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

Fri Jan 29 23:37:47 UTC 2016

Hello Karl,

It is apparent that you are not listing to me. I never said I was against
learning Braille or using technology. I already know that I cannot
understand the default voice for NVDA because I have heard it before and
could not understand it. I also have another disability which I am not
comfortable disclosing publically that makes it more difficult for me to be
able to understand the default voice of NVDA. And I do not have any
administrative rights as a student to be able to put programs on the campus
computers. If they could just simply figure out a way to properly maintain
the computers on campus that have JAWS on them then I would not be having
this problem.

I truly regret posting my question to the NABS email list. I honestly did
not need people shoving down NFB training centers and braille as the only
solutions to my problem. This does absolutely nothing to help me and it only
makes me feel worse about things. I know that at this point in my life I
will not be able to learn Braille well enough to use it as my primary mode
of communication. If I am never going to be good enough succeed as a blind
person with other disabilities then perhaps I should not try at all and
simply consider myself to be a failure who is never going to be able to make
anything out of my life.

Elizabeth

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 6:16 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

Elizabeth,

First of all, NVDA can work with different voices.  Second of all, you don't
know if you can understand the default voice or not unless you've worked
with it a while to acclimatize yourself.  
You could of course use another screen reader, but the other's aren't Free
like NVDA.  You might even be able to put Jaws on a thumbdrive if you have a
licence already, you'd have to check with the manufacturer.

I'm not sure what you think you're going to do if you don't want to learn
Braille and you don't want to use technology.  Those are the ways blind
people have of being literate.  At some point, you have to use one if you're
going to go to school or work.  Maybe there are other choices, but I don't
know of them, and I assume you don't either or you wouldn't be asking.  I
don't know why you're so hostile to Braille, but it's worth pointing out
that you don't have to use Braille as efficiently as a sighted person uses
print in order to organize your thoughts for an essay and then be able to
read it to your scribe instead of doing it all in your head.  We're not
talking about you reading Braille other people have produced hear, so you
could write in uncontracted braille if you wanted and memorizing the
contractions is part of your problem.

Best,
Karl

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Elizabeth Mohnke 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 17:54:02 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice

Hello Karl,

I am really getting frustrated by the fact that it appears as though no one
is listening to me. I cannot understand the voice that comes with NVDA, and
no amount of using this program is not going to change my ability to
understand the voice that comes with NVDA.

And if I really need to learn Braille to the point that I can use it in
class or for tests, then I am royally screwed. At this point in my life I do
not believe I could learn braille well enough to be able to read and
understand it enough to be able to read it and understand it at the same
rate and level as someone who reads print. This is simply not going to
happen, so please stop shoving this down my throat as if this is the only
answer.

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 5:36 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

Dear Elizabeth,

You're right that many of the suggestions people have given you won't help
for your test in two weeks.  If you want to continue college though,
learning braille whether from a training center or a Hadley course or
whatever or learning how to use something like NVDA will be something you
have to do.  We can't do that for you.  I wish we could, but you have to
actually learn the skills you need to do college assignments.  
One thing you
could do is take an incomplete get the skills you need and finish the class
in the fall.  I'm assuming that's more drastic than you want to do though.
You could work on trying to learn something like NVDA for the next test, and
maybe your professor would allow you to take this one later if you explained
it to them or maybe they would let you take it orally.  I understand not
wanting to learn new technology, I really do.  I hate it, and I've never
been able to learn Windows and a screen reader well enough to function
effectively, which is why I use my Braillenote for everything.  I think you
might be surprised at how easy it is to learn how to make a smartphone work
though.  Androids are known for taking some time to figure out, but Iphone's
are fairly intuitive.  When I got mine I hated it for a day or two because I
couldn't make it work, but then it clicked.  All you really need is to type
your answers into the body of an e-mail and either send it to your professor
or have your scribe write it out onto the test or e-mail your answers to DSS
and have them print them.  Learning how to do that much really wouldn't be
very difficult--even someone who has as hard a time with technology as I do
can manage it.  I really hope you can find a way to do well on your exam!

Best,
Karl

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Elizabeth Mohnke 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 17:02:48 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice

Hello All,

I honestly wish I had never posted my email to this email list. I really
hate the fact that it just seems like all you are wanting to do is tell me
that an NFB training center is somehow going to solve all the problems in my
life. Even if I could ever go to an NFB training center, I will probably
never gain the Braille skills necessary to be able to use them in a testing
situation.

I have never used a smart phone before, so this option would not work for
me. There is absolutely no way I would be able to learn how to use it good
enough to use for a test that is in two weeks.
I am already trying to catch up in this class after being sick, so I am not
looking to add anything more to my plate than what is already on it.

Using NVDA sounds like a good option, but again, I have never used it
before, and I cannot understand the voice that comes with it . So I am not
quite sure how this option would work for me.

I am sorry that I am not able to fight my college and the vocational
rehabilitation all on my own. The Client Assistant Program does not do much
of anything here. And no one in the NFB has never really been willing to
help me either. All I wanted to do was to find a way to pass this class. But
it looks as though I simply do not have the support, resources, and capacity
to do the things I wanted to be able to do before my accident.

I should have never signed up to take this class. I really did not have the
money to pay for it in the first place, and right now it just feels like
this was only a waste of my money. And I should just learn that I am never
going to be the same person that I was before my accident.

Elizabeth

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