HI Ardith,

On Mon 2039-Apr-04 22:26, Ardith Hinton (1:153/716) wrote to Richard Webb:

RW>  I think he also spoke with the band director at the school
RW>  for the blind, and understood that I'd work out the tools I
RW>  needed to perform competently.


AH>            I get the impression he was basically on the right track,
AH> but found his own learning curve rather steep at times.  When our
AH> daughter was about two years old I noticed that she was devising
AH> some good educational strategies for herself in many areas.  She
AH> still needed help in certain areas, of course, and so did I.  But in
AH> general I'm inclined to agree with the teacher at the school for the
AH> blind in that a bright & articulate student such as you would
AH> probably have more understanding of what works for him than others
AH> would by the time he reached junior high.  One of the problems
AH> Dallas & I have often encountered as parents is (as Nora puts it) "I
AH> try to tell them, but they don't listen".  :-( 

INdeed, by the time a person gets to that age, especially if he/she has lived
with a certain condition, i.e. blindness
all his life then he should be able to think through
something and devise strategies effectively.

AH>            Give a man a fish, and he will have food for a day...
AH> teach him how to fish, and he will have food for a lifetime (Chinese
AH> proverb).  As a teacher my inclination is to make people think, but
AH> not everybody appreciates that!  I had students who pleaded for
AH> stuff they could copy, memorize, and regurgitate. Knowing what I
AH> know now I recognize this learning style as the preferred style of
AH> about 40% of the general population.  The percentage among
AH> bureacrats is, I suspect, even higher.  Regarding "the system" one
AH> also has to contend with the bean counters whose idea of efficiency
AH> is hiring whoever will work for minimal pay doing things to or for a
AH> client, where some folks might eventually be able to do these things
AH> for themselves with a larger investment up front... (sigh). 

INded, I find that often.  IN many different walks of life.


RW>  Ask many blind college students, and they'll tell you that the
RW>  disability services office on campus is both bane and boon.

AH>            I could say the same of many services here... (wry grin).
Was no such thing as a "disability services" office back in
my college days .


RW>  YOu'd be surprised the number of blind college grads that do
RW>  not have effective techniques for hiring training supervising,
RW>  and paying readers.

AH>            Nah.  It takes more than that to surprise me....  :-)) 

eVerybody works a little different, and one needs to have
the power to retain/replace readers.  Without control of the purse you don't
have.  Kathy and I have been together over a decade now, and she's finally
figuring out how to read
something orally and maximize get the work done, such as
help me skim the manual for a new piece of electronic
equipment, etc.  sHe's used to doing the start of a section
and me interrupting with "skip it we'll come back to that."
OR she'll get "mark that place we might need that."

AH>            Trying to synthesize what I know (or think I know) with
AH> what you've said about readers, however... the library at UBC uses
AH> volunteers to record at least some material.  In this case different
AH> chapters of a book are often read by different people who are
AH> probably not identified by name.  Thus the student can't say to
AH> person xxx "I like your style... will you work for me privately?" as
AH> we did with a few of Nora's therapists.  And in my experience a
AH> person with special needs generally doesn't have all of them met by
AH> one organization.  :-) 

MIght be difficult, only things I"ve seen read like that
here in the states were some periodicals done by smaller
organizations.  The big audio producers in the blindness
reading world, American PRinting HOuse, American Foundation
for the Blind, would use a single reader, and were pretty
diligent about getting him/her to pronounce acronyms and
unfamiliar words correctly.  A dectionary and other tools
are always handy to the reading booth I understand.
SPeaking of which, years ago AFB in NEw York used a room for their talking
book studio where you could hear the squeak of the hvac fan.  I wrote them a
couple letters about it, and
I'm not a frequent talking book user as some are.  But, over that couple year
period I happened to notice it on more than one title which was recorded at
APH.  I was surprised their
recording engineer didn't say anything.

RW>  Even if rehab or somebody else picks up the tab good
RW>  programs put the power to hire fire and train, as well
RW>  as the responsibility for submitting vouchers and other
RW>  requisite paperwork to get the reader paid directly on
RW>  the user of the reader.

AH>            Dallas & I managed to find a few good programs and obtain
AH> help with certain expenses.  In general, however, we had to do our
AH> own research WRT such matters... and we tolerate the endless
AH> paperwork in order to get the most bang for the buck.  We have the
AH> power to hire & fire & train our own employees now, but we are older
AH> & more experienced than the average university student.  It's
AH> important to remember also that many people (regardless of age)
AH> prefer to have others take care of all the arrangements and/or tell
AH> them what they should do. If you're not like that it may be more
AH> difficult to get what you want....  ;-) 

RIght, but even though you might prefer to have that lifted
from your shoulders in college, that's when you need to
develop those skills.  cOllege is supposed to be the end
game of prep for life.  IF you're going to live as a blind
person part of preparing for life out there on the rat race
course is to learn how to manage your readers effectively,
obtain services you *do* need, and say no to those you
really don't.  Iow empowerment is more than a buzz word with some of us >


RW>  MOre later, I have to run a network on the ham radio
RW>  later this morning so better organize myself .


AH>            And in view of what's been going on in Japan & various
AH> other places I'm completely supportive of what you're doing!  First
AH> we have to survive on a physical level, then we can afford to
AH> ruminate on what makes people tick.  :-) 

YEp, in fact that net was working with some vessels in the
pacific that day, advising many to turn back instead of
heading *for* shore, telling them to stay out another day or two, in open
waters they had a better chance of surviving it without damage.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin:  (1:116/901)