[nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice
Aaron
blindgeek1989 at gmail.com
Sun Jan 31 02:21:06 UTC 2016
Illegally there are free versions.
Thanks,
Aaron Linson
Do what you love, the money will follow.
> On Jan 30, 2016, at 8:42 PM, Simon Bonenfant via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hi Elizabeth, you do not need to pay for the eloquence synthesizer for NVDA there are two free versions
>
> Sent from my iPod
>
>> On Jan 29, 2016, at 7:12 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I honestly do not understand why it seems to me that no one is able to
>> understand the fact that I cannot understand the voice that comes with NVDA
>> and that this will most likely not change after trying to use it. And I do
>> not have the money to pay for the voice that JAWS uses.
>>
>> So if you do not mind, I would like for this discussion to end. I feel worse
>> now than I did before I posted my question to the email list.
>>
>> It seems to me like the best thing for me to do is accept the fact that I am
>> simply not the same person I was before my accident. I am nothing but a
>> failure who can barely do anything anymore without it being such a big deal.
>>
>> Elizabeth
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Desiree Oudinot
>> via nabs-l
>> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 6:49 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Desiree Oudinot <turtlepower17 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice
>>
>> Hi,
>> I too am sorry that NFB training centers were suggested as the be all, end
>> all. I'm going to catch flack for saying so, but I would be disgruntled in
>> your situation, too, because that wasn't the question you were asking. You
>> were asking a question about solutions that you could use in the here and
>> now, and several responses did seem to be putting you down for not having
>> attended a training center. That's not OK at all.
>>
>> To answer one of the points you raised, though, you don't need to install
>> NVDA on a computer to use it. You only need to put a portable copy on a
>> flash drive, plug said flash drive into the computer, and launch the
>> application from there. If you need help doing that, you could either ask
>> someone who happens to be in the testing center, or, if no one is available
>> or willing to help, you could launch Narrator so that you could find the
>> flash drive and use NVDA. On versions of Windows below 10, you launch
>> Narrator by pressing windows u, and in Windows 10, it's Windows enter.
>> Although I seriously doubt that a college testing center is using Windows 10
>> yet.
>>
>> The Blind Access team is proud to present podcasts covering the Windows and
>> Android operating systems, as well as demonstrations of accessible games and
>> software!
>> Why not check us out at:
>> http://www.blindaccess.org
>> Or like us on Facebook:
>> https://www.facebook.com/Blindaccess
>> Contact us directly:
>> podcastteam at gigajoy.net
>>
>>> On 1/29/2016 6:37 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l wrote:
>>> 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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