[nabs-l] Where Can I Turn For Some Help?

Fri Oct 21 11:53:19 UTC 2016

Hello Kennedy,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my message. However, right now I feel as though I do not have any options available to me. Right now I feel as though it is best for me to fire the reader that was assigned to me from the disabilities office , and hire my own reader despite the fact that I do not have any money, and then figure out how the hell to convince the disabilities office to allow me to use this new reader for exams when the only way to contact the person in charge of the disabilities office is through email. I feel like this is the only thing I can do right now because this is how my accommodations were set up for my science class this semester, and I feel as though I do not have the ability to figure out a whole new set of accommodations during the middle of the semester.

I already understand the concept of using other students in the class as readers as they are learning the material anyway. However, I am honestly not quite sure how this works when no one in the class will barely talk to me. And having another student in the class to read our weekly quizzes and exams is most likely not going to work for me.

I tried contacting my science professor all summer long to talk about accommodations for her class. However, the only time I was able to meet with her was a few days before the start of classes. By this time, it was simply too late for me to be able to switch to a different science class with a different professor. Since the professor wants us to hand in our lab assignments at the end of class in hard copy print, and has random activities throughout the class, I thought it would be best for me to have a reader in class to help me. In the past I have found it rather difficult to find other students to help me complete written assignments in class.

But now I seem to be having a major problem with my reader. AT the beginning of the semester, I was told that she did not have a problem sitting through the parts of class when I do not need a reader. However, now it appears as though she has a problem with it. However, instead of talking to me about it, she is talking to other people about it. I know that she has talked to the person in charge of the disabilities office, and it is possible that she may have talked to my professor as well.

The other day in class, my reader told me that the person in charge of the disabilities office was going to be meeting with my professor. I was rather taken aback when I heard my reader says this to me because I cannot even schedule a meeting with the person in charge of the disabilities office to talk about accommodations for next semester. And I thought it was totally inappropriate for the person in charge of the disabilities office to be meeting or talking to my professor without my permission or talking to me about it first. And my professor had something personal happen to her this week, so I thought that hearing from the person in charge of the disabilities office was the last thing she needed this week.

Since I really did not want to take the time to smooth things over with my professor and call out the disabilities office afterwards, I thought the best way for me to handle this situation was to see if I could be a part of the meeting between the disabilities office and my professor. However, when I got to the disabilities office, I was told that there was no meeting between the person in charge of the disabilities office and my professor. So not only is my reader not willing to talk to me when she has a problem, but apparently she has now provided me with incorrect information that only caused more confusion and frustration for me.

What I really need to do is to be able to talk with the person in charge of the disabilities office in person to try and sort everything out. However, this is not an option because the only way I can communicate with this person is through email. However, writing emails is really tedious and time consuming for me, and I really do not have the time and energy to compose fifty million emails to this person when talking to them in person would be a more efficient means of communication. But right now I feel as though no one at the college understands me or has the ability and authority to help me. I am really mad and pissed off that no one seems to want to talk to me in regards to using a reader in class. It is like people are speaking for me and are totally disrespecting me.

So since no one really wants to talk to me, I feel like the best thing for me to do is to simply fire my reader from the disabilities office and somehow find my own reader so I can get through the rest of this class. But the problem is that I have absolutely no idea where to find a reader who is knowledgeable in science who is willing to work for free because I have absolutely no way to be able to pay a reader what they should be paid. I have absolutely no idea how to talk to the disabilities office to resolve this situation or set up accommodations for next semester when I cannot even set up a time to talk to the person who is in charge of the disabilities office.

I hate my science class. I hate my science professor. I hate the disabilities office. And now I hate my reader for my science class. However, dropping the class is simply not an option for me. So I am simply trying to do my best to make the best out of the situation so I can at least make it through the semester and pass my class. But this whole situation is just stressing me out and it would really be nice if I had someone who could help me figure out the best way to handle this situation and either help me communicate with people at my college or help me figure out a way to totally bypass the disabilities office altogether, which I am not sure is even possible with science and math classes.

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 11:42 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] Where Can I Turn For Some Help?

Hello. Don't worry. :-) I'm not here to tell you to attend the training center. First off, in terms of readers… The beautiful thing about your situation is that you go to college. That gives you options.
One option is to try to get someone from your class to help you. Someone from your class is already studying the same material, and if your schedules work, it could work very well for them to help you. They would be learning. And you wouldn't have to pay them. Another option might seem a bit silly, but it does work on college students. Sometimes, hiring a reader is a simple as offering to take them to lunch. Or get them a cup of coffee. Or something like that. But you definitely do not need your disabilities  Office to do that.
As for finding someone who can talk to disabilities office and advocate for you, I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that right now. My best suggestion would be to go to someone higher up in the administration. This can seem a bit scary, but I think it may be appropriate for your situation. 
When it comes to completing math and science classes, I am not certain. What I mean by this is that it depends. It really depends on what math or science classes you plan to take. If you would be willing to explore this a bit further, I would be willing to help you. I am a student who is manage to find both great success and joy from math and science classes at my university. If you have specific classes in mind that you would like to take, we could talk about  what you would need in terms of accommodations for those classes. If you are looking to find the easiest math and science classes that will require the least amount of accommodations, we could talk about that too. My number is posted at the bottom of this email. If you feel comfortable with this, why don't you give me a call in the next week or so, and we can talk about it? That is a conversation that is best had in person in my opinion. Others may disagree with me, and you may find someone who you find will be more helpful, but I am absolutely willing to help! Because believe me, I know what it is to not have the accommodations you need and science classes.
Good luck!
Kennedy

Kennedy Stomberg 
(218)295-2391 

> On Oct 20, 2016, at 9:02 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> So the semester I thought would actually turn out well has just started taking a horrible turn for the worsts. I need some help in figuring out how to find a new reader that is not connected to the disabilities office despite the fact that I do not have any money. I also need help in figuring out my accommodations for my classes next semester. And I need help figuring out how I can find someone to help me communicate with the disabilities office.
> 
> I really hate being a blind student who has other disabilities in addition to my blindness. I have no idea how the hell to keep up my grades for this semester without going completely insane. And I honestly have no idea how the hell I am ever going to be able to complete my science and math classes so that I can actually get my degree.
> 
> I know the NFB does not help individual cases like mine, so if anyone has any ideas as to where I could find a person I could actually talk to who might be able to help me figure some of this stuff out, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you. I really wish I had known that I was going to be losing what little support I receive from the disabilities office in the middle of the semester. It has turned into a mess that is too complicated for me.
> 
> But please do not tell me that attending an NFB training center is the answer for me as I do not have the money for that either.
> 
> Thanks,
> Elizabeth
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