[nabs-l] public versus private universities
justin williams
justin.williams2 at gmail.com
Thu Jan 16 12:55:51 UTC 2014
This is indeed true; which is why I posed my answer the way I did. It's
okay to advocate some; it's a good skill to acquire, but While you are
trying to get school work done, you don't have but so much time to do that.
At some point, having to fight for every need robs you of a successful
college experience.
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sophie Trist
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 7:50 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] public versus private universities
Thanks for all the advice that's been given. It's very helpful.
Disability services is not my top priority for a school, but I've heard
horror stories about people having to fight for every little accomodation. I
want to spend most of my time actually learning stuff, not fighting for what
I need.
----- Original Message -----
From: "melissa Green" <lissa1531 at gmail.com
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 22:23:26 -0700
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] public versus private universities
Arielle has given some very good advice.
I have attended a private school and a public one.
There were some things that I had to figure out my self on the private
school's campus.
I didn't mind it because it also prepared me for when I started at the
public university.
Some private schools are under the impression that they don't have to follow
any laws or provide acomodations because they are a private school.
That was my experience anyway.
Good luck.
Blessings and best wishes,
Melissa R. Green and Pj
"We love because he first loved us."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Arielle Silverman" <arielle71 at gmail.com
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 9:09 PM
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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--
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
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.
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