[Nfb-science] looking for advice from scientists with declining vision

Sun Aug 2 20:27:03 UTC 2015

Hello Amy,

I am sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having these days. I think I can safely say these are the issues we as blind individuals face everyday in the classroom and work place. Unfortunately as you pointed out there is a finite amount of of steps we can take ourselves to gather as much information as possible, but in the end we never really can accommodate ourselves well enough to truly understand the material being presented. To work through some of these issues in the classroom I have used some of these methods to make sure I can get as much information from what is being presented as possible.
• Ask for the slides ahead of time. If you are attending a seminar or conference you might be able to talk with the presenter to have he or she email them to you after the event or before. 
• Record the lecture using a tool such as Audio Note on the iDevices which will allow you to record the lecture while making notes in the note pad with time stamps allowing you to jump to that point in the lecture. For example you would be able to make a note to yourself telling you to make sure to ask about what was on this slide, or to review this concept further.
• Take notes for your own understanding. I am sure i am not telling you anything new here as you are far a head of me in your experience but some times it helps to take notes of your own to layout what you did understand, and did not understand so you can ask better questions for clarification following the presentation.
• There is really no substitute for the human eye or ability to interpret visual information today, so when it comes to understanding images, circuits, graphs, or models the best way I know of is to sit with someone you know understands the visual model and have them explain it. you seem to have a good network in place which allows you to have someone explain things to you. Another method is to have it printed out on an embosser capable of embossing graphics and you can sit and explore it with your hands if that is an option for you.

If you would like more information on technology specifically you can ask I am sure there is a lot of people with awesome technology, but if you are looking for methods of obtaining this information this is what I have to do every semester. I am a Software Engineering student and I am presented with code, circuits, graphs, and images all the time and when all said and done I spend more time, get less useful information, and I am expected to produce the same final product. 

Good luck and I hope you find a way that works for you because we need more blind STEM researchers out there not less. 

Go Devils!

Bryan Duarte
ASU Software Engineering
QwikEyes CEO

> On Aug 2, 2015, at 7:44 AM, Amy Bower via Nfb-science <nfb-science at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi All - 
> 
> On this list, there is mostly discussion of educational opportunities for
> students who are blind or VI in the STEM disciplines. And I think this is
> entirely appropriate and as perhaps it should be. I myself spend some time
> trying to provide mentoring through my OceanInsight program. But we seem to
> spend less time on the problems of adult scientists like myself who are
> losing vision. These folks face different challenges since, if they are like
> me, they were trained in science with mostly normal vision, and are now
> trying to make adjustments to the way they do science with less or nearly no
> vision.  I'm finding it pretty difficult as a research scientist with a very
> busy career to find the time to learn the technologies and skills that an
> aspiring blind student will be learning now, for example, braille, MathML,
> etc. And then there are the issues for which there are not yet decent
> technologies for, such as reading and interpreting graphics, learning about
> new techniques and ideas at professional meetings, etc.
> 
> I just returned from a small professional meeting (about 50 people) where
> all this hit home to me. Most of the 4-day meeting comprised 20-minute talks
> by the participants, all using PowerPoint slides. Among the presentations
> were about half that I was truly interested in, to the point where I was
> willing to sit and listen as hard as I could to get the point without being
> able to see the slides. I think I managed to get useful information in these
> cases. But the other half, for which I was less familiar, it didn't matter
> how hard I tried to listen, I could not get the gist without seeing the
> slides. I spent a lot of that time bored, or checking my e-mail or getting
> depressed about how inaccessible this all was. In retrospect, I should have
> studied the agenda more carefully in advance and removed myself for the
> truly "out there" talks to do something else, or just brought my laptop and
> worked on something else during those talks. I guess I kept hoping that I
> would be able to learn something from the spoken words.
> 
> Anyway, this is just one long-winded example of the struggles I'm feeling.
> It didn't help my mood that every meal was a buffet! I don't think I need to
> say more about that!
> 
> I want to continue to do what I do, for my sake (I do still enjoy some parts
> of it) and to show young people that it can be done. But I must admit that
> some of the joy has ebbed away as I have to continually find new coping
> methods. I recently found another scientist in my field and on my floor who
> has more or less chosen early retirement but who is very smart and does
> similar work to help me with graphics. She sometimes writes descriptions or
> we sit and talk about what is on the screen. That helps, but it is still a
> work in progress. I also have a research assistant who is great at covering
> many vision intensive tasks, as well as an IT support person who helps keep
> Jaws and Magic and other adaptive software up-to-date and working on my
> computer platforms. My employer has been fantastic in providing a high level
> of support, and for that I'm grateful. But I guess I'm still feeling the
> loss of the way I was trained to do science and the way I've done it for 20+
> years and wondering if the "new way", whatever that is, will be as
> fulfilling, not to mention as successful so that I can continue to obtain
> extramural funding (I'm in a soft money position).
> 
> I would be very pleased to hear from others in a similar situation about
> what has worked and what hasn't, and how they dealt with ever-changing
> vision (I have RP plus macular degeneration, with a small sliver of some
> vision at the moment).
> 
> Thanks a lot. Happy to hear from anyone on or offline.
> 
> -Amy B.
> 
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> Dr. Amy S. Bower
> 
> Senior Scientist
> 
> Department of Physical Oceanography
> 
> Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
> 
> Woods Hole,  MA  02543  USA
> 
> v:  508-289-2781
> 
> f:  508-457-2181
> 
> c:  508-564-3663
> 
> e:  abower at whoi.edu <mailto:abower at whoi.edu> 
> 
> www:  http://www.whoi.edu/scientist/abower
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> 
> 
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