[nabs-l] Interesting interaction with a professor

Wed Jan 6 18:45:55 UTC 2016

I am quite sure that the policies of your University state that you are in no way required to "educate the class" on your accommodations.  I can understand your professor's position, however, she is acting out of a lack of education or understanding.  All that is required is for her to say to the class something along the lines of "Nobody is allowed to use technology in the classroom unless they have a documented need for such an accommodation."

I think, if it were me, in this situation, I would politely inform her that I am in no way required to talk to the class about my accommodations unless I choose to do so, per the policies of the University.  And that I would be happy to get her in contact with the ADA coordinator if she needs further explanation.  And in the meantime I would be delighted to speak to the class briefly about accommodations, JAWS, notetaker, etc, for the sole purpose of educating more students.  But then I would take the tests in the disability office or in the professors office.  That way I would be educating my peers, and my professor, but it would be clear that I am not doing it in order to be able to use accommodations.  That is a compromise I would make.
But that is my personal choice.  

You have the right to decide to discuss your accommodations or not.  If you have good disability resource office coordinators, you could discuss the matter with them as well.

Thanks for sharing.

Anna E Givens

> On Jan 6, 2016, at 1:02 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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