agree with what has been said thus far.  The only thing I would add
>>> to the above advice would be that, when you have the conversation with
>>> the TVI and the other girl's para, make sure that you convey the
>>> message that you are perfectly willing to help out, but that the
>>> student is not your responsibility.  The other thing would be just to
>>> be careful giving out your contact information.  This girl may somehow
>>> think you're her "BFF" and want to constantly hang out with you--I've
>>> seen it happen to some friends, so it's just something to watch out
>>> for.  Hope this helps.
>>>
>>> Ryan
>>>
>>> On 2/11/14, Joshua Hendrickson <louvins at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi Lily.  I would tell your VI teacher, that you don't mind helping
>>>> out htis student a little if your schedule per mits.  But, you don't
>>>> want to hinder your schooling, if helping this student is going to be
>>>> difficult because of having a lot of class work ETC.  It also really
>>>> depends on the student and if they genuinely accept your help if you
>>>> offer it.  When I was in college, a blind girl I knew called my house
>>>> and asked me if I could show her a couple routes on campus that she
>>>> was having trouble with.  The next day, I waited for her to meet me
>>>> where we had discussed so we could go the couple routes, and she never
>>>> showed up.  This happened another time as well.  If this new student
>>>> accepts your helping, just showing them a couple things might be ok,
>>>> but again, it really depends on them.
>>>>
>>>> On 2/11/14, Lillie Pennington <lilliepennington at fuse.net> wrote:
>>>>> Thank you both.
>>>>> I basically plan on waiting and seeing what happens with the tour. I
>>>>> also
>>>>> asked my vi when it was mentioned to have her write me a list of
>>>>> questions
>>>>> so I can gauge her position. I will also make sure she has my contact
>>>>> information so she can ask more questions at
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Feb 11, 2014, at 12:26 AM, Darian <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Lilly,
>>>>>> I think the easiest thing to do is to just have that conversation.
>>>>>> Think that it is okay to have a conversation with your teacher that
>>>>>> says
>>>>>> that you are happy to show them around campus, (You were once the one
>>>>>> who
>>>>>> was trying to figure out campus) but that because of your schedule,
>>>>>> you
>>>>>> will be unable to do anything else beyond that.
>>>>>> I'm sure that your teacher will understand.
>>>>>> Hope that helps,
>>>>>> Darian
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This electronic message has been brought to you by my mobile device.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Feb 10, 2014, at 9:17 PM, Lillie Pennington
>>>>>>> <lilliepennington at fuse.net> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hello all
>>>>>>> I know my subject and message may sound heartless, and I apologize.
>>>>>>> There is a blind student a few years younger than me in my school
>>>>>>> district that will be attending my high school next year. I have
>>>>>>> helped
>>>>>>> this student by serving as a guide in going to middle school
>>>>>>> programs.
>>>>>>> My
>>>>>>> vi asked if I would do a tour of the high school and answer
>>>>>>> questions.
>>>>>>> This is fine with me.
>>>>>>> My fear is that I will be asked to help with some sort of tutoring.
>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>> do
>>>>>>> not feel I can do this. This student has multiple disabilities, I am
>>>>>>> not
>>>>>>> a teacher, and I will have a rigorous class schedule plus dealing
>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>> responsibilities with junior year. I have mentioned this to my
>>>>>>> parents
>>>>>>> and parra, who i feel are supporting me. However, I am afraid my vi
>>>>>>> will
>>>>>>> not understand my reasons or misconstrue them for me being rude,
>>>>>>> which
>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>> do not want to do. I do not want to say this to early and be
>>>>>>> presumptuous, but I do not want to be misleading. Thank you for any
>>>>>>> advice.
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>>>>>> her leisure. I am just afraid my vi will not understand my scheduling
>>>>>> problems since he is kind of out of the loop with my scheduling and
>>>>>> classes, or that I need additional help with time management and
>>>>>> such.
>>>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Ryan L. Silveira
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Kaiti
>>
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-- 
Ryan L. Silveira