[nabs-l] Accomodating in experiential learning courses

Sun May 4 17:09:23 UTC 2014

Hi Kaiti,

This situation sounds incredibly frustrating. It's ridiculous that
FERPA would get in the way of your professor's talking with your music
therapist friend about professional concerns. The fact that you
happened to be her client as a child isn't at all relevant to the
present issue.
Here's what I would suggest: Try to set up a meeting with you, the
blind therapist, and your instructor present to discuss
accommodations. If that can't happen, then I would recommend asking
the blind therapist to write a signed, notarized letter to your
instructor explaining what blindness accommodations are reasonable for
blind trainees and professionals. The key is for her to
authoritatively say that documenting clients' nonverbal behavior is
not an essential function of the job, or if it is, what
accommodations, like readers, can help accomplish that. In fact, both
a meeting and a letter might be the best course of action. If you have
it in writing that waiving the nonverbal documentation is reasonable,
and your instructors continue to insist that you document nonverbal
behavior, then you can complain to a third party.

My other suggestions would be to ask about this on the human-services
list and to inform your disability services office if you have not
already done so.

Best,
Arielle

On 5/4/14, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Justin,
>
> I have been in frequent contact with this music therapist, and have
> asked her specific questions to try to use her methods and try to
> adapt her methods to suit my needs.  I'm not looking for knowledge on
> her methods since I already have what she can tell me.  What I need is
> my professors to talk to her because their documentation expectations
> are not something I can do right now.  There has to be some give and
> take from them, and I've done all I know to do.
>
> On 5/4/14, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Did you call the music therapist yourself?  You could just get her method
>> and employ it.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
>> Shelton
>> Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2014 1:49 AM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Accomodating in experiential learning courses
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I'm in a pretty sticky situation, so I would appreciate any feedback that
>> can be provided.
>>
>> I am a music therapy student who this semester started practicum
>> coursework.
>> For those who don't know, practicum courses involve interacting with
>> potential clients, and are used to develop clinical skills in young human
>> services professionals.  They're very common in psychology coursework,
>> and
>> in other therapeutic diciplins.  Anyway, I had a practicum working with
>> some
>> geriatric residents at a local assisted living/nursing facility.  I truly
>> loved the experience, and developed my skills in terms of interpersonal
>> interaction, meeting residents where they are in the moment, and using
>> music
>> to engage them.  In these respects, I've managed to learn a lot, and have
>> come a long way since I started practicum in mid February.
>>
>> However, there were a few problems I encountered related to my vision.
>>  The first problem was just knowing who was in the room.  We typically
>> had
>> 15 to 20 residents at a time, and while some were regular participants we
>> had others who would come and go between sessions.
>> Sometimes, residents would even leave in the middle of the session.
>> It was difficult for me to know who was in the room and where they were
>> sitting so I could know where to go to address them, and even know who
>> was
>> present so I could say, "Okay, I know so and so has a hard time staying
>> engaged.  I need to stay on X side of the room more so they can hear me."
>>
>> Another problem I encountered was knowing what the residents were doing.
>> One of the types of experiences I had opportunities to olead was movement
>> to
>> music.  This typically involved instructing the residents in moving to
>> pre-recorded music, often using scarves as a manipulative.  Usually, the
>> leader of the movement experience would sit in a chair at the front of
>> the
>> room, so all residents in the semi-circle around the area would be able
>> to
>> see the movement.
>> However, this made it really difficult for me to know what they were
>> doing.
>> Where they following my directions?  Where they not doing exactly what I
>> wanted them to, but were still on the beat or doing something which
>> demonstrated musical awareness?  Was their range of motion improving?  I
>> really was not able to get the answers to these questions from where I
>> was
>> sitting, and totally relied on conversation with my partners and the
>> debriefings after the sessions to get any information about it.
>>
>> Unfortunately, these issues showed in my documentation.  I was not able
>> to
>> be as specific as my instructors would have liked me to be, and did not
>> know
>> how to be so.  I did start documenting things I picked up auditorally,
>> such
>> as, "Client C vigorously clapped along with the rhythm of the melody," or
>> "Client M made several comments with positive vocal infletion."  However,
>> these did nothing for the problem regarding my ability to not see their
>> movement.  I got to my wits end later in the semester, and asked my
>> instructor if I could lead the movement while moving around the room so I
>> would be closer to the residents.  She said this was okay to do, however
>> I
>> was concerned that I might inadvertently turn my back on some residents
>> while observing another, particularly on the edges of the semicircle, and
>> they would not be able to see me.  It worked then and there, but it is
>> clear
>> to me now that that method was only a temporary fix, and something which
>> would not be effective in the settings I want to work in.  I grew more
>> comfortable asking residents what their names were, but I think a few
>> thought it was odd that I seemingly couldn't remember their names from
>> Tuesday to Thursday.  I learned voices of some of the regulars too, which
