[humanser] Greetings

Mon Dec 8 02:50:08 UTC 2014

Kaiti,

I hear your concerns! I have a totally blind friend who went through 
problems as a music therapy student at a conservatory.
Feel free to give me your email address so we can connect and I'll tell you 
more.

He also was not accomodated and had a very unsupportive professor. He had 
trouble writing his treatment plans and was not helped to improve them among 
other issues. He found many of the music classes relying on software he 
could not use so his scribe ended up doing a lot of the work.

He gave up and changed his major to jazz studies.
But he may try again in grad school. He intends to use his music talents 
somehow.

I tried to find expressive therapists for him, but like in your boat, we 
found no drama, art, dance, or recreation therapists out there with degrees 
of blindness.

I share your sentaments that there are few if any
blind professionals in that growing field. So you are not alone in trying to 
track down professionals and hitting walls. All I can suggest is perhaps 
contacting the other blindness group just to network. ACB has a human 
service group too.

As far as the goal to work with kids in a hospital, as long as you don't 
have to examine visuals like ears, nose and throat, I think its doable.
Uh, why would you have to read monitors? Aren't we talking conscious 
patients? I would think the monitors would be up to the nurses or doctors, 
and I would also think the patients might be able to read anything urgent to 
you. Besides, I thought you had some vision, so wouldn't magnifying
be an option? You can check a pulse alright; you can also check other vital 
signs; they do have talking blood pressure machines and thermometers now.
So, I'm pretty sure you could do the job, but would not know unless I saw a 
job description.
Sometimes professors are not too open minded; if they cannot give you 
specific job duties that you cannot perform, I would not buy their position. 
They are just being closed minded or simply unaware of our capabilities. As 
I said before, there are definitely jobs which we cannot do, that are 
currently too visual to adapt, but many jobs are doable.

So keep pursuing your degree and I hope all works out.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Kaiti Shelton via humanser
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2014 9:19 PM
To: Marion Gwizdala ; Human Services Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [humanser] Greetings

Hi all,

I know I have not participated in discussion on this list for some
time now as I've been pretty busy with school and other NFB work, but
I would like to add my two cents for what it is worth.

As a student who is going into a wholistic profession (music therapy)
I see a huge need for inclusion in some sort of NFB division.  The
needs of those who wish to enter expressive art therapies, massage
therapy, recreation therapy, etc, are in very ;unique positions.  In
trying to figure out some of my own issues towards earning my degree,
I've had a significant amount of difficulty in tracking down blind
professionals in my field.  Those who have been tracked down are all
older, and have not been trained under the same standards which I am
being trained under, which are more rigorous and specific.  I also
have yet to meet any blind person, student or professional, in art
therapy, dance therapy, drama therapy, or recreation therapy.  In
fact, I don't know any professionals with disabilities in these fields
at all.  I also see that there are systemic issues at least in music
therapy with professors not understanding how to accommodate students
with disabilities in regards to the professional competencies we have
to abide by.  I can't speak for the qualifications of other expressive
therapy professions, but I wonder if these newer professions, which
were formed out of the desire to help people with disabilities by
non-disabled people who didn't think those who they served would
someday end up serving others in vulnerable populations, have this
problem in common.

This group has been a big support to me in figuring out things like
how to read client affect, how to address non-verbal communication and
silence (even though I didn't ask about it, that lengthy thread was
extremely useful to me), etc.  However, I sometimes feel like since
the group is primarily made up of psychologists, socialworkers, and
other mental health-specific professions and music therapy follows a
broader approach to treatment, some of the things I ask on here as
well as the music-specific groups are tricky for others to answer.  I
am completely in agreement that the mind, body, and spirit for those
who choose to be spiritual or religious are very connected, and I
anticipate continued membership in the Human Services Division, but I
do think forming a separate medical professionals division or one for
health care professionals which would include wholistic professions
would be a better fit for some of the issues that face people in these
fields.

For example, I really want to work in a pediatric hospital.  I love
kids, and being able to work with a wide variety of populations and be
flexible is truly exciting for me.  One of my professors isn't
convinced this will be possible for me, as I don't have the capability
of reading monitors.  I have told her I know how to take a pulse, and
could listen to breathing which is a very obvious indicator of
respiration rate as well as the person's state of alertness (they'll
sigh more or have slower breathing if they're tired), but she doesn't
seem convinced.  I'd love to see what others have done in this
situation while working in the medical setting.

