[Ohio-Talk] FW: COMS 4110 Final Reflection Paper

Tue Dec 10 17:46:32 UTC 2019

Wow! That’s awesome. Nice paper! You must be a proud professor!

On Tue, Dec 10, 2019 at 12:03 PM Smith, JW via Ohio-Talk <
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> I am grading final papers in one of my classes and I thought that I would
> share the one below with all of you.
>
> I think that it speaks for itself if you choose to read it and I really
> appreciated the honesty and openness of this student.
>
> Stay warm if you can.
>
> jw
>
> Dr. j webster Smith
> School of Communication Studies
> Scripps College of Communication
> Ohio University
> Schoonover Center
> 20 E. Union St,
> Athens, OH 45701
> smithj at ohio.edu<mailto:smithj at ohio.edu>
> T: 740-593-4838
>
> You should never look down on someone unless you're giving them a helping
> hand up.
>
> Check out my latest book here<
> https://www.amazon.com/Back-Bus-Front-Classroom-Thirty-Year/dp/0578579677/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=from+the+back+of+the+bus+jw+smith&qid=1570358199&sr=8-1>
> and here<
> https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-the-back-of-the-bus-to-the-front-of-the-classroom-jw-smith/1133805213?ean=9780578579672
> >
>
> Check out some of my music here<https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/JWSmith1>
> and here<https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/jwsmith22>
>
> From: Hrutkay, Heather <hh044316 at ohio.edu>
> Sent: Monday, December 9, 2019 8:50 PM
> To: Smith, JW <smithj at ohio.edu>
> Subject: COMS 4110 Final Reflection Paper
>
>
> Heather Hrutkay
>
> 12/09/2019
>
> COMS 4110
>
> Final Reflection
>
>
> For my paper I will be comparing this class to a previous class I took in
> high school. In high school, I took a disabilities class that had several
> chapters involving blindness and deafness. I came into COMS 4110 already
> having a basic understanding of both blindness and deafness. I will admit I
> went into this class thinking that there wasn't anything more I could learn
> about these two disabilities. I was completely wrong about that assumption.
> This COMS 4110 class taught by J.W Smith truly taught me about blindness
> and deafness. I will be specifically talking about blindness and the
> comparison of this class to my previous high school class. I decided to
> write my paper on this class as a whole because it was this class that
> helped teach me in ways I've never been taught before.
>
> Let me do a quick background of my high school disabilities class. The
> class was called Human Behavior. The general theme of the class was
> centered around Humans and the way we behave with ourselves and with
> others. We discussed mental illness, personality disorders, mental
> disabilities, and physical disabilities. For the sake of this paper, I will
> just focus on the chapters that we discussed physical disabilities, and
> even more specifically blindness. The blindness section of that class
> involved the same material that we discussed in COMS 4110. However, the way
> the material was taught was very different. The main takeaway was similar
> to our COMS class, be respectful to those that are blind, help them if they
> ask you too, their disability does not define them, they are more.
>
> Where my high school class differed from our COMS class is that the
> professor had sight. I'm not saying that since she had sight she shouldn't
> teach about blindness however it wasn't the same as having a blind
> professor teach about blindness. Having an abled bodied teacher teach about
> being differently-abled is in no way comparable to that of having a
> differently-abled teacher talk personally about being differently-abled. I
> feel very grateful for having the opportunity to take COMS 4110 with J.W
> Smith. I am able-bodied and have sight. Many people with sight won't admit
> it but subconsciously there are assumptions that we have for the blind. For
> example, at the beginning of our COMS class, I was scared to say anything
> in fear of offending J.W Smith. I remember telling my friends that I had a
> blind professor and I almost felt disrespectful calling him blind. This is
> a common subconscious thing that abled bodied people have about the
> differently-abled. However, J.W Smith taught us that it can be
> uncomfortable to talk about because it's not being talked about enough as
> it should. J.W Smith taught us to celebrate those who are differently-abled
> and to be their allies. "I absolutely do not mind when people ask me
> questions; in fact, I applaud them for it. Often, this is a nice first step
