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Blind
or
Visually Impaired
[This section is presented in larger type to help students with
visual impairments.]
(Click on heading)
GENERAL DISCUSSION
THE INTERNET
COLLEGE
CALL CHECKLIST
GENERAL
DISCUSSION
If
you are blind or visually impaired, you have already mastered some of the skills
that
you will need for college. The most important skill is determination.
You’ve had classes
in orientation and mobility, life skills, social
interaction skills, and safety issues. You’ve
been exposed to instruction in
academic skills in and out of the classroom that
compensate for your visual
disability.
It
will be important to notify your professors well in advance so that course
materials can
be reformatted to a size you can handle. If materials need to be
in an oral form, again
notify your professor well in advance so that
arrangements can be made to transcribe
materials into an oral format.
Before
the semester starts let your professor know that you will need anything written
on
boards or overheads will need to be read aloud to you. If you tape lectures,
let your
professor know you will be doing this on a regular basis. Let your
professor know if you
will be regularly using a Braille-software equipped laptop
in class so that appropriate
connections can be made for you, if needed. Let
your professors know how you need to
take exams – whether orally or
reformatted for you. Also let your class know that you will
need some direction
or alert on where furniture is located and newly placed obstacles.
Using names
when calling on students and addressing others will help you stay
grounded
during discussions. And if you make use of a guide dog, let them know that
your
assist dog is working.
Check
and see if the local newspaper comes in taped format to which you can
subscribe.
Check and see if the campus newspaper comes in a taped format or a large
type
format that can be used with an optical reader. See if news is available in a
telephone “dial up” feature. – not only local newspapers, but the Wall
Street Journal,
Washington Post and USA Today, etc..
Find
out which of your favorite magazines, etc. are available in Braille and if your
college library carries them. If you have some that you read regularly, ask if
the can
carry them for you. Check out the current level of technology available
in computer
software that will allow you to call up on-line newspapers and
magazines and have them
read aloud to you via the computer.
Also
check and see if the cities/areas where your top colleges are located Radio
Information Services (RIS) which provides specially tuned radios as volunteer
broadcasters read the news, etc. Make use of all news programs and format via
radio,
television and cable.
When
working with a student who is blind:
A student who is blind is a person who is just like everyone else, except he/she
can’t
see. Address conversation to them including other people’s names. You
don’t have to
shout – just speak clearly. Ask first if a student needs help
crossing a room or street and
then wait for instructions. Remember the guide dog
is a working assistant to the student
– not a pet to played with unless
offered.
THE INTERNET
American Council of the Blind (ACB)
www.acb.org
Audio
Description Home Page
American
Foundation for the Blind
www.afb.org
American
Printing House for the Blind
www.aph.org
American
Association of the Deaf-Blind
Association
on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD)
www.ahead.org
Council
of Citizens with Low Vision International
Descriptive
Video Service (DVS)
[WGBH
Educational Foundation in Boston]
www.wgbh.org/wghb/access/dvs
ERIC
Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
www.cec.sped.org/ericec.htm
HEATH
Resource Center: Financial Aid for
Students with Disabilities
http://finaid.org/finaid/documents/heath.html
Helen
Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults
How
to Guide the Blind
Library
Reproduction Service (LRS)
Missouri
School for the Blind
National
Alliance of Blind Students (NABS)
www.acb.org
National
Association of Blind Students (NFB)
www.nfb.org
National
Association for the Visually Handicapped (NAVH)
National
Braille Press, Inc. (NBP)
www.nbp.org
National
Federation of the Blind
www.nfb.org
National
Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
www.loc.gov/nls
Radio
Information Service
Recording
for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D)
www.rfbd.org
The
Seeing Eye
Society of Blind and Visually
Impaired
Talking
Tapes: Textbooks on Tape
(314)646-0500
Xavier
Society for the Blind (NY)
Sites
on the major Internet gateways
COLLEGE
CALL CHECKLIST
BLIND
OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Are
textbooks available in Braille?
Are
textbooks available on tape?
How do I make arrangements for this to be
done for each of my classes?
What is the lead-time needed for this service?
Are
supplementary required reading materials available in Braille?
Are
supplementary required reading materials available on tape?
Are
readers available?
Who hires, trains, schedules and pays
for readers?
Are
Descriptive Video Services (DVS) (audio description capabilities) available for
any
visuals used or required for courses?
Are
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Systems available?
Are
computers with voice recognition software programs available?
Are
synthetic speech systems and/or voice synthesizer systems available?
Are
magnification programs for computer screens available?
Are
there talking calculators available for your use?
Are
talking computer terminals available in the computer center, library, dorm?
Are
TVs available with Descriptive Video Service (DVS) capabilities in the public
areas
of the dorms, public buildings such as the student union and in lecture
halls and
classrooms?
How
many people will be using these adaptive devices on campus or dorm? Will you be
able to have access to them when you need them?
What
types of services and assistant are available to me when doing research in the
library for example?
What
provisions are made for the guide dogs that students use in classrooms, public
areas and in the dorms?
Are
personnel available to assist a visually impaired student get across campus?
Are
personnel available to give a student orientation to the campus, specific
buildings,
etc. each semester?
How
many other blind students or visually impaired students are there on your
campus?
When
on your campus visit:
Ask if it is possible to meet with a present student with a visual
impairment similar to you.
Go to some classes.
Meet with support personnel.
Walk across campus to determine if you can
get from the most common buildings
in the time allotted between classes.
If you have to cross any streets with stoplights and automatic
“walk/do not walk” signs, are the signs set with a long enough time
interval that will allow you to safely get across the street?
What
are the accommodations allowed for tests and exams while a student is in
college,
if required?
How do I arrange for help with exams?
Individually proctored?
Untimed or extended time?
Reader available?
Scribe available?
Braille test version available?
Braille answer sheet available?
Computer with OCR and voice
synthesizer available?
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