I honestly don't know how many blind people are in the medical field
now, or who are in the wholistic therapies, but I think at least a
separate list should be formed for them if not a group or division.
It is quite possible that, especially for those in wholistic
professions, that people will find themselves in multiple groups and
divisions to address all their needs (E.G, Human Services, Performers
Division/Musicians Groups, and Health Care Professionals for a music
therapy student).

Just my thoughts.

On 12/7/14, Marion Gwizdala via humanser <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Doug,
>
> I believe the question is not whether to include the health
> professions on this list; rather it is whether to include them in the
> membership of the division. As per your message, though, the common
> challenges faced by both the mental & physical health professions are very
> similar. Both need access to Electronic Health Records, both need
> accessible
> professional examinations, and both need greater employment opportunities.
> I
> am of the opinion that the Division would be strengthened by including the
> physical health professions in our division. These professionals have no
> division to represent their needs at this time and blind people are
> underrepresented in the field. If there does come a time when the division
> has a sufficient number of those in the health professions, then it might
> make sense for them to form their own division, should this be in their
> best
> interest. This is what happened with the Rehabilitaition Counseling
> Division. It was once a part of the Human Services Division until their
> numbers grew and it was necessary to form a separate division in order to
> focus more attention on that specific field.
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Doug Lee
> via humanser
> Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2014 11:23 AM
> To: Merry Schoch; Human Services Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [humanser] Greetings
>
> I don't presume to vote, being neither a Division member nor a member of
> the
> field (I'm here out of interest in it though); but I'll speak in case my
> thoughts are useful...
>
> We decide, in the NFB, when and whether to coalesce with other
> organizations
> based on commonality of goals and beliefs, which really amounts to 
> deciding
> based on commonality of focus.
>
> So my question would be, how common would the focuses be of a group
> dedicated to human services versus one dedicated to health care?
>
> Examples of focus I can imagine, for a mailing list, would include
> - Info on how and where to get work.
> - Struggles with accessibility of specific software packages.
> - Access to literature related to the field (DSM for HS).
> - And of course, division business discussions.
>
> This is certainly not an exhaustive list.
>
> My point is to suggest deciding this question, whether to join or split 
> the
> two aims, based on consideration of what specific sorts of traffic will be
> generated by each.
>
> And since I'm not in the field myself, I have more questions than
> answers...
>
> On Sat, Dec 06, 2014 at 08:48:04AM -0500, Merry Schoch via humanser wrote:
> Greetings to All Listserv Members,
>
>
>
> Not sure if you notice a pattern, but the majority of messages from me are
> sent out on Sunday mornings as this is my most peaceful time of the week.
> My thoughts swirl around the Human Services Division and the tasks to do.
> Admittedly, there are many times I feel more than overwhelmed and wonder 
> if
> our goals are obtainable.  Then the essence of who I am speaks loudly and
> reminds me this type of thinking will accomplish nothing.
>
>
>
> The Board of the Division will meet privately during the month of 
> December.
> Unlike most meetings this will not be open for membership involvement, but
> I
> will present to our members and listserv the plans so you are informed.
> One of the topics at our meeting is a name change for the division.
>
>
>
> I would like to get immediate feedback from this list an our members
> regarding a name change for the division.  While I attended  the "Leaders
> and Ledgers" seminar at the Jernigan Institute, someone repeatedly 
> referred
> to the division as the "Health and Human Services Division".  Since I have
> received quite a few inquiries from individuals who are seeking to go into
> the medical field and there is currently no division for medical
> professionals, I thought I would put the idea out to you all.  It brings
> more diversity to our division which we have a great deal of now; however,
> physical and mental health (in my opinion) are interconnected on many
> levels.
>
>
>
> Please respond to your thoughts on the name change.  It will mean a
> Constitutional  change and I am seeking input before we go further with 
> the
> idea.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Merry C. Schoch
>
> NFB Human  Services Division
>
> President
>
>
>
> Merry C. Schoch, MSW ISW#6961
>
> Professional Social Worker/Counselor
>
> (813) 523-6573
>
> Merryschoch at verizon.net
>
>
>
>
>
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> --
> Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org                http://www.dlee.org
> SSB BART Group           doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com
> http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
> "I before E, except after C, or when sounded like A, as in neighbor and
> weigh, except for when weird foreign concierges seize neither leisure nor
> science from the height of society."
>
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-- 
Kaiti

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