[nabs-l] Accessibility in a college classroom

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi Amber, My suggestion is to go to class by yourself and not bring
anyone with you unless you are truly having trouble keeping up. My
experience is that a lot of instructors think their PowerPoint content
is inaccessible when in fact it is just fine to listen to the spoken
lectures and read the textbook. If you are having any trouble
following, you can make an appointment to see your instructor during
office hours, but I am pretty sure your instructor is worrying over
nothing. Also, online classes aren't always accessible. I think
attending the class in person where you can hear the lectures and
perhaps study with classmates is your best bet. You can also share
notes with the other blind student. I really don't think the
instructor needs to do much if anything to adapt the class. Also, I
have a doctorate in psychology and taught social and general
psychology before, so feel free to email me offlist if you have
specific concept questions. Good luck!
Arielle

On 1/13/15, Amber Kraft via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello,
>    My name is Amber and as this is the first week of my new classes I
> have ran in to a few problems and I am not sure what to do. I have
> signed up for a Intro to Psychology on-campus class and after signing
> up for this class along with the rest of my classes I set up a meeting
> to meet with the disability cordanater for my school along with all of
> my new instructers. Before getting to the meeting I received an email
> from the disability cordanater expressing the psychology instructors
> concerns for me being able to complete this class. She explained that
> there are many videos and powerpoints for the on-campus class and
> suggested that I take this class online as she would not have the time
> to make the videos or the powerpoints accessible for me.
> After meeting with the disability cordanater and talking to her a
> little more about my options for this class it it was agreed that I
> would be able to make the powerpoints accessible myself as long as
> they are mostly text and I could have someone attend class with me to
> explain any videos we may watch in class or explain any pictures on
> the powerpoints that would need to be described. Also after talking
> with the disability cordanater about this class it was explained to me
> that the instructor would not be able to make the accomadations that I
> needed because in one of her other classes she is teaching she has
> another student who is blind that she has to make accomadations or and
> will not have the time to make the accomadations for both of us.
> after meeting with the disability cordanater she had told me to send
> an email to my instructor and explain to her what we have come up with
> to make the class accessible for me and to make sure that it is ok
> with her that someone attends class with me as some instructors will
> not allow that. I did send the instructor an email explaining what the
> disability cordanater and I talked about and asked if it would be ok
> with her that someone attends class with me. When sending this email I
> did CC the disability cordanater on the email as well. Well tomorrow
> is going to be my first day of this class and I am not sure what to do
> as I have not received an email back from the instructor. So I am
> wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what to do at this point?
>
> Thank you
> Amber Kraft
>
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