[nabs-l] A few unrelated questions

Sat Jan 17 22:20:48 UTC 2015

Hi Kaiti and all,

I have traveled internationally many times before, not 
independently yet but every summer we go to France to visit my 
relatives on my mom's side of the family.  I really enjoy the 
experience, and am confident that I'll be aing to accomplish it 
independently.
I have never been to any other countries in this continent 
(except for a road trip to Canada), so I can't answer you for the 
Caribean specifically.

As others have said, you fill out those forms on the plane, so 
you should be able to ask a flight attendant for assistance.  As 
for letting the airline know of your blindness, I never had to do 
that personally, as I've always traveled with my mom and brother.  
I do know though that you can either email the airline in advance 
to request assistance or just wait until you get to the airport.
 Ironically though, the only time I've been offered a wheelchair 
was on the return flight from France we took this summer.  We had 
made a stop in Dublin, Ireland, and then took another flight from 
there to here in New York.  Anyway, what was ironic was that as 
we ! getting off the plane, this flight attendant saw that I was 
blind and offered me a wheelchair.  I told him that I didn't need 
it, and he didn't even get offended.  He just said OK, and I was 
able to get off the plane with my family.

And yes, I do agree that knowing the language does help.  I 
personally  am fluent in French and Spanish as well as English, 
so I think I would be able to manage as well in those languages 
as well as in English.  If I were in a place where I don't know 
the language, though, I'd probably be like Arielle and request 
help more often.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Sami.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Greg Aikens via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>,National 
Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 11:27:30 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A few unrelated questions

Hi Kaiti,
Congratulations on your studies abroad.  I have travelled 
internationally several times, both to developed and developing 
countries.  I think on my first couple of trips I notified the 
airlines ahead of time that I would need assistance, but it made 
no difference.  No one had passed along that info and so I still 
had to just ask for what I needed on the plane/in the airport.  I 
don't bother letting them know ahead of time anymore.

Just ask your flight attendant for assistance filling out the 
customs form.  They usually offer to do this anyway but sometimes 
forget.

As for rejecting assistance if it is too much, this is far easier 
to do when you speak a common language.  I usually play this one 
by ear when I get there.  I have successfully refused a 
wheelchair without offending and have also decided that after 
trying a couple of times, it was not worth my time and energy, 
especially in an unfamiliar country where I'm not completely 
fluent.  I have not travelled to the Caribbean but have visited 
Nicaragua twice in the last year.  The attitudes toward blind 
people in Nicaragua sound similar to what you describe in 
Jamaica.  Don't be afraid to challenge misconceptions just like 
you would do in the states.  Just be kind, gracious, and 
persistent and know that you are traveling up an even steeper 
slope than what you may be used to.  :)

Please feel free to contact me on or off list if you have more 
questions.

Best,

Gregg
gpaikens at gmail.com

 On Jan 16, 2015, at 11:46 PM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 Hi all,

 I have a few unrelated questions here, but if anyone could 
answer any
 combination of them I would be really grateful.

 1.  International travel.  I'll be flying internationally for 
the
 first time in June for a study abroad trip.  I am by no means a
 frequent flyer having only flown once before to a National 
Convention,
 and I am a little unsure of the differences between 
international
 travel and domestic travel.  It was very easy going from one 
airport
 to the other when I went to Orlando, but I don't know what the
 procedure is for filling out customs forms.  Would I want to 
call
 ahead to the airline to make sure the personelle are aware that
 someone will ned to help me fill out the customs paperwork?  I 
am also
 a little nervous about reaching my contact person once in the 
airport
 in my destination.  Thankfully English is the main language and 
the
 patois is pretty easy for me to understand, but I also 
understand that
 due to religious norms the disabled are seen as people "to be 
taken
 care of."  Not that this is extremely different from treatment 
we
 receive in American airports (I was surprised when I wasn't 
greeted
 with a wheelchair after getting off the plane in 2013), but I 
guess
 I'm just a little nervous going into a third world country where
 refusing unnecessary help might be more offensive than what I'm 
used
 to in the states.  Has anyone flown independently to another 
country,
 especially Jamaica or another island in the Caribbean?  If so, 
would
 you be willing to share your experiences?

 Second, I am interested in bluetoothing my IPhone and 
BrailleSense
 On-Hand together.  I now have an IPhone 6 so my IOS is 
up-to-date.  I
 royally screwed up when I tried to do it with an IPhone 4, so if
 anyone has resources for how to do this, that would be awesome.

 3.  Has anyone here taken human anatomy?  I'm looking to take it 
next
 semester, and my DS office is starting to prep for it now.  I'm
 thinking that I will want to take the lab along with the lecture 
even
 though it isn't required for my major, mainly because I think 
having
 the lab will give me a chance to touch some of the things we 
talk
 about in the normally very visual course.  Some of my sighted 
friends
 struggled in Anatomy and think they also would have benefitted 
from
 taking the lab with the lecture, so I do think it will be even 
more
 important for me.  I know many science majors have had issues 
with
 getting profs to allow them to participate in disections and 
other
 hands-on activities with sharp objects, and being a music major 
I have
 no experience navigating these kinds of issues.  Any advice 
would be
 very useful to me, as I think I'll actually start meeting with 
the
 professor in February to make sure that she is on-board and has 
some
 input with her expertise into how we can accommodate me in these
 courses.

 --
 Kaiti

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