> toward getting to know me and understanding how I do things" (9 Things
> About Blindness Article).
>
> Another way in which the two classes differed was guest speakers. In my
> high school class, the closest thing we had to guest speakers was watching
> TED talks which still helped us connect personally with someone who is
> blind but there was still a disconnect since it was only interacting with
> them through a computer screen. In COMS 4110 we had actual guest speakers
> that would join us in our classroom. The two guest speakers we had during
> the blindness unit were a blind couple, Eric and Shelly Duffy. Eric and
> Shelly shared their raw and personal stories about being blind in a sighted
> world. These two truly captured my attention. It was that 45-minute class
> interaction with them that taught me by far so much more than my 5-month
> long high school class. Learning isn't having a teacher read from a
> powerpoint, learning is by other's personal stories and experiences. Shelly
> talked about the obstacles she had to face being a blind mother. For
> someone like me who has sight I never thought about being blind and raising
> children before, and the backlash she received by others questioning and
> doubting her ability to be a mother. Eric talked about Aira which is a
> service for the blind and visually impaired. It allows Eric to use the
> camera on his phone and an Aira agent sees what he sees and talks him
> through whatever situation and environment he is in. Hearing the Aira agent
> describe in-depth what the class looked like to Eric was refreshing to know
> that technological advancements are being created to make those who are
> blind and visually impaired live more equally in a sighted world. Eric
> says, "I am even more amazed as I think about how much technology for the
> blind has changed over the years and thus how communications for the blind
> and the rest of the world have changed" (COMS 4110 text, Chapter 8 pg.142).
> Like I've stated many times already in this paper there is a subconscious
> ignorance that abled body people have about those who are differently-abled
> and the only way to destroy this ignorance is by talking about it. Having
> guest speakers helped make it more comfortable to talk about.
>
> The last way in which the two classes differed was the in-class
> activities. My class in high school was strictly taught by the teacher
> standing in front of the class and us students sitting in our seats. What I
> enjoyed from COMS 4110 was the in-class activities, more specifically the
> blind simulation activity. In this activity we wore blindfolds and J.W
> Smith guided us as we walked around campus. This activity will resonate
> with me forever, and I know many other students in the class can agree.
> Being someone who has all 5 senses I learned that I take that for granted.
> Having a sense taken away was extremely difficult. We were paired up with
> another student who was our guide. I had never talked to the person I was
> paired up with before, a complete stranger. I had to trust a complete
> stranger with my life which is something I've never had to do before. I was
> only blindfolded for roughly 15 minutes and couldn't wait to take the
> blindfold off. There again is the subconscious ignorance that those with
> sight have about blindness. I had the privilege to take the blindfold off.
> Everyone in that class needs to remember that we had the privilege to see
> again after that 15-minute activity. I believe that was J.W Smith's intent
> in doing that activity, for us sighted people to appreciate our sight and
> more importantly make us appreciate those who don't have sight. In a world
> that seems so negative and hateful and wants people to turn people against
> each other, we must be there for each other and be allies to those that
> society wants to categorizes as being lesser. If you ask me I will never
> have the strength of those who are differently-abled. This class helped me
> check my privilege and has made me more comfortable in using my voice to
> help stand up for equality for those differently-abled. So with all that
> being said, I want to thank you, J.W Smith, for teaching me in a way I have
> never been taught before, with the knowledge I will carry with me and in
> turn teach those I will meet.
>
>
>
>
>
> Work Cited:
>
> COMMS 4110 text: Chapter 8: The Future, the Blind and Technology by Eric
> Duffy
>
> "9 Baffling Questions I Get Asked as a Blind Person." Article by
> Hernandez, Caitlin.
>
>
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-- 
peace

Jessica Stover
jjstover at kent.edu
jessicastover10 at gmail.com