[nabs-l] Awareness and advocacy in our professions

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi, Elizabeth,

Thanks for your suggestions.  Some things, like talking to a hotel
staff member about guide services for conferences, were things I did
not consider in the moment when I was just trying to get to my rooms
on time.  I agree with you that in these situations it is more time
efficient to just ask for sighted guide assistance, especially seeing
as while traveling in a group of students I am not always in control
of whether or not I can get to the hotel early just so I can figure
out how it is set up.  I think I have pretty good travel skills, but
it's the same issue that arises in airports; you can either get off in
a 30 minute layover and insist on finding your next gate yourself and
potentially miss your connection, or just take an arm/the go-cart ride
they offer you and take the way-finding out of the equasion, arriving
with a few minutes to catch your breath.  I know people will have
different opinions on the airport example as well, but that's my take
on it.

I realize I'm very lucky with regional conferences because my
professors are so involved with the planning.  Both regional
conferences I've attended have been fantastic in terms of
accessibility, and the conference  had a guidebook app that was used
by everyone.  My professors even checked with the company to see if it
was accessible not just for my benefit, but so they could make sure
anyone at the conference who would be using the app on an IPhone or
Ipad with voiceover, or Android with talk back would be able to use
it.  I believe they also produced a few large print programs, and
would have been able to make arrangements for brailled agendas had it
been necessary.  I think that is a huge reason why I am able to go
around those conferences as independently as I do, with the internship
fare being the biggest and only true obstacle.  The national
conferences don't tend to be as accessible with their agendas, and at
least this one I went to didn't have an accessible online version.  I
had tried to look up the agenda to test it out ahead of time, but
since the information wasn't available for viewing yet I couldn't test
it out.  That was why I requested it in braille, just so I'd be sure I
had something to go by.  I believe I did mention that braille or
electronic format would work because that's usually what I tell
people, but there didn't seem to be an electronic copy in that case
either.  I remember getting some classmates to go through each day of
the agenda with me back at the hotel and writing down the information
in my notetaker.  I get this is going to sound like a bit of a boohoo
thing to say, but the drawback to that was I had to choose exactly
which sessions I wanted to go to in advance for the most part.  The
nice thing about the accessibility I experience at the regional
conferences is that if I don't like a session for whatever reason, I
can stand up and leave for another one that I find more interesting.

The panel idea is a good one, and the few music therapy students who
are blind that I know of have similar interest in studying this.  I
know of a girl who just completed an internship, and her final project
was an essay documenting the techniques she found helpful.  She was
gracious enough to share it with me so I could take from it the ideas
that would help me in my last year of college, internship, etc.  I'm
wondering if I could possibly approach my professors about putting
together a presentation for a regional conference at first, even if it
is just me presenting my individual accommodations and giving a call
for research/guidelines/advocacy.  I think students in this position
are in a very unique place, because we often have no precedent to go
off of and look to professors for guidance on how to teach us, but the
profs often don't know the accommodations side of things either.

The problem I'm seeing is that the professors in the colleges and
internship directors are encouraging these kinds of projects, but
there isn't unity that allows for students to bounce ideas off each
other or professors to share tips and tricks amongst themselves.  I
got really lucky in that a friend of mine just happened to know two
blind music therapy students and was able to put me in touch with the
girl I mentioned.  I just wish there was a way to bridge the gap so we
didn't have to stumble across each other.

