[nabs-l] disability services in college

Wed Dec 31 20:42:17 UTC 2014

Hello Vejas,
	It all comes down to your own personal level of dedication, for both of your recent questions (in my opinion). I’ll answer your questions from my perspective; thus, my response will derive itself out of the view of a student who is on track to finish his bachelor’s degree in three years with an honors designation.
	Personally, I always make it my business to conduct meetings with both the DSS and prospective professors before I know for sure whether I’ll A) be accepted or B) take the course. In the case of the DSS office, which is what you are asking about, you might find out that the Universities inner workings just don’t fit your needs. Or, perhaps, you will find that you absolutely love everything the DSS office has to offer. In this case, you are putting your name in their minds and the worst that could happen is you get a no. If you decide to go on to graduate school (and you want to go there maybe), the DSS office will know you. They could also pass on good vibes to whatever school you go on to (Legally, they aren’t supposed to talk about their clientele; however, like professors, and most humans, they sometimes do it anyways).
	As for fighting for a course, I’d recommend doing it. You never know what you will gain from that class, which may be applicable in your major. For example, a lot of linguistics (which falls under English), derives itself out of math and logic (though it may not be explicitly obvious). Plus, once you accomplish it, you can be like, “I did that!” and be proud of it. Likely, most people are going to automatically assume you can’t; therefore, from my point of view, by proving them wrong, you could bolster your self-confidence.
	As I said above though, it all comes down to a subjective mindset. In this case, it will come down to your own mindset and decision.
Respectfully,
Michael

________________________________________
From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Vejas Vasiliauskas via nabs-l [nabs-l at nfbnet.org]
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 12:29 PM
To: Kaiti Shelton; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] disability services in college

Hi,
Thank you all so much for your answers. I just wanted to clarify something.
Did you wait until you were for sure going to be accepted into the
college before having the meetings? I'm still waiting to see if I will
be accepted.
Also, Karl, you mentioned that sometimes DSS will exempt someone from
taking a class because they don't want to make the diagrams. Is it
worth fighting for that even if it's a class you don't want to take?
For example, I might have to take math for one year but I want to be
an English major. So is it worth fighting for even if it's just a
general ed class that you don't care to take anyway? Or should you
still fight for a class that you don't want to take because your
sighted peers are taking it?
I would really appreciate oppiinions on this.
Thanks,
Vejas

