[nabs-l] The import of Self-advocacy

Wed Jan 7 23:03:43 UTC 2015

I find emailing/meeting with professors in advance extremely helpful. For
one, you find out the text well in advance of when it is available to other
students. I ask for the syllabus that way if DSS is going to take too long
I have them do chapter in the order we will be reading them. Because I have
partial vision and use a cctv or monocular to see the board letting the
professor know in advance ensures they take care t use pens I can see. I
also get the power points being used prior to the first day. There are also
several student taking with the professor after the first class so I find
being proactive a better approach.

On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 12:59 PM, Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l <
nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> I'm a bit curious about why you guys contact your professors before the
> first class.  I've done that with a few classes where the professor needed
> to do a lot to make things accessible or where I needed to get specialized
> materials in advance--lab sciences, geography, German, fencing, symbolic
> logic--but I've always just gone up to ordinary humanities and social
> science professors at the end of class on the first day.  It never really
> occurred to me that the things I was asking for--handouts in accessible
> format, permission to take notes with my apex, taking exams at dss--were
> anything that were that big a deal.  Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've
> never had any blindness related problems with a professor.  Getting books
> has been challenging sometimes, but that has to do with publishers not
> professors.  I definitely agree with Michael that it's important to order
> books well in advance and plan for those hard to adapt classes like lab
> sciences.  Going and finding my classrooms ahead of time is also something
> I usually do though if I know the layout of a building well I usually just
> go find the specific class on the day of.  I also try to be early the first
> couple classes so I can go in the room and find a seat while most seats are
> still open instead of doing that awkward thing where we wander around
> trying to find the one empty chair in a full room.  The other thing I think
> is really important is having a good relationship with DSS.  That includes
> the director and specialists like the person in charge of getting books and
> also the secretary if there is one and the student workers.  They all those
> people can be really helpful to you if you have a good relationship with
> them.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> To: Roanna Bacchus <rbacchus228 at gmail.com>, "National Association of
> BlindStudents mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Wed, 7 Jan 2015 19:26:57 +0000
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] The import of Self-advocacy
>
> Hello Roanna,
>         I뭢 not really sure how much to say; however, I certainly do agree.
> Self-advocacy is the difference between success and failure, both in life
> and at the University. With that said, here is a list of things which I do
> at the University, in order to be an independent advocator:
> 1)      I always attempt to establish a connection and meeting with my
> professors before the semester starts. I introduce myself in an email, let
> them know my level of vision, and request a meeting. When we meet, we
> discuss their personal classroom etiquette and expectations, the
> accommodations which I might need etc. I have never had a situation where a
> professor was unwilling to work with me within reason (the only times I뭭e
> witnessed professors acting ablest was when the student went over their
> head). Professors are people too and have feelings.
> 2)      I always try to gather my books before the semester starts, be
> that via the DSS office or by requesting them from book share. In the case
> of requesting from book share, I recognize that it takes a while for books
> to be available; therefore, I always find out what books I need well in
> advance, then I request them. Book share can take any ware from a week to
> four months, depending on the difficulty of the book (logic, math and other
> visual fields have no descriptions or formula, at least from the discussion
> I뭭e had with book share뭩 representatives).
> 3)      I always take time to find out where my classes are located. This
> is a small thing, but doing so ensures that I can be confident on the first
> day of class. In class communication with others is heavily reliant upon
> ones confidence; thus, if you are able to be confident from the start, then
> you can make friends quicker.
> I뭢 not really sure what else to add off the top of my head; I hope this is
> adequate. If I remember anything else, I뭠l send another email.
> Respectfully,
> Michael
> ________________________________________
> From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Roanna Bacchus via
> nabs-l [nabs-l at nfbnet.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 9:35 AM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nabs-l] The import of Self-advocacy
>
> Dear Members,
>
> As a blind college student I've had to advocate for myself
> without assistance from others.  Each semester I advocate for
> myself by sending out introduction emails to my professors before
> classes begin.  I think self advocacy is important because it
> allows us to become more independent as blind students.  I'd like
> to hear stories about how you've advocated for yourselves.
>
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