On 7/17/16, Elizabeth Mohnke via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello Kaiti,
>
> I am sorry to hear you do not feel as though you are necessarily being
> treated as an equal within your chosen profession. I imagine the reason why
> people in your profession may not necessarily see people with disabilities
> as an equal who can work in the profession has a lot to do with the fact
> that the people who receive music therapy are generally people with
> disabilities. The role of someone with a disability working in the
> profession is a lot different than the role of someone with a disability
> receiving music therapy. Changing the way a group of people see others when
> they have been defined by a set role can be a difficult thing to do.
>
> I think constantly demonstrating your abilities as a music therapist is a
> first good step in changing these defined roles within your profession.
> However, another thing you could do is look into presenting some sort of
> presentation at some of the professional conferences that you attend.
> Perhaps you could give a presentation on the techniques you use as a blind
> student preparing to become a music therapist. This would help provide
> others with different techniques that may be helpful to other students
> preparing to become music therapist. Alternatively, you could put together
> a
> panel of disabled music therapists, and lead a discussion on the techniques
> they use as music therapists, or how they would like to see the profession
> grow in terms of accepting people with disabilities into the profession.
>
> As far as receiving accommodations for when you attend professional
> conferences, here are a few ideas you may want to try the next time you
> attend a professional conference.
>
> In terms of being able to receive a Braille agenda of the conference, it is
> possible the organization putting on the conference may not necessarily
> know
> how to produce an agenda in Braille, or simply do not have the means to
> produce an agenda in Braille. Although I have looked into attending
> professional conferences in my chosen field of study, I have yet to
> actually
> attend any professional conferences. However, when looking at the
> information for various professional conferences, I have noticed that there
> is generally a lot of information about the conference posted online. In
> most cases, there is an agenda or schedule of events included as part of
> this information. It seems to me if you would like this information in
> Braille that you could either Braille it yourself or use an electronic
> Braille display to read this information. If an agenda or schedule of
> events
> is not listed anywhere online, it seems to me you could simply have someone
> from the organization email you a copy of this information. It has been my
> experience that most organizations outside the realm of blindness generally
> do not provide Braille documents.
>
> As far as navigating large hotels goes, I have several thoughts as to how
> you can go about doing this as independently as possible. I am sure there
> will most likely be people on this email list who may not necessarily
> believe that using sighted guide is a form of independent travel. However,
> I
> feel as though using sighted guide is simply just another tool that can be
> used when trying to get around in unfamiliar places. As someone with
> another
> disability in addition to my blindness, I find myself using sighted guide
> more often these days as sometimes it is just easier to have someone else
> guide me to where I want to go instead of trying to receive directions from
> other people.
>
> If the organization is not willing to provide someone to help you navigate
> the hotel, you could check with the hotel to see if they might be able to
> provide someone to help you navigate hotel. Sometimes hotels can be rather
> gracious with the service they are willing to provide you as a guest in
> their hotel. You can always offer a tip in exchange for the services you
> receive from the hotel staff.
>
> However, another approach you could take is to select the sessions you are
> interested in attending, and arrive to the conference registration area
> early to ask for a general description of the layout of the hotel
> conference
> rooms. This technique worked well for me when I attended a non-blindness
> related disability conference last fall. The person behind me in the
> registration line needed to go through her packet of information to see
> which conference sessions she was interested in attending were located. So
> we went through the packet together. When we discovered that we would not
> be
> attending the same conference sessions, she asked someone else she knew
> what
> conference sessions she would be attending to see if they would match up
> with mine. As luck would have it, this other person was interested in
> attending the same conference sessions as me, so we were able to go to them
> together.
>
> Even when you do not know someone, you can always ask the people around you
> which conference sessions they are interested in attending. I am sure many
> people would enjoy a companion to join them on their journey to the
> conference session. However, for times when you cannot find someone who is
> going to the same conference session as you, knowing the name of the
> conference room or section of the hotel where the conference session is
> located can be very helpful in finding this location. You can always ask
> people to give you directions to where it is that you want to go, and you
> can always stop and ask people if you are going in the right direction or
> the confirmation of the name of a conference room as you pass by them on
> your journey to where you want to be.
>
> Perhaps in time you will become more confident and comfortable with your
> travel skills as you attend more professional conferences, but in the
> meantime, do not feel uncomfortable asking other people for assistance when
> you need it. Personally, I feel as though the main point of attending
> conferences, regardless of what kind they may be, is to gain more knowledge
> regarding the subject area of the conference and hopefully meet new people.
> I find asking others for assistance navigating unfamiliar places allows me
> to focus more on soaking up the information presented in the conference
> sessions, and in some cases, helps me to meet new people.
>
> Anyway, these are simply my thoughts regarding the message you posted to
> the
> email list. I hope you find them to be helpful. However, I am sure other
> people will most likely have other thoughts on integrating themselves as a
> person with a disability into their chosen profession as well as attending
> professional conferences. Other NFB email lists where you may receive
> additional responses to your email include the young professionals email
> list and the social science email list. I do not believe either one of
> these
> email lists are very active, but they may help provide you with some more
> perspectives than what you may find here on the student email list.
>
> Warm regards,
> Elizabeth
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
> via NABS-L
> Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 5:32 PM
> To: humanser at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>; National Association of
> Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [nabs-l] Awareness and advocacy in our professions
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am entering a field that really has an emphasis on working with people
