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

Sat Jan 30 00:00:06 UTC 2016

I'm not assuming they have one. I'm saying it's likely they do. You're assuming they don't. Why not ask? 

And I haven't pushed Braille or training centers on you. Only practice and an open mind as an alternative to a default I can't and never ever attitude. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 29, 2016, at 4:56 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Jamie,
> 
> How can you assume the disabilities office would have a tape recorder? As
> far as I can tell, the disabilities office does not have much of anything.
> 
> And if I have a difficult time using the screen reader voice that I have
> been using for years, I do not believe I would be able to learn how to use a
> new voice that I simply cannot understand.
> 
> I am sorry if you do not understand or believe me. And I am even more sorry
> that I posted my question about how to take my exam on this email list.
> Having everyone jump down my throat about not being able to attend an NFB
> training center or not having perfect Braille skills was definitely not what
> I needed today. It looks as though the positive support of the NFB is for
> everyone else besides me.
> 
> Elizabeth. 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jamie
> Principato via nabs-l
> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 6:31 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Jamie Principato <blackbyrdfly at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice
> 
> The disability office probably has a tape recorder. Also, if you don't
> understand a speech synthesizer, practice actually does help with that. It's
> just like how toddlers don't understand grown up speech until they've
> listened to it a lot. A big part of it is to not throw ideas out with an "I
> can't" or "I'll never be able to" right off the bat. 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>>> On Jan 29, 2016, at 3:35 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello All,,
>> 
>> If I cannot understand the voice from NVDA then what good is it going 
>> to be for me to practice using it? No amount of practice is going to 
>> change this for me.
>> 
>> The only recording device I have is a Victor Stream. So how exactly 
>> would this option work for me? It would seem to me the only way to 
>> allow my professor to listen to my answers would be to give her my 
>> victor stream. I would not feel comfortable doing this because I have 
>> all my reading materials on it. And since the victor stream has its 
>> own special recording format, I cannot just simply save a copy of the 
>> recording and send it to my professor.
>> 
>> It seems as though there would be too many logistics for this option. 
>> And I have absolutely no idea if the disabilities office would allow 
>> such an accommodation. The disabilities office seems to be rather 
>> controlling in what it is willing to approve of as an accommodation.
>> 
>> Elizabeth
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mikayla Gephart [mailto:mikgephart at icloud.com]
>> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 5:13 PM
>> 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
>> 
>> Elizabeth, I understand some of the frustration. We are not at all 
>> implying that a training center would solve all your problems. How 
>> many of our members have left a training center, only to still need 
>> help with their colleges? could you practice with NVDA from wherever 
>> you are emailing right now? The more you practice, the better. 
>> Blindness and health problems do not have to stop you from living the life
> y want.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>>>> On Jan 29, 2016, at 5:02 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 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
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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%40iclou
>> d.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/blackbyrdfly%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/lizmohnke%40hotmail.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/blackbyrdfly%40gmail.com