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

Ashley Bramlett bookwormahb at earthlink.net
Sat Oct 22 05:17:07 UTC 2016


Elizabeth,

Sorry to hear things are not working out. I've been through many challenges 
at school, but none like this one. If you'd like to discuss this off list, 
let me know.

It sounds like the science professor is not accomodating you.
Take some time to relax.
Can you talk to the coordinator via phone? I agree that composing long 
emails going back and forth is not real productive. Its not only time 
consuming, but email can often be mis understood. It also zaps your energy. 
I've tried that in the past, and it is hard to do especially when you are 
upset about things and emotions can run high.
I don't understand why you cannot meet them to sort it out. You have a right 
to discuss your accommodations with them; that is what they are paid to do. 
If there is a schedule conflict or something like that, then do it via 
phone. Another idea is you can email the coordinator and request a meeting. 
Give them several time slots that might work for you so they can pick one 
and simply email you back with a time. I believe it is essential to discuss 
it with someone in that office. After all, they hired and are paying this 
reader.

I've had similar feelings about  disability support service, dss, assigned 
readers.
Not all of them have been very good and done their jobs of taking notes and 
helping me, but I have not had the issue you experienced.
I also have had bad readers for exams and wish I can pick my own. But for 
exams, I'm not allowed to use my own readers; it has to be assigned by the 
school.

If you need  a reader for outside class work, like reading texts, you can 
advertise for readers. They can be compensated by you taking them to lunch 
or exchanging other favors. I've advertised and hired my own readers, but I 
have the means to do it from my parents.

However, hiring a reader for class is much harder. Most colleges require you 
to use a reader that they assign for you to go to class and read quizzes and 
exams. I cannot offer a suggestion for that one.
For in class activities, I thought lab work was done in groups. I would 
think your group would be able to describe the activity to you. Can you 
complete the paperwork at home or bring a laptop to class to complete it 
electronically?

For quizzes and exams, I agree that other students reading it would not 
work.
Can you work out another way with the professor? Some ideas are to take it 
outside class at a testing center if the school has one. Another idea is to 
have someone from the department read you the exam. In universities, they 
have teaching assistants, TAs, often. But I think you are at a community 
college so if that is the case, they would not  have a TA.
Maybe you can complete the  exam in the professor's office? Quizzes are 
often short and have 10 questions or less.
I would think the professor could take a little time after class and give 
you the quiz orally.

I hope something can be worked out.

Ashley


-----Original Message----- 
From: Elizabeth Mohnke via NABS-L
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2016 7:53 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Elizabeth Mohnke
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Where Can I Turn For Some Help?

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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> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> NABS-L:
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