[nabs-l] Another Questions about Professors

Fri Oct 21 23:50:39 UTC 2016

Carl,
Excellent advice. Talking to him during office hours is a good idea.
I like your idea of bringing in some studies too. But I'd do that after 
speaking to him and if the conversation warrants it.

I've not had this problem. Sure, sometimes professors say I'm amazing or 
admirable, but they do not do it all the time or act patronizing about it.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Karl Martin Adam via NABS-L
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2016 7:34 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Karl Martin Adam
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Another Questions about Professors

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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