[nabs-l] Interesting interaction with a professor

[Elizabeth Mohnke]

Hello Kaiti,

What is the big deal about taking tests and exams in the testing center?
This is how my college deals with tests and exams, and it has never been a
problem for me. If the professor does not allow students to use computers in
the classroom, then I honestly do not see how a blind student should be
exempt from this policy. After all, if we are fighting to be treated as
equals, we should be willing to abide by the same policies as anyone else. 

Warm regards,
Elizabeth

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
via nabs-l
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2016 12:43 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>
Subject: [nabs-l] Interesting interaction with a professor

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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