[NFB-Science] Advice on Accommodations for Nursing Student

[Kennedy Stomberg]

I am so sorry you’re having to deal with this! I’m afraid I cannot answer all of your questions. However, I do remember having a conversation with someone about making syringes more accessible, so you actually would not need assistance with that. Some thing about making a little tactile notches or markings or something? I’m afraid I don’t remember the details. Can anyone weigh in here? Maybe we can at least solve that problem.

Kennedy Stomberg, M.S. she/her/hers
Ph.D. Student and Graduate Assistant, Developmental Neurolingistics Lab 
The Graduate Center | City University of New York
365 5th Ave. New york, NY 10016 
(708) 801-8498   

> On Sep 27, 2022, at 2:04 PM, Jenn Han via NFB-Science <nfb-science at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi friends,
> 
> Happy Tuesday! Hope this email finds you well.
> 
> My name is Jenn and I am a current nursing student in a program within
> California. Because of my legal blindness, I requested a few
> accommodations to aid in my training, which I have listed below.
> 
> 1. Magnification devices
> 2. Visual assistance from a fully sighted individual -- this is
> particularly useful when filling up syringes, because I cannot identify the
> small markings myself, among other examples.
> 
> However, my department chair essentially denied any use of assistance from
> another person,  stating that this goes against the academic policy of
> students conducting these skills independently. I stated that it takes no
> skill to read off some numbers or help a student see a syringe marking, and
> that I personally would be conducting the skills, drawing up medications,
> etc., and only need help to know where the syringe marking is.
> Unfortunately, I am getting a lot of resistance with this specific
> accommodation request. They said I am only allowed to rely on my own
> devices. It has been frustrating because simply using magnification devices
> is not a universal solution to the issue at hand; in the real clinical
> setting, I very well may need assistance to perform a procedure that is
> visually-demanding and require the help of someone fully sighted to aid
> where magnification devices cannot be of great help. In addition, it is
> unrealistic to assume magnification devices will work all the time,
> especially because my vision gets strained after prolonged use of such
> devices.
> 
> I am unsure how to proceed forward, and would really appreciate advice or
> to be pointed in the right direction of someone in the NFB who can help.
> 
> Thanks so much for your time. You can reach me at my email:
> jenniferhan17 at gmail.com
> 
> Best,
> Jenn Han
> *She / Her / Hers*
> UCLA 2021 | Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology
> -- 
> Jenn Han
> University of California, Los Angeles
> Class of 2021 | Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology
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