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

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hi Elizabeth,

I'm sorry to hear of your struggles in class. Like you, I took my exams with 
a computer with jaws in the testing center.
In fact I do not think the testing center allowed
personal laptops. I also agree that having a laptop is a privelege not a 
right.
You are right  that not all students including blind students can have 
laptops.
Also, I know of blind students who were older and lost vision who could not 
use braille effectively for notes or exams.
I love braille and use it along with large print, but I also realize that 
not everyone can learn braille to use it efficiently for class or 
employment.
You are not alone in such circumstances.
So, there are definitely students who went to college without portable 
technology or many financial resources and without the skill of braille.
I know some of them, but they are not on this list.

Its rather appalling the school fails to provide you that accomodation.
I am just shocked to still find stories of this in the 21st century. As 
Elif said, the school should not expect students to have laptops.
They do not in fact expect this. Schools have computer labs and computers at 
their testing centers for students to use. As a student, it is your right to 
be able to use a pc with accomodations. I'd definitely go up the chain of 
command and fight this.

Do you want a laptop? I think I might have some resources for free or 
reduced price ones for blind people.
My dss offices only provided readers and a computer with jaws for the exams, 
so I know what you mean about inflexibility.

Meanwhile, I have some ideas.
You will need to work something out with the professor getting it approved 
by dss or withdraw from the class.

So here are ideas.
If you can read large print, you can jot down notes for the exam. Then
once your thoughts are together, you can dictate it to  a reader.

Other options are to take the exam orally.
Arrange a time to take the exam with the professor or their TA. This may 
feel intimidating to do it with the professor, so another idea is to have 
another faculty member administer the exam to you.
I've done this on a few ocasions for short answer exams and it works okay.
The instructor just reads back what I wrote after each question.
Another idea for oral exams is that you have the professor record the 
questions and you record your answers. Many colleges have old fashioned tape 
recorders  around or digital recorders. Technology labs or even the library 
may have equipment.
Have you asked different departments about the possibility of lending you 
technology?
I would think they have something around.

Finally, an option is to take home the exam if the professor lets you do 
that.
I've actually done this a few times. In fact my professor suggested it. She 
said all the students would do in class was that essay, and she saw no 
reason for me to have to come in and do it at the testing center.
So, she let me take it at home. There was no way to really cheat, but she 
did say I was on my honor not to use outside resources or  other people.

If no accomodations are approved and you cannot take the exams, then taking 
an incomplete
seems like the best option rather than having a failing grade.

I'm sorry to hear things look so hopeless. Definitely complain to the 
school.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 10:50 AM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
Cc: Elizabeth Mohnke
Subject: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice

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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