[nabs-l] accomodations for english classes

[justin williams]

I read with jaws usually, but I also have a braille display for precision if
necessary.  -----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Bramlett
via nabs-l
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 12:58 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] accomodations for english classes

Karl,

Thanks.
Sounds like you gave the advice I thought was the right way to go if only I
could do so.
Publisher files are a mess as you said but I don't know what else to do  to
see it in text.

I'm looking now for it on bookshare.
It's the Norton anthology, so maybe bookshare will have a popular book like
this.
I think the best thing is to have the book on a USB drive and view it
quietly on my notetaker if possible.
As you said, then I'd be viewing it right with everyone else.
Has anyone else done something else such as bringing a tablet to class and
using that to hear the story through headphones?

I find it awkward to ask someone to read it while everyone is quiet and
concentrating.
Even if the prof reads aloud for a group discussion as is often the case, I
would like to see the text to have it in context more.

I've had trouble in the past finding and using quotes; its real challenging
to copy it from audio.
An idea I had was  to use a reader
to skim for them and even write them in a word file for me if needed.
If I resorted to that, I'd have her note the pages for me too.
I'm a perfectionist and as I tried to do my first reading entries I found
that not only did I not know how to spell some of the proper names, but I
was not able to do the quotes so ended up paraphrasing instead. So, then I
realized that I'd need to copy down quotes while reading.

Good point about integrating quotes. I'll keep that in mind; I'll put them
in context and introduce the quote first then.

Thanks.

Ashley


-----Original Message-----
From: Karl Martin Adam
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 12:33 AM
To: Ashley Bramlett ; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: re: [nabs-l] accomodations for english classes

Hi Ashley,

You definitely need the book in text format.  If you have a notetaker I
would definitely suggest just doing your reading on there--it means you can
read with whatever combination of speech and braille works best for you.
For instance, I generally read mostly in speech and occasionally look at the
Braille when I care about spelling or formatting or where the way the speech
says something is unclear.  Publisher files are a mess, you might try
getting the DS office to proofread them.  You also might try requesting the
book from bookshare, which may get you something relatively well edited.
Having the book on your notetaker also means you can look at things silently
in class like everyone else.  You might actually be at an advantage because
you can use the search feature while they're flipping through pages.

As for comments, if they're electronic, they should already be accessible to
you.  I have occasionally asked for comments digitally, but usually, like
you, I have just had someone read them to me if they were on a paper copy.
Especially in an English class you'll want to have the digital copy with the
comments in context though.

I don't know about Blackboard these days.  Years ago it wasn't very
accessible, but that has hopefully changed.

As for quotes, this is indeed another reason that you really need the books
in text.  That way you can just copy and paste.  I can't think of anything
better than trying to take dictation from the recording if that's what
you're stuck with though.  I can't think of a reason that you would start a
paragraph with a quotation.  Normally you don't use quotes unless:
1) what the author is saying is unclear and you're giving an interpretation,
2) you're disagreeing with what the author says and you want to make sure
you're being fair to their position and not misrepresenting them, or
3) something about the turn of phrase is particularly compelling.
In any case, the quote should be embedded in your argument, and you should
have a reason for having it there.  As someone who's graded papers, there's
nothing worse than a bunch of quotes that are not well integrated into the
paper, and most people who grade can recognize that sort of fluff very
easily.

I don't really know word, but if you have a braillenote the command for word
count is control read i for the file information menu, and then scrole to
the word count and press enter 


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