[nabs-l] Interesting interaction with a professor

[Jamie Principato]

You aren't looking at this the wrong way. You are in no way required to discuss your need for accommodations with your classmates, and you are still entitled to said accommodations if you choose not to discuss it with them. If your teacher feels the other students need an explanation of why some students might be allowed a computer when others aren't, she should explain it herself, and in a way that explicitly does not single you out. In your position, I would explain to her that your accommodations aren't a privilege or advantage. They merely allow you *equal access, and that you have a right to equal access without making a spectacle of yourself or having to offer anyone but the person providing the accommodation an explanation of why you need them. You don't owe your peers anything. She can just add a clause to her syllabus that explains exceptions to rules can be made in the event that a student has a documented need for accommodations and speaks to her directly first. She does not have to single you out. To require that you disclose your needs and reasons for them to your class regardless of your preferences is degrading and inappropriate on her part. Now making it an option for you to discuss it with the class and encouraging it would be different. It shouldn't be required. 

Jamie

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 6, 2016, at 10:43 AM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I've been thinking about this for a while now for a variety of
> reasons.  The first is that I wouldn't necessarily describe it as a
> dilemma in need of a particular solution.  The second factor is that I
> do consider myself to be comfortable with my blindness, and typically
> have no qualms about educating others on the equipment I use when
> asked.  However, I just feel a little awkward about the following
> situation and would like to get some ideas bounced off of it.
> 
> I'm taking a psychology course this spring, so of course I emailed the
> professor to introduce myself and start the discussion about
> accommodations in advance.  Generally the professor seems to be pretty
> flexible and willing to adapt the existing plans when necessary, and I
> think she and I can work well together.  However, she seems very bent
> on her rules regarding the use of technology in the classroom.
> Obviously I'm the exception to her typical rule because the
> computer/notetaker is my pencil and paper, and she isn't banishing me
> to the testing center for exam days like some professors have, which I
> do appreciate.  However, whether or not I can participate on exam days
> in the classroom is contingent upon me explaining to the class why I
> need to use a computer when they are not allowed to.  My knee jerk
> reaction was to say, "Well, it should be pretty obvious why I need
> to," but I realize that this professor is just trying to cover all her
> bases.  I just feel awkward about the idea of talking about my
> accommodations to an entire class of my peers (not familiar with me
> from my department) in a way that isn't expressly about educating them
> on blindness, etc, especially on the first day of classes.  I don't
> feel like it is fair to limit my choice of where I can take my exams,
> which apparently are in essay format, based on whether or not I want
> to explain how Jaws works and why I need it.
> 
> I have comfortably talked about blindness and such with classes
> before, but not quite in this way.  Classmates in other gen ed courses
> obviously figured out that I am blind plenty of times without me even
> saying it, and were intellegent enough to ask if my computer talked to
> me or how it works before.  I only had one incident about a year ago
> when another student tried to use his laptop in class when he wasn't
> supposed to on the grounds that I was allowed to use one so why can't
> he, and the teacher just told him to read the syllabus and I qualified
> for using one because I had accommodations and talked to her ahead of
> time.  Part of me just doesn't get why I have to explain what I do to
> a class of people when it's obvious I can't use a traditional pen and
> paper.  I realize I'm the different learner here too, but this just
> seems weird to me.  I told the professor in our last email that I had
> never been asked to do this before and would think about it, and she
> responded basically saying that the other students are owed an
> explanation of why I can use something they can't so the rules are
> clear.  I don't necessarily agree with that since the whole point of
> accommodations are to make access equal, but maybe I'm looking at this
> the wrong way.  Thoughts?
> -- 
> Kaiti Shelton
> 
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