[stylist] More on blindness

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

She kept urging me to take the class as an audit and not for credit
because she was insistant that she would have to fail me, and that would
show up on my permanent record. She actually told me this. The more I'm
told not to do something, the more I'm discouraged, the more likely I'm
going to do it; just ask my parents, LOL!

Bridgit
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:59:32 -0500
From: "Lynda Lambert" <llambert at zoominternet.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness
	field
Message-ID: <BCFCA9DD82594B369AFE4E08C7267966 at Lambert>
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Bridget,
This is so unprofessional for a professor to tell a student that they
cannot 
take a class they are teaching. Instead, she needed to sit down and find
out 
how she could HELP YOU to realize your potential in her class. I had a
blind 
student take my Drawing and Writing in Salzburg Class one summer - it
was my 
job, in my view, to find out what we needed to do to help her get
through 
the course. In fact, our whole class helped her do it. They took turns 
working with her in the classroom and out on our daily excursions - and
I 
had never asked them to do this. We all worked together for her. We had
a 
number of problems that made us realize her difficulties, when she was 
denied entrance into some major places we visited - we all waited it out
as 
I kept dealing with the powers there - and it took over an hour and many

people coming to talk with me, before we all gained entrance into the
Doge's 
Palace in Venice. They were determined a guide dog was NOT going in, and
we 
were determined that our student and the guide dog WAS going in - and we

finally did. But they put a patrol on to follow me and the student - it
was 
very trying - we were looked at like we were going to destroy their
palace.

You are such a good role model, Bridget, that reflects what
determination 
and patience can do for you. You took it all in stride, and you made it 
through - despite the professor who was not very helpful. Honestly, she
was 
frightened of you and she did not know how to get out of it, but she
tried 
anyway. I can imagine the groaning she was doing to her colleagues, too.

I had another student who had a debilitating disease - she had a helper
dog, 
was in an electric wheelchair, was on oxygen, and had to have a nurse 
standing by at all times. I moved our entire class to another building
so we 
could have her in our class - and I had her in more than one class. She
is a 
brilliant young woman, and she never missed a beat in getting anything
done. 
She could have had a dozen good excuses as to why she could not do my 
classes, but she never neglected anything. Even with her difficulties 
breathing, she delivered her own papers orally - I would never have
expected 
her to do this, but she did it. It was one of the highlights of my
course, 
to have her there. The other students loved her. Courageous peole do not

whine about their circumstances or make excuses - they meet the
challenges, 
I have found.  You are one of those people.
Lynda