[NOBE-L] seeking advice around student teaching issues

[Dennis Miller]

All the responses you have received are spot-on so there isn't much I can add to what has already been said but I did want to make one point that really jumped out at me.  

I find it very hard to believe that an institution as prestigious as Berkley College  Of Music hasn't had a blind person in a similar situation as yours.  Did they require them to have a sighted assistant?  I should think that if that were the case the NFB would have heard about it and taken steps to rectify the situation.  Is there any sort of disability resource office there?  This almost sounds like an arbitrary decision to me and I just can't help but wonder if this has happened before and how it was dealt with.
Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: NOBE-L [mailto:nobe-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Precious Perez via NOBE-L
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2021 1:41 PM
To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Precious Perez
Subject: [NOBE-L] seeking advice around student teaching issues

Hello,
I hope this message finds you well. I am reaching out to seek  advice around student teaching issues that I am having currently. I am in my final semester at Berkeley College of music, and my final requirement is my student teaching practicum. I started meeting with everyone involved on the team in May to finalize my accommodations, and I was told that I would need an assistant in order to be able to complete some of the visual requirements for assessment as far as practicum goes in order to get my licensure via the state department and their guidelines. when I asked why I needed another person with me in the classroom, they said that there were some things that needed to be assessed visually, and that’s why I would need it. Since then, there have been threads of emails back-and-forth, and I’ve helped vet  some candidates. At the end of July, we vetted a candidate that was promising, and I assumed all was well. At the beginning of August, this month, my second placement could no longer support me, so they needed to find another. When I asked about how to proceed, they said that they were doing their best to ensure that I was covered and that I would have more information soon. It is now almost the end of the first week for the school district that my elementary placement is in, and the week before the Berklee semester starts. I still have no information after sending a follow-up email requesting that I get information about my placements, my schedule, and the assistant. I found out today that the assistant I had helped  vet last month took another job, and the accessibility department thought that this had been communicated in earlier threads of emails. I was asked to conduct another interview tomorrow afternoon, still with no knowledge of a schedule or any information despite the assurance that this is their priority and they are doing everything they can. At this point, I feel that if they were doing everything they could, this wouldn’t be happening right now. I’m worried that the longer I wait And allow myself to keep getting the runaround when  I ask for information, the longer it’s going to take for them to solidify somebody, thus, delaying my timeline for everything. I don’t think that I need an assistant to be able to complete all of this, and I don’t think it should be required, but I get the sense that they will tell me that I cannot start anything without my assistant if I try to rescind the accommodation. I can’t do anything on my own without their go ahead Given the chain of command and the process for completing requirements, so I’m stuck. I wanted to reach out to this list in the hopes that other blind educators might have some wisdom to offer. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to hear back soon.

All best,

Precious
Sent from my iPhone
_______________________________________________
NOBE-L mailing list
NOBE-L at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nobe-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NOBE-L:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nobe-l_nfbnet.org/millerdennis893%40gmail.com