[nabs-l] public versus private universities

Thu Jan 16 12:46:54 UTC 2014

You have to look at the entire picture.  Be very aware of just what format
you want school material presented to you, and be aware of the back up
alternatives so you can explain them to someone else.
Go with how you feel about the campus.  How friendly is everyone.
Personally, if I did not feel comfortable with the disability office, I
would not go to the college, but that is just a personal preference.  I also
would not attend a college where I did not think I would have fun and where
the people were not friendly.  I do not know where the disability office
ranks in all of that, but it is in there somewhere.  It is important to see
if the college can provide you with the experience where you will be able to
succeed as a whole person.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
Silverman
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 11:10 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] public versus private universities

Hi Sophie,

I would recommend judging colleges based on factors like how good the
curriculum is and how friendly people are at the school, and to put
disability services lower on your list of criteria for judging schools. Some
schools will have more disability resources than others, but sometimes, a
school with less resources may be more open-minded and flexible when working
with you as an individual student, while some schools with big disability
offices may be more rigid about how they treat blind students and less
willing to work with you as an individual. I attended a large public
university with a well-staffed disability office, and while this had its
advantages, I also found that the staff at the disability office wanted to
do everything a certain way, were somewhat custodial, and gave me little
opportunity to negotiate with individual professors. I have talked with
blind students who attended schools with no disability office at all or just
a small one, and who had excellent experiences arranging their own
accommodations, using readers and publicly available services like
BookShare, Learning Ally etc. They felt more in control of their
accommodations and, as a bonus, got really accustomed to advocating for
themselves early on, which is important for employment. It's a little like
how sometimes, the teachers who have never had a blind student in their
class before are better to work with than the ones who have had someone
blind in the past, because the former teachers will listen to how you want
them to do things, while sometimes the latter will tend to compare you with
other blind students or assume you have the same preferences and limitations
that they had.
So I would encourage you to pick a school that's the best fit for your
career goals, and worry about the disability accommodation stuff later. No
matter where you go, there are resources that you will be able to use to get
access to your materials.

Best,
Arielle

On 1/15/14, minh ha <minh.ha927 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Sophie,
>
> It honestly does depend on the university and the kind of resources 
> they have. I go to a private Catholic college in Boston and even 
> though they are not very knowledgeable about what a visually impaired 
> student might need, they are extremely accommodating when I tell them 
> exactly what I require in order to be successful. Visit the colleges 
> you are interested in and talk to the disability services office; 9 
> times out of 10, you can get a realistic feel for what they can and 
> cannot offer you in terms of accommodations. Honestly, I don't think 
> we as blind students should base our college decisions entirely on the 
> support we might get from the university. Yes, it's a factor we need 
> to consider because it can make or break our academic experience, but 
> it shouldn't be the only reason that we pick the school. I know when I 
> was searching for colleges, I fell in love with my college and I knew 
> it was the school I would be attending way before I met with the 
> disability services office. If you want to go to a school but the DSO 
> is less than stellar, then it's another opportunity for you to 
> advocate for yourself and your needs.
>
> Cheers,
> Minh
>
> On 1/15/14, Lillie Pennington <lilliepennington at fuse.net> wrote:
>> Also, you may be able to general feel for the ds office when you go. 
>> That may determine if you think it is the right fit.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Jan 15, 2014, at 10:19 PM, "Ashley Bramlett"
>>> <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> Sophie,
>>> No there Is no resource to rank support services. I think you should 
>>> visit schools you are interested like anyone else would. Visit the 
>>> disability office and see what they offer. Sometimes if you voice a 
>>> need, they might be able to do it, even if they have not before.
>>>
>>> It is generally true that private schools have smaller disability 
>>> service, ds, offices. They have less staff, but also they have less 
>>> students to serve.
>>> They may be less aware of disabled student needs but that's where 
>>> advocacy comes in.
>>>
>>> Just go and visit the schools you want; loyola and tulane are great 
>>> schools.
>>> I wouldn't prejudge  services too much. Don't be discourage what one 
>>> professor said.
>>>
>>> I went to  a private catholic school, btw. I transferred out of 
>>> george mason university, GMU. GMU is public.
>>> I liked the private school more because of smaller classes, small 
>>> campus, upholding my religious values, no not  catholic but do agree 
>>> with some principles they have, the atmosphere, and religious 
>>> activities.
>>> Oh, and the quality was excellent of instruction since you get 
>>> professors, not grad students teaching your classes. Universities 
>>> will have grad students teach some classes.
>>>
>>> Good luck with your decision.
>>> Ashley
>>>
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Sophie Trist
>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 9:42 PM
>>> To: nabs
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] public versus private universities
>>>
>>> Greetings,
>>>
>>> I'm a junior in high school, and as such, I'm beginning to look for 
>>> a college. The other day, a blind friend and I were talking about 
>>> which colleges we were checking out, and I mentioned Loyola, which 
>>> is a private Catholic university in New Orleans. My friend, whose 
>>> mother is a professor at Tulane, another private New Orleans school, 
>>> said that it was very difficult for blind people to attend private 
>>> colleges because they weren't as good as protecting textbooks and 
>>> other necessary materials. He said in general that private 
>>> universities' disability services weren't as great as those of 
>>> public universities. I know this is true for post-secondary public 
>>> schools--they're more able to provide braille and technology than 
>>> are private schools--so I was wondering if it was the same with 
>>> colleges. Also, is there a list that ranks colleges' disability 
>>> support? I know that whenever we visit a college, we visit the DS 
>>> office, but I also know that those people are often trying to sell 
>>> their school. So I was wondering if there was any concrete resource 
>>> I could use for this information. Any info or comments would be 
>>> super helpful and appreciated!
>>>
>>> Yours sincerely,
>>> Sophie Trist
>>>
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>
>
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> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on 
> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
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