[nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice

Mon Feb 1 11:21:45 UTC 2016

Elizabeth,
	Since you are comfortable with Jaws, you may want to download the
40-minute demo option. Since you probably will need it for longer, you can
simply save your test answers, restart the computer and boot up the demo
again, with the help of a pper of professor or disability services. Though
this is tedious and inefficient, it will allow you to work independently and
on your own time. You can continue rebooting the trial run for as long as
you need it.
Kathryn

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
via nabs-l
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2016 9:32 PM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
Cc: Steve Jacobson
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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