> who
> have disabilities.  While it is possible for someone to enter music therapy
> for mental illness or to supplement their health and wellness practices,
> most of the work done in the profession is carried out with people who have
> disabilities or those in hospitals.
>
> Before entering college I thought that surely those in helping professions
> would be more open-minded about people with disabilities.
> I mean, if they make their living problem-solving and finding alternative
> ways for their clients to do things, surely they'd be more open to working
> alongside someone with a disability, right?  I wasn't so naive as to think
> that people in helping professions would never need education and of course
> I knew not everyone works with people who have physical disabilities in the
> first place, but I simply thought they'd be more likely to problem-solve
> and
> brainstorm accommodations for a person with a disability to do the same
> work
> they do than someone who is completely and utterly not exposed to those
> with
> disabilities in the workplace.  My professors have done a good job at this,
> but I've heard horror stories from other blind music therapy students who's
> professors for really strange reasons said the student couldn't do the
> job---they can't see facial expressions, lack of vision is a liability,
> etc.
> I think I overestimated there, and in the past have been disheartened by
> the
> lack of resources out there for people with disabilities in helping
> professions to come together.
> Sure, the NFB has set up great divisions here, and I'm sure other
> disability
> groups have as well, but shouldn't these professions be doing the same for
> their own interests?  I've been able to learn a lot from other students and
> human services division members here, but who's to say that an
> accommodation
> a wheelchair user has come up with won't completely rock my world in the
> clinic, or something I do to keep myself organized won't be something they
> would adopt in their own practices as well?  Furthermore, especially for
> students like me in less commonly pursued fields, it's hard to find another
> person who completely gets where I'm coming from.  Blind psychologists and
> socialworkers get the therapeutic side of what I do, but they don't always
> get the rationale behind some of the methodology or know just how
> physically
> I have to work within the clinic space with manipulatives, working hand
> over
> hand with a client, etc.
>
> I understand why this problem exists; a lot of these professions came about
> in the early 20th century and late 19th century, when disabled people were
> still being sequestered in institutions and such.  Music therapy really got
> going after World War II with blinded soldiers, and back then no one would
> have ever thought a blind person would be capable of doing the job.
> However, in discussing this problem with my professors they have even
> acknowledged this is something that will need to be confronted sooner or
> later.  More and more disabled students are able to go to college by the
> decade, and more and more seem to be going into professions that benefitted
> them in some way as a means of giving back or bringing life experience into
> a career.
> It's therefore really discouraging to have professionals in the field
> either
> not know how to adapt the job to teach you, or to simply not get it that
> you're wanting to do the same work they are doing.  There was talk from my
> professors about the possibility of doing some research to establish some
> guidelines for educators teaching music therapy to blind students, but this
> research has yet to get underway.
>
> I went to a professional conference once, and I called ahead to request a
> braille agenda be printed for me.  I also planned to utilize guide services
> because then I would be able to focus on the conference and my sessions
> rather than waste time learning the hotel I'd only be in for 3 or 4 days.
> An older blind music therapist told me she used these accommodations, so
> since I requested them I thought they'd be there.  Surprise, no braille
> agenda and I had to fight first with the registration ladies up to someone
> actually in the organization to get guide services.  The response I kept
> getting was, "You're a student.
> Can't you just go with your classmates?"  No, not if they're not wanting to
> go to the same conference sessions that I want to go to, and I paid my
> registration money just like they did.  (Note I wasn't overusing this.  I
> knew enough to get back to the registration desk from each session and
> don't
> use this accommodation at all at smaller, regional conferences, but in a
> huge hotel that sometimes had sesssions all over the place, it was more
> practical to ask for someone to show me the way so I could arrive at
> sessions on time.  I did hook up with classmates a few times as well when
> we
> happened to discuss going to the same session and wanted to go together,
> but
> I wanted the freedom to go to the sessions I wanted to learn from).
> Recently at a regional conference one person had the bright and kind idea
> to
> tap me on the shoulder during one of the sessions and ask if I would like
> her to describe some of the slides.  I said yes and every so often she did
> so.  This was because the pictures were dictating a cherades-like
> experience
> that combined music and drama therapy, and this person realized I'd totally
> miss the point without knowing what the pictures were.  That was the only
> time I'd ever had that happen in a conference session, and the woman was a
> masters student.  Most of the time I'm ignored in conferences, which is
> simultaneously good and irritating at times.  I'm happpy to have the
> freedom
> of walking around a hotel without being pestered all the time, but there
> are
> times when I really do need some assistance and I have a hard time getting
> it, E.G, navigating those monster hotels in a timely manner or going around
> internship fares where I don't want to ask every table what they represent
> and incur the obligation to listen to their shpeel.  I get the sense
> sometimes that as many people in these conferences as there are working
> with
> people who have disabilities, and as much collective knowledge there is in
> any given room at these conferences about how capable disabled people might
> actually be, professionals with disabilities are still such a tiny minority
> that people don't know what to do or how to interact with them since
> they're
> not a client.
>
> I'm wondering if any of you have faced similar issues in your fields, and
> if
> you've been able to work with your professional organizations to set up a
> group of some sorts.  I recognize I probably won't do anything about it
> till
> I'm done with my degree myself, but I think it is an important issue.
> There
> is a group for blind music therapists on Yahoo groups, but as far as I know
> I'm the only student on there, and the list has had only a handful of
> emails
> since I joined a few years ago.  I'd love to make a facebook page of sorts
> for students and professionals with disabilities to share life hacks and
> tips, but don't know if that would be the way to go.  I would love to find
> a
> way to both bring students and young professionals with disabilities
> together, possibly also bring in older professionals who have tried and
> true
> methods, and to do some advocacy of professionals with disabilities.
> Thoughts?
>
>
> --
> Kaiti Shelton
>
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-- 
Kaiti Shelton