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

Tue Dec 10 20:35:16 UTC 2019

Thanks for sharing this.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 10, 2019, at 12:47 PM, Jessica Stover via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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
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