[nabs-l] Another Questions about Professors

Fri Oct 21 11:34:21 UTC 2016

Hi Elizabeth,

My own practice in the past has been to ignore this sort of 
thing, because I tend to be non-confrontational and because I 
recognize that sighted people who talk like this mean well even 
though they're doing something harmful.  If this has reached a 
level where you can't do that and still function well in his 
class, I do think talking to him respectfully and not in front of 
others could help.  You could just say what you've told this 
list--that this makes you uncomfortable, that you're capable of 
opening the door and such on your own, that you don't see 
yourself as amazing.  If he's not part of the right wing backlash 
against what they like to call "political correctness," you could 
talk about how the assumption that you as a blind person can't do 
things and the low standards that goes along with that is an 
unintentional microaggression, and you could talk about the 
problems of stereotype threat and all the data that shows that 
low expectations cause poor academic performance.  Given that 
this is a sociologist, perhaps you could forward him some 
sociological studies on the subject of these sorts of attitudes 
towards disability.  I don't have references to them off the top 
of my head, but if you like I could share your story with the 
blind academics list (which includes a number of sociologists) 
and ask if they can recommend anything.  You might also try 
sending him some material by, for example, Dr. Jurnigan about 
this sort of thing.

HTH,
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, 21 Oct 2016 03:38:23 +0000
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Another Questions about Professors

Hello All,

Thank you for your responses so far. However, how exactly do I 
have a conversation with my professor if I have absolutely no 
idea what to say to him? He is starting to make me feel rather 
uncomfortable. Someone else said that I should just ignore him, 
but the only real way to ignore him is to drop his class. I 
cannot enter or exit the classroom without him saying something 
to me or getting up from the desk to open the door for me. So if 
you believe the solution to this problem is to talk to my 
professor, what exactly am I supposed to say to him? My ideas are 
really not all that friendly considering the fact that I have had 
an absolutely horrible week.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
KENNEDY STOMBERG via NABS-L
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2016 11:24 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: KENNEDY STOMBERG <kestomberg at coe.edu
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Another Questions about Professors

The one good thing about what you were dealing with is that your 
professor will likely listen to you. Ask has already been said, 
just talk to him. He respectful as I know you are. Be gentle and 
diplomatic if you can. (I know that can be hard sometimes. :-)) 
but I think things will work out for you. He is seeing you be 
successful, and he is trying to put himself in your shoes. He 
doesn't think that if he were blind he would be able to be that 
successful. But of course that is not the case. I am sure it is 
just a matter of having a conversation. :-) Good luck! Let us 
know how it goes. :-)

Kennedy Stomberg
(218)295-2391

 On Oct 20, 2016, at 10:12 PM, chelsea peahl via NABS-L 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 I've had a professor like that, but I honestly just talked to 
her about it. For me, it was that simple. She is now one of my 
favorite people and I have a great relationship with her outside 
of campus life. Just explain that just because you are doing 
something a little differently than they are used to, your are 
still doing the same thing that they do and that specialized 
equipment lost the "cool" factor after the first use. Everyone is 
human and mistakes happen, just continue to remind him. I don't 
feel like it's a reason to drop the class.

 Chelsea Peahl

 On Oct 20, 2016, at 8:52 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via NABS-L 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 Hello All,

 In addition to the problems I am facing in terms of my 
accommodations falling through for my science class, I also have 
a bit of a problem with my professor for my sociology class. He 
thinks I am the most amazing person for being able to do things 
as a blind person. I have received attitudes like this from other 
sighted people in the past, but never from a professor, or 
nothing that was this bad. Even after walking out with me from 
class to the bus stop and watching me find a phone number I 
recorded on my Victor Stream to call someone on my IPhone, he 
still somehow thinks I am the most amazing person simply because 
I can do things even though I am blind.

 I really do not want to drop this class because I really enjoy 
this class. I find the subject matter to be interesting. I find 
the personal stories the professor shares with the class when he 
explains things to us in class. And I like the fact that the 
accommodations are fairly simple and straight forward in that I 
really do not need to do all that much in terms of accommodations 
for this class.

 However, the fact that this professor keeps telling me how I am 
this amazing person simply because I can do things as a blind 
person is really starting to annoy me. I thought if I simply 
ignored these comments that they would go away. But they do not 
seem to be going away, and I honestly am not quite sure what to 
say to my professor to make him understand that my blindness 
really does not need to be as big of a deal as he is making it 
out to be.

 So does anyone have any ideas as to how I can go about dealing 
with a professor who is overly annoying about how I am this 
amazing person simply because I can do things as a blind person? 
I am really beginning to think that sighted people are incapable 
of being able to understand blindness. So any thoughts or ideas 
anyone may have in regards to dealing with this situation would 
be greatly appreciated.

 Thanks,
 Elizabeth
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