[blindkid] Readers in Middle & High School

Ashley Bramlett bookwormahb at earthlink.net
Mon Aug 24 17:28:36 UTC 2015


Hi Eric,

Excellent topic and question. I did not get reader experience until my 
senior year in high school and due to my college reading needs, I wish I had 
gotten it sooner.
In my case, I had a study period with my TVI instead of an elective.
I used this time to do some reading among other academic tasks.
My TVI was my reader. Ocasionally, outside class, my babysitter was a reader 
if my parents were out doing other things; mainly as a youth, my parents 
were readers.
I'm so impressed a parent is planning ahead as early as middle school. I use 
readers because it’s a practical way to look up scattered information such 
as if info I need is pages 5, 35, and 135 of a book. There are things a 
human reader can find much quicker than any piece of technology can. Melissa 
is right about it being efficient.



I think Melissa  gave some excellent pointers.
The source and funding of a reader will depend on when you need it.
If the reader is working with your kids in class to read in class handouts 
or describe videos, or pictures in print or a computer screen, etc, then I 
think the school has an obligation to provide and pay for a reader. A reader 
could be a paraprofessional like Melissa suggested,  another student in 
class, a higher level student who is a teacher's assistant, or even a parent 
of another student. Parents generally only come in and assist the class in 
elementary grades, so having a parent come in may feel awkward.

In high school,  they had some juniors and seniors who were teacher's 
assistants. This is middle school though you speak of.
The teaching assistants read some exams to me and served as readers and 
scribes.
But IMO a TA is a nice option if your school has it.

If the readers are outside class for homework or projects, then I think you 
will need to find and pay them on your own.
VR will not pay for readers. Your kids are teens.
My vr department will only pay readers for college level reading. Sorry to 
say, you won't convince vr to pay for readers if your kids are minors. Never 
heard it happen. And as Allison said, it may be a challenge even in college.
I am in VA btw and the department's policy is to pay readers by the semester 
and they reauthorize it every semester if you need it. You also have to be 
enrolled in classes before the process begins which is a bad thing as 
students cannot get readers before classes start. I did not use that system 
and paid out of pocket.
The school system will probably not pay for such readers. And  even if they 
did, would you really want them to be in on it? I don't think so. The school 
systems are controlling; they will not only set the amount they pay the 
reader which will likely be minimum wage, not enough money.
But, they will also controll who is a reader, what the reader can read, and 
how many hours the reader should be a reader. They have these rules because 
it is then their employee, not yours. If you hire a reader, you as a parent 
are the employer and your employee will do as you ask them to.

If you cannot afford paying them, then volunteers are an option.
Volunteers can be recruited from churches, civic organizations, public 
libraries, and even colleges if one is near you.
However, volunteers may try to fit it in their schedule rather than 
considering your needs first. Volunteers may not see it as a priority either 
if they are busy because they are just volunteering.

The following advice assumes you are hiring or recruiting a volunteer 
reader.
If the school does it, they will assign someone, probably a paraprofessional 
or other staff member to do the reading.

In selecting a reader, interview them. Your kids should be doing the 
interview if they feel comfortable and their communication skills are up to 
it.
You all can be informal about it, but do ask the potential reader good 
relevant questions.
Questions about  their work experience, what experience they have with the 
subject matter, what experience they have reading aloud or related skills, 
and goals are great questions.
Some example questions for interviewing a college student or high school 
reader.

What is your favorite subjects? Your major?
What is your experience reading aloud? If they have none, I ask something 
like, "have you done activities where you speak for long periods such as 
public speeches?"
What is your experience with online databases?
Why do you want to be a reader?

At the end and very importantly, have them read. Have them read a passage 
for the subject for which they will be a reader.
Most texts will include pictures; see how they describe those. You can plan 
ahead what you will have them do. You could look in the index and pick out 
something for them to look up. For instance, your American history text will 
have something on George Washington.
I've asked readers to read some; maybe 3-5 pages and look up something.
I also just ask them to find something in a chapter. I will know ahead of 
time what it is and where it is but do not tell them, other than stating the 
subject matter, such as something on cognitive behavior therapy to treat 
anxiety disorders.
I know the text, btw, because I use texts from prior semesters or print 
copies of texts I have on digital download.
This way, If the reader cannot find it or  has trouble, or even says  that 
is  not there in the text, I know that is not true.
Readers need to be efficient about skimming for headings and subheadings and 
bold words, so I test them on that time permitting by asking them to look up 
a subject matter or vocab word.

I also echo what Melissa said. Your child needs to know what to ask for to 
direct the reader.
To do this, think about what you would read if the text were accessible. 
Would you sit down to read chapter 1? Would you read a few paragraphs, and 
skip to the next section of the text?
My advice is to talk to your son what he will say to instruct the reader on. 
You as a parent can help by describing the layout of the text to get 
started. Eventually, he will understand the typical structures of books and 
magazines and will not need this. Some formatting is also brailled. So for 
those texts in braille, remind him to pay attention to the layout. For 
instance, titles can be centered in braille, bold words are indicated with 
dots 4 and 6, content pages list chapter names and subheadings, etc.
Texts are divided up well visually in headings, subheadings, and sub-sub 
headings usually. They have
vocabulary in bold and italics. They have little lovely margin definitions 
or other notes too. Oh, be advised about the ubiquitous use of tables and it’s 
the same in college. Its hard for new readers to read them, but I've finally 
developed some techniques over the years to guide readers in reading them.
Often, reading the whole table is not necessary, but reading the first 
columns might help depending on what you need.

I hope it all goes well. Sadly, my generation does not seem to use readers 
much. I really do not know how blind people survive though without readers, 
a good tool of the toolbox.
Like Allison though, I feel its very necessary. In college, you have tons of 
print sources and its not practical to scan them and databases for research 
have numerous accessibility challenges particularly Ebsco based ones; Ebsco 
is a vender.
There are also numerous printed formatted items which do not scan well 
including brochures, bills, advertisements and any handwriting.
So I'd need a reader for mail when I'm out on my own. I echo Allison's 
sentaments regarding forms. I always had my parents as readers for 
internships. Forms, forms, and more forms are the name of the game to do 
anything official ranging from visiting a doctor to applying to a job.
She is right as well about the inaccessibility of electronic forms and 
captuas.

As a young adult trying to figure out my career, I encounter many forms and 
other items I need a reader for. So, I believe it’s a valuable skill to 
cultivate early on.
Good luck!
Ashley
-----Original Message----- 
From: DrV via blindkid
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 2:38 AM
To: Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Cc: DrV
Subject: [blindkid] Readers in Middle & High School

Hi Again,
For those of you with reader experience for you middle & high school kids;
can you describe the logistics? Are most volunteers? Do you pay for then;
does the school district? What is the going rate for a paid reader?
I'm trying to get a sense of the spectrum.
Thanks
Eric
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