On 12/30/14, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi, Vejas and all,
>
> First off, don't discount private colleges.  I toured several private
> and public colleges before choosing the school I attend now, which is
> private and has a pretty awesome DS office and staff.  One thing that
> I really like that my DS office does is that it employs students to do
> much of the book scanning, edits, and stuff in addition to answering
> phones and some basic emails that aren't specifically for a staff
> member.  This is great, because if I have a simple worksheet or a
> packet of information I need to read for class, I can just give it to
> a student worker and have them email it to me once they're done rather
> than waiting for a DS coordinator to be free from meetings or other
> stuff.  I would ask if such a system is in place, and if so I would
> plan to try to get to know the students who work there a bit.  I know
> the girl who edits most of my books and she's an English major, so in
> addition to being already detail oriented, I think that knowing who
> the book is going to might help with making sure that it's
> well-proofread.  (She's also been very nice and bumped papers up in
> the cue for me if professors give them to me late so I could still
> turn work in on time).
>
> As mentioned, you'll probably not get a lot in braille.  So far I've
> only gotten my math stuff and some science diagrams in braille, and
> everything else has been electronic.  I'm a stickler for braille as
> much as the next guy, but having almost everything electronic really
> helps, and cuts down on your load.  If you thought carrying a bunch of
> books was hard in high school, you certainly won't want to lug braille
> volumes around a college campus.
>
> I'd ask to see a testing room if you can, and to meet some of the
> other staff members.  Your meetings will probably consist largely of
> your DS coordinator reciting some basic shpeel about accommodations,
> the ADA, etc, but it's the questions you ask and the other people you
> meet who will help you decide which DS office is the best fit for you.
>
> Additional Questions:
> 1.  Do you have an assistive technology specialist on staff?  If so,
> can I meet them?  If not, are there any plans to bring one on staff in
> the foreseeable future?
> 2.  Are there any assistive technologies I can loan/borrow for
> academic or assistive purposes should I need them?  (My college does
> this, and just requires me to sign a release stating that I'll pay for
> any damage or loss to the device if something happens while I have it.
> I also have to return it by an agreed deadline, but borrowing a Focus
> 40 sure beats having to buy one).
> 3.  Do you offer any training on assistive technology devices?  (Again
> with the focus 40, I was able to get a quick half hour session with
> the assistive technology specialist without leaving campus).
> 4.  What are the standard accommodations a blind person would receive?
>  Just see what they tell you at a glance.  You should at the least be
> guaranteed extended time on tests (usually double time), assistive
> technology on tests and for use in the classroom, text descriptions of
> pictures or videos shown in class, volunteer notetaker (if you want
> it), a reader (if needed), distraction-reduced environments for test,
> alternative formats for books and class materials (including books),
> and a scribe for tests (if needed).  I would also see if they have a
> policy about electronic submissions.  Most colleges don't, but it
> might be something to ask about.  I had a professor who did not want
> to accept assignments attached to emails, and I was able to get
> electronic submission to be a reasonable accommodation because print
> papers create organizational nightmares for me.
> 5.  See if you can find other disabled students on campus to talk to,
> preferably blind ones but any should be able to provide some insight
> into how good or bad the DS office is with response to problems,
> working with professors, etc.
>
> Remember that a lot of the advocacy is going to come from you first.
> I know you've probably heard it a million times, but the DSS rarely
> gets involved unless the professor goes to them directly to sort out
> an issue, or there is some problem and after unsuccessfully advocating
> for yourself you ask them to step in and back you up.
>
> Some DS offices are awesome; mine has really gone above and beyond for
> me, and while I don't use them often aside from getting my books and
> materials they've always been willing to help read something, or help
> me find something on campus if it's a location I've never had to go to
> before but need to for a class.  The nice thing about student workers
> in a DS department is that they are often able to do these things
> because there are enough of them working at a time that work doesn't
> stop.
>
> On 12/30/14, Suzanne Germano via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> I go to Arizona State and they have computers with JAWS, MAGic in several
>> labs, libraries and in the high tech center in disabled student services.
>> The will make tactile diagrams of things if needed. They offered to make
>> me
>> some for Circuits. They also have a braille printer and braille displays
>> on
>> some computers. So it seems there are really various levels of what is
>> available and what is provided. They have an entire alternative format
>> department to handle text books. I get electronic and if requested I can
>> get large print. I prefer they get the pdf's from the publisher because
>> they are better quality than scanned for reading with zoomtext.
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 30, 2014 at 4:08 PM, Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l <
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>>> These are some good additional questions.  The only other thing I think
>>> is
>>> important is to find out how they get your books.  Do they request
>>> publisher files?  If publisher files are not available--they aren't for
>>> trade books, which is most of what you'll be reading in upper level
>>> classes
>>> and in things like English classes--does the office scan books for you?
>>> Do
>>> they have someone proofread the things they scan if they scan them?  By
>>> the
>>> way, you almost certainly won't be getting books in braille at all, and
>>> if
>>> you do they'll be embossed.  Almost all colleges will give them to you
>>> electronically, which actually is more efficient.  Neither of the
>>> schools
>>> I've gone to (they were both public) had the capability to produce
>>> things
>>> in braille.  As for adaptive technology, most schools will have a
>>> computer
>>> in the library with Jaws and maybe one or two more, but of course you'll
>>> have to provide your own personal computer and notetaker etc.  You might
>>> also want to talk to them and try to figure out indirectly if dss tries
>>> to
>>> control the classes disabled students take.  I've heard horror stories
>>> from
>>> friends at some schools where dss basically exempts blind students from
>>> taking certain classes, such as basic math, because they don't want to
>>> provide the accommodations that would be necessary.  You probably also
>>> want
>>> to talk about how accommodations for lab science classes work.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Karl
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: NMPBRAT--- via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> To: alpineimagination at gmail.com, nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> Date sent: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 18:03:32 -0500
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] disability services in college
>>>
>>> Vejas,
>>> Here are a few other suggestions for  questions:
>>> 1) How many people work for the DSS?
>>> 2) What days and hours are the DSS open?
>>> 3) What accommodations are available to me, including testing
>>> accommodations?  What is the process for requesting those
>>> accommodations?
>>> 4) How willing do professors seem to be when working with the  DSS
>>> office?
>>> (note: if you know what degree you are majoring in, you can be  specific
>>> to
>>> that particular group of professors)
>>> 5) Who do I talk to and what is the process in dealing with  issues that
>>> arise in a particular class or with a particular  professor?
>>> 6) What percentage of students that your office services are  blind or
>>> visually impaired?
>>> 7) What resources, if any, do you work with outside of your  office?
>>>
>>> Just some thoughts!  Good luck!
>>>
>>> Nicole
>>>
>>>
>>> In a message dated 12/29/2014 5:51:16 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org writes:
>>>
>>> Hi  All,
>>> I am going to be meeting soon with the disability services of my
>>> schools and have some questions/want some insight.
>>> How do you know how  good a DSS program is? (Of my three colleges,
>>> one is a Cal State and two  are private, so the privates may not
>>> have very good services).
>>> If the  DSS is poor but you like the college for all other
>>> reasons, is this a big  enough reason not to attend that college?
>>> Also, I'd really like your ideas  on questions I could ask DSS.  I
>>> already have 5, which I'll paste  below my name, and I would
>>> really appreciate if you could add some more or  change any of the
>>> above.
>>> Thanks.
>>> Vejas
>>> Questions to Ask  DSS
>>> 1.  How quickly is the turnaround time for Braille  materials?
>>> 2.  Is there a Braille transcriber/braillist on campus, or  is
>>> everything just going to be embossed?
>>> 3.  Is there anyone on  campus who can create raised diagrams for
>>> subjects such as chemistry and  mathematics?
>>> 4.  What kind of adaptive technology is offered at the  school?
>>> 5.  Should anything go wrong with my hearing aids, is there
>>> anyone who can help with  them?
>>>
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>
>
> --
> Kaiti
>
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