[nabs-l] requesting some advice about choosing a college science class for next semester

[Jewel]

It is not up to the professor whether or not you take a class. If you sign up for the class, they are obligated to make all reasonable accommodations. A good accommodation for this class might be an yb-class assistant (provided by your school's disability iddyxe)who could describe what each rock looks like. Then, when test time came, you would have to remember the descriptions and also weight when appropriate, and identify the rock based on information you ask for, such as what color is it or does it have any marbling. 
This professor is being rude and discriminatory. If you really want to take the geology of rocks, there is no reason you couldn't. I just finished a geu-semester course in biology. The lab for the first course (microbiology )was almost exclusively microscope work. However, the disability office assigned me a lab assistant and many of the things that we were looking at under the microscope also had a tactile drawing. These accommodations helped me get a B in the class. What I am trying to say is that if microscope work can be made accessible, surely so can rock geology. 
If your disability office and the dean of sciences can't or won't fight this discrimination on your behalf, you will have to fight harder if you want this class. You could go to the dean of students, a local disability efficacy group if one is nearby, abd/or contact your NFB state president. Any of these should be able to help you. The most important thing is to stand up for your right to take any class you have met the prerequisites for, and be ready for a fight. If things don't go smoothly, you could be looking at a lawsuit. 
Now, lets tackle the issue of books. If you know which book or books you will need for next semester, great! An easy way to get the books would be to send a request to Bookshare. On the Bookshare page, select Contact Us, then select Requesting a Textbook from the dtuo-down menu. Tell them the book's title, author, edition, and, if you know it, its ISBN. Processing a textbook request is fast, but it takes two to three months before the book will be available through Bookshare. I have used this method when I knew the book far enough in advance, and the books are gufg-quality scans. The only drawback is the lack of alternative descriptions for pictures. Another method of obtaining your books is by requesting that the disability office provide you with accessible text. My disability office, for example, will take a copy of the book (you have to purchase it for ugrn), and scan each page with OCR, creating accessible text in a Word document. Then they go over it for errors, add page numbers and headings, and sometimes add alternative descriptions of pictures. Get the books to them as soon as possible, because most disability offices have to process a very large number of textbooks. Just be sure your disability office does this before you purchase the books. 
I hope that has helped you, and I wish you the best of luck! 
-Jewel 

Sent from my iPhone

On May 20, 2013, at 8:52 AM, Joshua Hendrickson <louvins at gmail.com> wrote:

> -- 
> Joshua T Hendrickson
> 
> Hello to all.  I'm glad to be a part of this list.  I am very close to
> getting my Associates of Arts degree.  The only class I need to take,
> is a geology science class with no lab.  I met with a counselor and I
> was going to take a class called Geology 206 which was all about rocks
> and things like that.  The Dean of The science department had
> suggested I take this class, but there is a major problem.  The
> teacher of this class doesn't want me to take the class.  This is
> extremely frustrating.  I had went to my disability support office,
> and asked Gloria to call the teacher and find out when I could meet
> with him to talk about what acomidations I would need for the upcoming
> class, the teacher wouldn't even talk to me on the phone.  He told
> gloria, there would be no way I could tell the different rocks apart.
> I was going to take this same class a couple semesters before but in
> the summer not in the fall like I still might take this class.  Lynn
> who heads the disability department talked with the dean of science
> again, and now people are suggesting that I take an online class
> called geology of the solar system.  Lynn told me she thought I should
> take this class, because the lady who taught the class was supportive
> and didn't mind if I take this class.  I don't really want to take an
> online class, because I don't know how accessible it will be with
> jaws.  I was sent an email with a link to a page that was kind of set
> up like what the online course would look like, but it was very
> confusing.  Since there isn't much there as far as assignments, or
> discussion questions, its very hard for me to figure out if jaws will
> be able to read what needs to be read.  I'm going to meet tomorrow
> with Lyn, and the teacher of this online course, to see if I should
> take this class, although, I am already registered for the lecture
> based geology rock class with the teacher who doesn't even want me in
> his class.  Also, I don't even have any accessible textbooks for
> either class yet, that is another concern.  Thanks for reading this
> message.
> 
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