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

Nathan Clark troubleclark at gmail.com
Sat Jan 30 06:34:18 UTC 2016 

What state are you in?

Nathan Clark

> On Jan 29, 2016, at 10:07 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Suzanne,
> 
> Yes, I have already been in contact with my local NFB chapter as well as my
> NFB state affiliate. Neither one seem to be of much help to me.
> 
> Elizabeth .-----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Suzanne Germano
> via nabs-l
> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 9:45 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Suzanne Germano <sgermano at asu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice
> 
> Do you have a local nfb chapter that could maybe support you with the
> disabled services office?
> 
> On Friday, January 29, 2016, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> 
>> Hello Suzanne,
>> 
>> No, I am not a client of the vocational rehabilitation agency. And no,  
>> I currently do not receive financial assistance. A student needs to be 
>> enrolled on a half time basis in order to receive financial 
>> assistance, and I am only taking one class.
>> 
>> I am sure there are lots of things my disabilities office should be 
>> doing, but that does not mean that they are doing them or have any 
>> desire to do them in the future. Unfortunately, I do not believe I 
>> have the capacity to fight the college disability office all on my own
> right now.
>> 
>> Elizabeth
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>] On 
>> Behalf Of Suzanne Germano via nabs-l
>> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 9:27 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>>
>> Cc: Suzanne Germano <sgermano at asu.edu <javascript:;>>
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some 
>> Advice
>> 
>> Hi Elizabeth
>> 
>> Are you a client of VR? I know you mentioned other people getting 
>> stuff but you did not state if you are a client or qualify.
>> 
>> I had to fight vr initially. I did it on my own. I adked for something 
>> justifiable. She said no. I filed an official appeal and my request 
>> was approved.
>> 
>> Do you get financial aid? Do have more you can qualify for ie loans?
>> Getting a student loan for a computer would be well worth it if you 
>> qualify.
>> 
>> Speak to the head of disabled student services, then speak to who ever 
>> is above them and continue up until your situation is taken care of. 
>> It is a pain but I have had to fight battles to get stuff.
>> 
>> Your disabled student office should have a minimum of one computer 
>> with jaws for test taking. If not, push for it.
>> 
>> I hope you can get this resolved
>> 
>> Good luck
>> 
>> On Friday, January 29, 2016, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l < 
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>>
>> 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
>>> 
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