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May 11, 2005
Resources for Blind Students in the Composition Classroom
The following exchange appeared on the Writing Program Administrators' listserv (WPA-L) on May 11, 2005:
I will have a blind student in my College Writing class next fall. Our special services will record the essays from the assigned reader, but I was wondering if there were any grammar and style exercises, or formatting guides (in other words a writing handbook) available for the blind. Also would love to have some advice from anyone who has had a similar teaching experience.
Have you met the blind student yet? Do you know whether s/he is 100% unsighted, or "legally blind"? There can be differences. For example, some students who are severely vision-impaired can still make out work sheets for in-class exercises if you make a special printed copy with very large typeface.
Will the student have a guide dog? It's important to reinforce the "no petting" rule, especially if the student is petite/female (for some reason, people pet women's guide dogs even after the owner says "please don't pet my dog, she's working").
Are you teaching in a computer lab? All of the techno-dynamics will come into play, but it might be groovy and eye-opening for *all* students in the class.
Are you an animated hand-talker? (i.e., do you use a lot of visual gestures and facial expressions to get things across during lecture/discussion?) If so, you'll want to find warm and including ways to "narrate" what you're gesturing about, so the unsighted student can be a part of things, and so these meanings come across clearly on his/her tape recorder.
Also, you need to lecture clearly, and remind other students to speak up and be clear, since your unsighted student will be recording the class period. Which reminds me...will your student have a note-taker? Some colleges provide this service, some don't. In my classes at one college, students could make a few dollars from the student assistance center by taking notes for their disabled classmates who were registered with the center.
Will you be showing videos/films? Will your special services center help the student work with visual media used in class?
OK, these are just some topics for you to consider.
Posted by mryonker at May 11, 2005 01:22 PM