>> helped a lot.
>>
>> What frustrates me is that because I failed to document properly, I have
>> to
>> retake the course next year and could be as much as a year behind in my
>> studies.  It frustrates me because from day one, before I even went out
>> into
>> the field, I told my instructors that I know a music therapist who is
>> totally blind, and she would be more than happy to offer suggestions and
>> consult on best practices for accommodation.
>> I truly thought that this MT-BC could be a great resource for us, and
>> having
>> seen her work on numerous occasions, I knew she would be very qualified
>> to
>> offer suggestions.  I found myself even thinking of how she does her work
>> to
>> try to accommodate myself throughout the course.
>> About 2 weeks in to the course one of my instructors asked for her phone
>> number, and I thought we were moving along.  Then a week or so later I
>> asked
>> the instructor in charge of my class if she had managed to have a
>> conversation with the music therapist I referred to her.
>> She said I needed to sign confidentiality forms so that the woman based
>> out
>> of an agency of which I was a client as a child could speak to the
>> professors in regards to my accomodations.  I complied quickly, and
>> thought
>> everything was ready to go.  Then, on the last day of the term I was sent
>> the ferpa form in my email, and was instructed to turn it in during
>> finals
>> week.  I was floored that this had not been taken care of when I signed
>> the
>> other form so that communication could easily go both ways.  All along
>> the
>> music therapist had been able to speak to my professors about me, but
>> they
>> were not allowed by law to speak to her.  A meeting was called to discuss
>> my
>> lack of progress, and I was told that there was difficulty in reconciling
>> my
>> accomodations with the professional competencies of my field, and even
>> though I had provided my professors with a great resource and asked
>> repeatedly if they had contacted the one person who could have
>> instrumental
>> in helping all of us at my university through this course work, they said
>> I
>> failed to adequately make my needs known.  My professor in charge of the
>> course knew the issues I was struggling with, and also knew that in spite
>> of
>> these issues I was developing musically and establishing rappore with
>> residents.  I was not totally making progress, but I was struggling in
>> the
>> areas where vision is obviously a factor.
>>
>> It isn't a question of whether or not I can perform this job.  I know of
>> several music therapists who successfully meet the professional standards
>> while compensating for their lack of sight.  I feel though, that in terms
>> of
>> advocating myself I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.  I feel
>> that
>> if I were uch more relentless than I was this semester that I would just
>> annoy the professors who I need to help me, and I frankly expected them
>> to
>> do as they said they would by making contact where it needed to be made.
>> On
>> the other hand, even though every time I did say something this semester
>> and
>> was told, "I'm going to talk to her," I obviously was not advocating hard
>> enough.  I don'
>> want to be a thorn in their sides since I need these people to help me,
>> but
>> I need certain things to happen on their parts in order for me to be
>> successful.  And part of the issue is also that this is a new experience
>> for
>> me.  I told the professors the information I had which could be helpful
>> for
>> all involved to know, but this is not like an English or Math class where
>> I
>> know the specific accomodations I need, and the ways that work best from
>> years of experience.  I feel like in some circumstances, because this is
>> new
>> to me, that I don't know what exactly to ask, or I don't know what I
>> don't
>> know, and I think that goes for every student in my major because the
>> point
>> of practicums is to learn from the supervising professor.  In my case,
>> however, there was a disconnect with some harsh consequences.  I also
>> understand that this is a new experience for the professors as well, but
>> I
>> feel like more could have been done on their part by making a simple
>> phone
>> call, and that they are using my blindness (not advocating well enough)
>> as
>> justification.
>>
>> What strikes me as odd is that I don't have any of these problems with
>> professors I see for one semester.  I have developed good, working
>> relationships with professors around the university.  Even when I
>> struggled
>> in a math course, the professor and I were both diligent about meeting in
>> office hours, talking to learning services, and trying to find our own
>> ways
>> to problem-solve.  I don't think I'm getting the same sort of team effort
>> here, and it is in the classes that are part of my major.  And I feel
>> stuck
>> because I've provided all the resources I can to the professors, and said
>> everything I know to say, but the result is that I have to take this
>> course
>> again and will likely have to tack on at least an extra semester to my
>> time
>> in school since the courses can not be doubled up, or taken out of
>> sequence,
>> or in different semesters from which they are offered.  And it is
>> difficult
>> to involve learning services, because they are the first to admit they
>> know
>> very little about music therapy or music in general, and the music
>> department has assumed responsibility for my accomodations in those
>> classes.
>> I can't financially afford to spend an extra year at school, nor do I
>> want
>> to keep taking classes over again.  And I feel like this should be a team
>> effort, but not knowing anything else to suggest I'm not sure of how to
>> make
>> it more that way.
>>
>> If anyone has done a practicum experience and had success with it, please
>> let me know some strategies which were helpful for you.  Also, if there
>> are
>> any advocacy strategies I can try I would appreciate hearing about them
>> as
>> well.
>>
>> --
>> Kaiti
>>
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>
>
> --
> Kaiti
>
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