[nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice
Karl Martin Adam
kmaent1 at gmail.com
Mon Feb 1 03:04:56 UTC 2016
Steve, the problem that Elizabeth had (and asked us all to stop
discussing because we're not being helpful) is that she finds it
very difficult to dictate the answers to essay questions to a
reader and needs some way of writing them down so she can arrange
her thoughts. Thus the suggestions to use Braille or one or
another technological fix to help her write. She has also
mentioned that she doesn't get support from any rehab agency.
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Jacobson via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sun, 31 Jan 2016 20:31:54 -0600
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some
Advice
Elizabeth,
I have not followed this entire thread, but clearly you are
frustrated with
some of the responses. Also, some of the advice you are being
given is good
long term advice, but obviously won't help you finish this class.
Since you
are already in this class, it seems reasonable to me to look for
a way to
complete it and then think about how you can best approach things
in the
long run.
First, you can inexpensively purchase other voices for NVDA that
you might
find easier to understand, but I am not sure this is the time to
try to
learn a screen reader. There are concepts that are not hard to
learn but
cannot be mastered in a day to the point where you can work
efficiently.
Has anyone suggested that you try to arrange to work with a human
reader to
get through the rest of this class? Most colleges have offices
that can
assist you with finding a reader, and colleges are generally
required to
help you pay for readers. If you have a case opened with your
state agency
for the blind, they can sometimes pay for such help. In the
distant past, I
often was able to get the professor to make an announcement in my
class.
You might have to explain your circumstances if they are not well
known as
to why you need a human reader rather than technology.
Please ask if you have questions about this. Also, please try to
be patient
with all of us offering advice. While blindness can be dealt
with in such a
way as to allow one to live a full life, there are multiple areas
that
require some thought and even learning. Exactly what would best
help you is
something I cannot say as I don't know your exact situation, but
it is
something that needs consideration as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Steve Jacobson
Best regards,
Steve Jacobson
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Elizabeth
Mohnke via nabs-l
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 4:54 PM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Elizabeth Mohnke <lizmohnke at hotmail.com
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some
Advice
Hello Karl,
I am really getting frustrated by the fact that it appears as
though no one
is listening to me. I cannot understand the voice that comes with
NVDA, and
no amount of using this program is not going to change my ability
to
understand the voice that comes with NVDA.
And if I really need to learn Braille to the point that I can use
it in
class or for tests, then I am royally screwed. At this point in
my life I do
not believe I could learn braille well enough to be able to read
and
understand it enough to be able to read it and understand it at
the same
rate and level as someone who reads print. This is simply not
going to
happen, so please stop shoving this down my throat as if this is
the only
answer.
Elizabeth
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Karl
Martin
Adam via nabs-l
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 5:36 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Karl Martin Adam <kmaent1 at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some
Advice
Dear Elizabeth,
You're right that many of the suggestions people have given you
won't help
for your test in two weeks. If you want to continue college
though,
learning braille whether from a training center or a Hadley
course or
whatever or learning how to use something like NVDA will be
something you
have to do. We can't do that for you. I wish we could, but you
have to
actually learn the skills you need to do college assignments.
One thing you
could do is take an incomplete get the skills you need and finish
the class
in the fall. I'm assuming that's more drastic than you want to
do though.
You could work on trying to learn something like NVDA for the
next test, and
maybe your professor would allow you to take this one later if
you explained
it to them or maybe they would let you take it orally. I
understand not
wanting to learn new technology, I really do. I hate it, and
I've never
been able to learn Windows and a screen reader well enough to
function
effectively, which is why I use my Braillenote for everything. I
think you
might be surprised at how easy it is to learn how to make a
smartphone work
though. Androids are known for taking some time to figure out,
but Iphone's
are fairly intuitive. When I got mine I hated it for a day or
two because I
couldn't make it work, but then it clicked. All you really need
is to type
your answers into the body of an e-mail and either send it to
your professor
or have your scribe write it out onto the test or e-mail your
answers to DSS
and have them print them. Learning how to do that much really
wouldn't be
very difficult--even someone who has as hard a time with
technology as I do
can manage it. I really hope you can find a way to do well on
your exam!
Best,
Karl
----- Original Message -----
From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Fri, 29 Jan 2016 17:02:48 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some
Advice
Hello All,
I honestly wish I had never posted my email to this email list. I
really
hate the fact that it just seems like all you are wanting to do
is tell me
that an NFB training center is somehow going to solve all the
problems in my
life. Even if I could ever go to an NFB training center, I will
probably
never gain the Braille skills necessary to be able to use them in
a testing
situation.
I have never used a smart phone before, so this option would not
work for
me. There is absolutely no way I would be able to learn how to
use it good
enough to use for a test that is in two weeks.
I am already trying to catch up in this class after being sick,
so I am not
looking to add anything more to my plate than what is already on
it.
Using NVDA sounds like a good option, but again, I have never
used it
before, and I cannot understand the voice that comes with it . So
I am not
quite sure how this option would work for me.
I am sorry that I am not able to fight my college and the
vocational
rehabilitation all on my own. The Client Assistant Program does
not do much
of anything here. And no one in the NFB has never really been
willing to
help me either. All I wanted to do was to find a way to pass this
class. But
it looks as though I simply do not have the support, resources,
and capacity
to do the things I wanted to be able to do before my accident.
I should have never signed up to take this class. I really did
not have the
money to pay for it in the first place, and right now it just
feels like
this was only a waste of my money. And I should just learn that I
am never
going to be the same person that I was before my accident.
Elizabeth
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