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

Fri Jan 29 19:02:33 UTC 2016

I have found it useful to write an essay in Braille on a Perkins
Brailler before reading it to an exam scribe. It can help with
organizing ideas during an exam even though you don't submit the
Brailled notes directly to the professor.
That said, for this particular issue, a testing computer is the ideal
accommodation. I like the suggestions of trying to use NVDA or getting
a basic accessible phone with Bluetooth keyboard for jotting down
notes, as well as going up the chain of command as far as possible to
advocate for accessible computer facilities on campus, which will help
other blind students too.
Arielle

On 1/29/16, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> But Carl, what good does a slate and stylus do for exams and other
> assignments?
> A professor cannot read braille.  So a student needs to use technology to
> substitute for handwriting.
>
> The only good braille does in college is for your personal notetaking during
>
> class and for homework, like reading textbooks. Otherwise, what you show to
>
> the instructors  needs to be in print.
>
> Ashley
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l
> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 12:04 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Cc: Karl Martin Adam
> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account
> info for
> nabs-l:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/blindcowgirl1
> 993%40gmail.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account
> info for
> nabs-l:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/christina.moo
> re16%40houghton.edu
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
> for nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/kmaent1%40gma
> il.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40earthlink.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>