[nabs-l] Seeking advice from any commic book fans out there.

Greg Aikens gpaikens at gmail.com
Fri Sep 12 02:04:51 UTC 2014


This sounds like a great place to use a reader. I know it’s not as convenient as having a pre-prepared recording or an accessible version you can access, but having a live reader allows you to ask questions and ask for clarification. You can use a live reader to describe details that they might not think of if sitting in a cubicle by themselves recording a description. I took an art history class in college (not my choice) and used live readers often to describe the paintings and styles. Having them present with me, I could ask questions, comparing one painting to another etc. to make sure I understood the visual differences between artists or between different styles within the same artist. 

I would find someone you know that already has an interest in graphic novels and see if your disability office would hire them as a reader for this project. Watching the film adaptation might be similar, but I wonder if it’s as different as watching the movie instead of reading the book. 

On Sep 11, 2014, at 10:06 AM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> Minh brought up some good points.  I'm mainly looking into this so I
> can have all options available.  There is no text at all in The Silver
> Scorpian, so it would probably take either a reader or the disability
> services staff to follow the "Written descriptions of images used in
> class" part of my accomodations in order for me to get it.
> 
> I met with my professor before class this morning, and she clarified
> that Silver Scorpian is just an example.  Our last assigned paper is
> about diversity in superhero fiction, and she picked him because the
> main character is in a wheelchair, and also diverse racially.  She
> also thinks it's really cool that American and Sirian teens worked
> together to develop the character and story, and since we have a few
> international students from middle eastern countries in our class
> they'd be able to get a cultural kickback out of reading about a
> non-American super.  However, she suggested writing about Iron Man,
> Dare Devel, or Chief from XMen more as other options for the paper if
> I wanted to write about disability specifically, rather than coming up
> with an alternative assignment.  The class does not have to write on
> Silver Scorpian, or disability at all; the paper could also be about
> LGBT representation in super fiction, gender in heroes, etc.  It's
> also going to require research that might not even be about
> superheroes.  For example, she said that if I chose to write about how
> Tony Stark is diverse due to his heart problems represented in super
> fiction, I would want to research cardiology so I have information to
> site in my paper.
> 
> I'm stubborn and typically avoid using readers and scribes for things,
> but I do want to at least have the option of writing on The Silver
> Scorpian even if I do choose to write about Dare Devel or Iron Man for
> the paper.  I'd like to be able to do it by myself if at all possible,
> so I will get someone to describe it if no other option for me to do
> it independently becomes available.
> 
> To answer Chris's question, I have not checked Bard.  Another way in
> which I'm stubborn I guess is that I'm a bookshare snob; I don't
> really like Bard or Learning Ally.  Honestly, I think Learning Ally
> might be the most likely source to have it, but I just hate listening
> to people read.  I pay attention much better when I use braille and do
> my own work.
> 
> On 9/11/14, minh ha via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Kaiti,
>> 
>> Have you considered getting a reader to have them narrate all the
>> dialogue in the comic and describe the pictures to you? We had to read
>> a couple of graphic novels in one of my AP English classes in high
>> school and one of my friends and I just sat down together and went
>> through the novel together. It took maybe a couple of hours to read
>> through an entire book since most of it consists of graphics. I don't
>> have any vision so using a CCTV wasn't even an option for me to look
>> at the illustrations, but I did really well when it came time to
>> analyzing the novel without actually experiencing the visual parts. My
>> teacher did offer to let me sit that section out and just do another
>> project, but I hate not doing what everyone else was so I decided to
>> try a reader and see how it would go. Hopefully you can find a
>> solution that works best for you because Silver Scorpion sounds
>> awesome.
>> 
>> Minh
>> 
>> On 9/11/14, Chris Nusbaum via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Have you checked BARD?
>>> 
>>> Chris Nusbaum
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>> On Sep 11, 2014, at 12:40 AM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> 
>>>> This semester I'm in a really awesome English 200 course at my
>>>> university.  All of our English courses for 100 and 200 (the two
>>>> required composition courses) have themes.  I'm in a class which is
>>>> themed "Superheros and Villains in Society."  It looks at the
>>>> historical, cultural, and social contexts of supers, and the roles
>>>> they play as archetypes and icons in various societies.  The course
>>>> looks really diverse, and I know we're planning on exploring supers
>>>> and villains who are in minorities.  In fact, one of our scheduled
>>>> readings later in the semester is The Silver Scorpian.  This is a
>>>> relatively new comic from what I understand, and my professor says
>>>> people who are not interested in commics, disability studies, or both
>>>> would likely know who he is.  Basically, he's a Muslum kid from the
>>>> Middle East, who is wheelchair-bound after being involved in a
>>>> bombing.  He is chosen to handle a power that has been hidden for
>>>> centuries, and has to stand up for justice as... you guessed it, the
>>>> Silver Scorpian.
>>>> 
>>>> My professor is also wonderful, and is willing to work with me to make
>>>> the class as accessible as possible.  One of our readings which we
>>>> will be starting next week is The Watchman, and instead of having the
>>>> disability office go through the entire book and narrate all the
>>>> pictures (which there are a lot of so my book would be very late), the
>>>> prof has given me permission to watch a version of the film which
>>>> speaks the dialog, and will allow me to pause the DVD to look at the
>>>> pictures in the book zoomed in and on a large computer display.  She
>>>> has also provided the class with chapter summaries, and sent them to
>>>> me in advance.  However, the Silver Scorpian books are even less of
>>>> graphic novels and more like actual commics than Watchman is, and
>>>> there is no movie adaptation since he's still a new character.  My
>>>> prof has said she would be willing to come up with an alternative
>>>> assignment and let me use another movie, and she even said I would be
>>>> fine to do Dare Devel if I wanted to since I already own that movie.
>>>> 
>>>> However, I am curious as to whether or not there is a comic resource
>>>> out there.  Bookshare sometimes describes illustration in files and
>>>> I've seen that before, but they don't have commics as far as I can
>>>> tell from my searches.  Any ideas how I might be able to get a copy of
>>>> The Silver Scorpian?  If not, I'm perfectly happy to do a project
>>>> using a film adaptation on Dare Devel or Iron Man (her other
>>>> suggestion), but I'm mainly just curious as to whether or not this is
>>>> out there.
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Kaiti
>>>> 
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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. Lawrence
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Kaiti
> 
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