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

Fri Jan 29 22:02:42 UTC 2016

Elizabeth, 
I do not have any sughestions about your specific situation. However, going to national convention, I was able to get funding from local groups. I wrote a letter, and attached some of the agenda. Maybe you can do something similar. Sorry that this will not help much. I am with you in your fight for equal access.

Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 29, 2016, at 11:42 AM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Aleeha,
> 
> Thank you for your response. However, I am not quite sure how this advice is
> goint to help me get through this class. And going to an NFB training center
> would be absolutely great except for the fact that I do not have the money
> to attend an NFB training center. Plus, I am still not quite sure how I
> would be able to manage all my health issues while attending an NFB training
> center either. So some practical advice on how I could make it through this
> class would be great.
> 
> Thanks,
> Elizabeth
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Aleeha Dudley [mailto:blindcowgirl1993 at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 10:57 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Elizabeth Mohnke <lizmohnke at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice
> 
> 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/blindcowgirl1993%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/mikgephart%40icloud.com