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

Fri Jan 29 17:09:00 UTC 2016

Hello All,

I am so sorry that that I sent my message asking for help with my situation.
It seems to me like no one really understands me, and I guess I do not know
how to communicate with other people so they can understand me anymore.

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 12:04 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

Christina, the point of her attending a training center would be to learn
braille well enough to use a slate and not need the technology she can't
afford.  I'm not sure that would be feasable, but that was the suggestion
that was being made.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Christina Moore 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 11:53:56 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice

Hi,

I am sorry to here about the struggles you are having. They are very
unacceptable and I hopw that you can find some solace in that you are not
alone in having difficulties of this sort.
These things should not happen but they do and we all can do our best to
educate others but at times that falls on deaf ears as they say.
First, in my opinion a reasonable accommodation for you is to be allowed to
have a recorder in your lectures. I am not sure what devices you are
using/have access to currently but you should be able to record your
lectures so you can listen to them later to study the information.
Second, if you do not mind me asking, why is your vocational rehab not
helping you? You are pursuing an educational degree and need technology that
it is not surprisingly, too expensive for you to pay for. They should be
willing/able to help you pursue your educational goals.
Third, the suggestion to attend the NFB center is an interesting one.
I have never attended such a center myself but I believe it would put off
your education considerably which is something you should consider when
weighing your options. I hear the centers are very useful but I am not sure
how it would benefit you since yes you would go home with skills but still
without the resources to use those skills. 
Advocacy
can go a long way but only to a point. If someone does not have the
economical means to pursue their education and their state and other
organizations are not willing to help, than a training center will do
nothing. Just my thoughts on that suggestion.
Fourth, it seems like you are in a position where a tutor for this class
would be beyond necessary. The tutor can read the notes from the TA and
others, ask you questions, be a scribe for exams/reader and they can get
paid for it.
I hope this helps you get somewhere. Your disability services should provide
the reader/tutor/scribe that is a reasonable and essential accommodation for
your circumstances.

On 1/29/16, Aleeha Dudley via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
 One of the big things that I want to say to you is this: do not give up.
One  of the things that would really help you is to get the Braille skills
and  problem solving skills from an NFB training center. You will gain
confidence  in yourself and be able to do whatever you want to do. I think
that would  really help you when it comes to getting accommodations for
yourself and  truly succeeding in your college life.
 On Jan 29, 2016, at 10:50 AM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 Hello All,

 There was a message thread on here not too long ago about someone being
upset about not being able to use a computer in the classroom. 
It seems
 as
 though people on here were offended by my response to this message.
 However,
 from my point of view, being able to use a computer in the classroom  seems
to be more of a privilege rather than a right because not everyone can
afford a computer that they can take to class.

 I really wish I had the money to buy a new computer that I could take  with
me to class because then maybe I would not be so worried about failing my
exams due to a lack of accommodations by my college. When I took classes
before, I was able to use a computer in the testing center for answering
short answer and essay questions that were on my exams. However, it  appears
as though the college no longer offers this as an accommodation. 
The
 college
 is supposed to have computers on campus with JAWS on them, but most of  the
time, these computers do not work correctly, and every time I ask about  the
status of the computer with JAWS on it in their new testing room, there
always seems to be something wrong with it. So I am really at a loss as  to
what to do for my exams, and I am really scared that I am going to fail  my
class because of a lack of accommodations.

 So what exactly am I supposed to do if I do not have a way to write out  my
answers for the short answer questions that are going to be on my exam?
 My
 college seems to rely heavily on the disabilities office to provide and
approve accommodations on campus. Therefore, if I talk to my professor,  she
will most likely tell me that I would need to talk to the disabilities
office in order to get any accommodations for my exam. But the  disabilities
office does not appear to provide the accommodations I need, so I feel  like
I am just caught up in some bureaucratic mess.

 It seems to me the only reliable accommodations the disabilities office
provides for exams are readers. However, this does not work for me when
answering short answer questions on exams because I find it rather
difficult  to write anything longer than a couple of words by dictating it
to  someone  else to write down for me. So the best accommodation for me in
this  situation is to use a computer since I do not know Braille very well.
But  since I do not have my own computer that I can take to class, and the
college does not appear to know how to properly maintain the computers on
campus that have JAWS on them, I feel as though I am at a loss as to what
to  do for my exams. If I had known this was the situation I was going to be
facing, I probably would not have signed up to take this class.

 I guess some days I just really hate being blind. And I get frustrated
when  I see other blind students get pretty much everything handed to them
from  their vocational rehabilitation agency. Not everyone gets privilege of
receiving services from a vocational rehabilitation agency, and not
everyone  has the privilege of having others help them advocate to receive
services  from the vocational rehabilitation agency either. And I guess I
just find  it  rather difficult to make anything out of my life given my
limited amount  of  resources and a lack of support from other people.

 Anyway, I am sorry if I have offended anyone with any of my messages to
the  email list. This is not what I mean to do. I am just really frustrated
by  life right now, and I am really struggling in trying to figure out what
to  do. It seems to me like nothing in my life ever works out, and that I
can  never really get the support I need from others when I need it. 
The NFB
 has
 never really been there for me before, so I am rather skeptical that I
will  be able to receive any help or support from the NFB, but I thought I
would  at least give it a try.

 Thanks,
 Elizabeth

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