[BlindMath] my personal assurance

Sat Sep 9 15:14:03 UTC 2017

Sabra, you yourself quoted Jonathan as saying that his article was motivated
by your negative experience. That is quite different from saying he wrote an
article about you. That article was not about you. But it was intended to
help blind students avoid negative experiences such as you have had. 

John

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sabra
Ewing via BlindMath
Sent: Saturday, September 9, 2017 7:57 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sabra Ewing <sabra1023 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] my personal assurance

I just found this when I was looking for the message I'm about to show you.
I was going to post it on another thread where Jonathan says not to assert
on a public forum that he wrote an article about me, but I'll put it here so
as not to clutter up that one. he wants everyone to think I am crazy, but
you will see in the following message that he says my negative experience
was a major source of inspiration for the article he and his friend wrote.
here is the message.

Preston,

Sabra doesn't know it and I've not ever shared it explicitly in public
before now, but her negative experiences and their ongoing airing via this
list were a major source of inspiration for the article Theodor and I wrote.
We believe that there is no reason for a student to fail in statistics
courses due to their blindness, because there are ways  to address the
seemingly numerous access barriers. We felt that we needed to be the ones to
write the article because we've been through more statistics courses than
most blind people, we've made it work for us, and now we're both teaching
statistics in those same settings. Demonstrating our own personal successes
offers evidence of the value for the sighted world getting off their chuffs
and helping other blind students. We wrote an article as that is the way to
reach most academics, speaking to them as equals; we present some
challenges, but we were not explicit in challenging them by demanding they
do more. We preferred to show them how  they could be helping and let their
moral compass guide them from that point onwards. 

The success of a blind person in any discipline will almost certainly rely
on the successful interaction between student and teacher at a level not
necessary for the majority of students in the classroom who just so happen
to be sighted. I accept that in some disciplines this interaction is fairly
minimal, but in STEM disciplines, we need to put in the extra (often hard)
yards. Those efforts will be made all the easier if people do share their
positive experiences, but we ought not lose sight of the more sobering
reality that comes when things don't go so well.

I'm pleased you reached out to the list, as I have been pleased so many
times over the last ten years, by students, their teachers (less often I
admit) and disability support staff. In general, I think you will find list
participants are willing to help and constructive; yes, you might hear some
things that you don't want to hear or look a little daunting but the bad
news will usually come with positive suggestions, advice or strategies based
on real experience of success.

Sabra Ewing

> On Aug 11, 2017, at 5:53 PM, Godfrey, Jonathan via BlindMath
<blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello all.
> 
> I have never written a case study about anyone, with or without their
permission, aside from the joint writings by me and Theodor Loots which
reflect on our own experiences.
> 
> Any comment taken from the publicly available archive of this list was
attributed to the author after seeking their permission. If I couldn't track
that person down then the quote was never used. I have retained a copy of
that permission as part of my records for the relevant publication, just in
case an editor asked me for proof.
> 
> As an academic who cares deeply about his discipline (nothing unusual 
> in that) and as a blind person who seeks the best for all blind 
> people, I will continue to use the best resources I have available to 
> make STEM a more enjoyable and successful educational experience. I, 
> like many others in the STEM disciplines, feel a that we have failed 
> our students if they do not finish their course with  a successful 
> outcome. For me (and again) many of my colleagues, success is not just 
> about a grade at the end of the course that indicates some degree of 
> understanding of the content being examined. We contend with a large 
> number of students who not have a positive attitude towards our 
> subjects, although perhaps it is the compulsory mathematics and 
> statistics courses that create much of this negativity. My greatest 
> successes as a teacher come when a student with a negative attitude is 
> turned onto a subject so much that they continue taking courses in 
> that subject. I admit that that this is pret
 ty rare but it has happened for me.
> 
> I am encouraged by the contributions of many list participants who 
> show me a different way to do something or present their positive 
> attitude to life as a blind person; I am also motivated to do what I 
> can by reading the frustrations expressed by people who can benefit 
> from my help. That's why I have remained on this list for more than 
> ten years. I still see the occasional post come from good people who 
> have been on the list even longer. As a consequence, I attribute this 
> list as a major factor in my personal and professional development
> 
> Have a great weekend everyone,
> Jonathan
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