Hello Everyone: I have been following this thread and trying to decide if I want to chime in and here I go… let’s see how it goes.
As a blind assistive technology teacher I can honestly say I could see the computer at one time. I lost my vision suddenly five years ago. That being said, I know where Brian is coming from as well as the individuals on this list who have no vision. I am totally blind, but I am fortunate in that I know what a computer screen looks like. That being said, I have empathy for those who have never seen the screen. I emboss braille diagrams of a screen so they know what they are looking at. I have worked with students who want to know what the screen looks like (I am able to describe it to them); I also have students who could care less, they just want to be able to do their job. I start out by asking my students (and having them show me) what they know about the computer and JAWS, Window Eyes, or NVDA. I then tailor my lesson plans from what I’ve learned from our conversation. Every student is different; they have their own learning style. There is no “one size fits all”. For those who only want a blind person to teach them… that is great… but unfortunately we live in a sighted world. In the workplace you need to be able to show a sighted individual what you are “seeing”. My teacher was sighted, and because I was newly blind at that time in my life it made sense. As someone who is totally blind, I agree to certain extent about turning the monitor off so a sighted individual knows how it feels. I don’t know Brian personally, but I’ve read his posts, and I have learned a lot. Don’t judge based on whether a teacher is blind or sighted. Let their work speak for them. I probably ruffled some feathers, and sorry if I did, but we’re all here for the same reason. To help others learn. Jeanette McAllister PhD President / CEO Assistive Technology Tutor <http://www.aheartstaffing.com/> <http://www2.freedomscientific.com/training/JAWS-Certified-Individuals.asp> A Heart Staffing PO Box 1277 Franklin, VA 23851 Direct: 757-346-0708 www.aheartstaffing.com <http://www.aheartstaffing.com/> www.linkedin.com/in/aheartstaffing <http://www.linkedin.com/in/aheartstaffing> Member-National Employment Committee – NFB http://employment.nfb.org/ Member- Virginia State Rehabilitation Council Dept for the Blind and Visually Impaired "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." --Robert Louis Stevenso From: Robin Frost [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, February 5, 2016 7:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Improving my teaching approach and/or sensitivity Hi, I believe she’s still found at www.blindtraining.com <http://www.blindtraining.com> Robin From: Angel <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 5, 2016 6:39 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: Improving my teaching approach and/or sensitivity Reading this thread caused me to look up Kathy Anne Murtha's courses on the internet. I was unable to find them. Has she discontinued teaching on the internet? She also sold a course for access technology trainers. Who learned to use their keyboards alone. As she was totally blind. I still have in my archives her windows courses for XP. I learned quite a lot from them. Perhaps, if you were to create something similar to her courses for your students they might prove as helpful as were her courses for us. ----- Original Message ----- >From Brian Vogel <mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2016 5:18 PM Subject: Re: Improving my teaching approach and/or sensitivity On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 02:04 pm, Maria Campbell <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: I don't mind hearing sighted jargon as long as it is translated into something I can understand on the keyboard. This actually brings up an interesting sub-question. Other than when actually instructing on what keystrokes are necessary to accomplish a given action, and during practice to master that action, when I also mention the action name and/or jargon that goes with it, I do not generally ever mention the keystrokes in the future. I presume that once someone has mastered "select" in the context of a file or files or in the context of a word through a text block that I not only don't, but shouldn't, be mentioning the keystrokes again. I simply say "select" and the appropriate whatever comes after for the context in question. I presume that the necessary nuts-and-bolts are already understood and should be used as the basis for building upon more complex tasks. Is there any reason to keep reiterating the keystrokes once a given action appears to have been mastered rather than just using the action name itself? Brian
