[stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness field

Tue Feb 19 21:43:56 UTC 2013

This is something I really know is true. Opportunities come for everyone, 
but sometimes we look around and find excuses to let them pass by. I say, 
when you see an opportunity, GRAB it QUICK.
Lynda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness field

> Julie,
> My guess is that you would find opportunities to grow. I think they're
> always there for everyone. It's up to us to take advantage of them.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 2:37 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness field
>
> Linda,
>
> It sounds worse than it was.  Yes, everything I recounted is entirely
> accurate and true.  I didn't make any of it up or exaggerate it.
> However it was a long while ago.  I rarely think about it now.  I have 
> seen
> both college professors in the years since.  We laugh about it now,
> realizing how everyone had made a much bigger deal out of things than was
> necessary.  that's part of the process though.  You live and you learn. 
> He
> learned something about blindness and I learned a lot about myself.  I was
> very mad then, but now I feel mostly gratitude for the experience.  I look
> back on those times with fondness.  What doesn't kill us makes us 
> stronger.
> I often wonder what sort of person I would be if I was never presented 
> with
> opportunities to grow.
>
> Julie
> On 2/19/2013 11:44 AM, Lynda Lambert wrote:
>> My gosh, the horror stories here when it comes to being allowed into
>> college classes! Where I taught, our philosophy was that we were there
>> to "serve" our students - and that meant figuring out what they need
>> and getting them where they wanted to go with their academics and even
>> outside of classes. It was no unusual for me to be speaking with
>> troubled students at 3 am sometimes.
>>
>> I never checked on any student's physical abilities when they signed
>> up for my classes. I took them all over Europe, Puerto Rico, Arizona,
>> and on the campus in my courses - yes, there were problems and
>> sometimes big ones. But, we always worked through them and things
>> turned out very good.
>>
>> I had many handicapped students over the years, and it is the
>> profesors J O B to work with the student to find out how to best serve
>> them. Most all of them graduated and many went on to higher education
>> after their undergrad. work was completed. At our college, the student
>> was our highest priority. We were educating them to be "servant
>> leaders" themselves.
>>
>>
>> Lynda
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
>> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 11:45 AM
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness
>> field
>>
>>
>>> Linda,
>>>
>>> You are awesome!  We need more college professors like you!
>>>
>>> I had a college instructor for Biology and Canoeing who did not want
>>> me in his classes no way no how.  Before I could take the Biology
>>> class I had to attend this meeting with the school administration,
>>> the instructor and my rehab counselor.  It was awful.  The school
>>> listed all the ways it was going to be a problem.  I and my rehab
>>> counselor tried to explain some techniques that I could use to make
>>> it work.  Finally I had to put my foot down.  I told them I was
>>> taking Biology so we could spend our time productively or not that
>>> was their choice, but taking the class was not up for debate.  There
>>> was a moment of silence while they absorbed that.   Of course I did
>>> take the class and got an A.
>>>
>>> then came the PE class I wanted to take which was a weekend canoeing
>>> trip, with the same instructor.  We didn't have to have the big
>>> meeting this time, but I did find myself in his classroom having a
>>> heated discussion about the fact that I was really taking this class.
>>> the instructor told me everything that could possibly go wrong and a
>>> detailed list of every canoeing accident that had ever occurred in
>>> the past 20 years, complete with the blood and guts Gorey details.  I
>>> think my rehab counselor did some behind the scenes letter writing
>>> and "discussions" with the school administration.  the next time I
>>> spoke with the instructor he had an entirely different attitude.
>>>
>>> The next year I took a backpacking class with a different instructor.
>>> I'm not sure if he was afraid of the consequences of telling me no or
>>> if he was genuinely okay with me, but we didn't have any meetings or
>>> any retelling of helicopter rescues of mamed hikers.
>>>
>>> I think though that those experiences of denial  in the early years
>>> of my blindness taught me a lot.  I learned to control my temper, to
>>> channel my anger into productivity, to never take no for an answer,
>>> to get support when I needed it and to believe in myself even when
>>> others didn't.
>>>
>>> Julie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/19/2013 9:59 AM, Lynda Lambert wrote:
>>>> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bridgit Pollpeter"
>>>> <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
>>>> To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 9:34 AM
>>>> Subject: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness
>>>> field
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Back at university, for an elective, I wanted to take a stage
>>>>> make-up class. The instructor had been my Intro to Theatre prof,
>>>>> and as a final project, we had to write a scene, then the class
>>>>> voted on which scenes to produce. Small groups were put together
>>>>> and assigned a scene. I really wanted to direct my scene, which was
>>>>> one of the scenes chosen. I had to convince her that I could direct
>>>>> even though I can't see.
>>>>> She was
>>>>> so sure my *visual impairment* would cause too many problems to
>>>>> effectively direct anything. I gave her detailed ideas I already
>>>>> had formulated. She let me direct but I was the only director
>>>>> assigned an assistant director. I spoke with my assistant
>>>>> explaining the situation, and all I might need from her was to make
>>>>> sure my actors were in deed following directions when it came to
>>>>> physical movement and otherwise I was good. I knew how I wanted the
>>>>> set, what music to use, how the characters should look, and
>>>>> considering the scene was one I wrote, I knew how I wanted it
>>>>> performed. My scene was one of the favorites by the class.
>>>>>
>>>>> So anyway, when I decided to sign up for her stage make-up class,
>>>>> she found out I had registered and emailed me stating we needed to
>>>>> talk. I knew she wouldn't want me in the class, and during our
>>>>> meeting, she proceeded to tell me how difficult the class would be
>>>>> and why I couldn't be able to handle. The sighted lady who had
>>>>> never been blind was telling me why I couldn't do it. I calmly
>>>>> explained how I could and that I already was pretty good with
>>>>> make-up. She told me that she would have to judge my work the same
>>>>> as others, and I said I wouldn't expect anything less. She said I
>>>>> would have no perspective, to which I added that having had sight
>>>>> before, it gave me a little advantage to understand things such as
>>>>> creating wrinkles or bruises. I even networked with blind actors
>>>>> just to get more ideas on how to do things nonvisually. The prof
>>>>> still wanted me to drop the course.
>>>>>
>>>>> I took it and was grudgingly given an A, smirk.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bridgit
>>>>> Message: 14
>>>>> Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:47:21 -0500
>>>>> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.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: <53130C8156D84A26B96DD5692BF79D0C at OwnerHP>
>>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>>>>
>>>>> Lynda,
>>>>> Yes, there are many marginalized kids and adults in this world, and
>>>>> with the recession more than before. It is enfuriating when you
>>>>> think of the "privileged" and how much they take for granted and
>>>>> how they have insullation against their own short-comings and bad
>>>>> decisions. Good for your daughter trying to help them.
>>>>>
>>>>> By the time I got to junior high, they were asking kids to choose
>>>>> either college prep or commercial as a course of study to pursue
>>>>> starting in the eighth grade. I chose college prep, but I had an
>>>>> encounter with a fellow 7th grader that really riled me up. She was
>>>>> the daughter of a Lafayette College professor. She came to school
>>>>> on the morning we were to make our decisions final and sought me
>>>>> out. She explained, in what I thought was a rather haughty manner,
>>>>> that her father was a professor and that she discussed my situation
>>>>> with him at dinner the night before. She knew I wanted to take
>>>>> college prep. She said that the entire family had agreed that it
>>>>> would be a mistake for me to consider going to college; there
>>>>> simply was no way I could do the work. I wish I had punched her,
>>>>> but alas, I didn't.
>>>>> Donna
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Writers Division web site
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>>>>> minternet.net
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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