[Athen] Visually Impaired Student Completing Math Homework

Dimac, Marcie mdimac at kent.edu
Wed Sep 16 06:24:09 PDT 2015


Morning all,

Thanks for the insights, suggestions, and feedback. This morning, two of the math content editors (out of 4) quit citing that editing these math textbooks is simply too much work for them (they are doctoral candidates and overwhelmed to begin with)

Does anyone know of a service that would render this math content accessible to screen reader? We are certainly willing to pay.

We are meeting with the student and the math department to try to lay out a game plan that will be most beneficial for the student.

Thanks again, happy Wednesday!

Marcie Anne Dimac, M.A. Ed.

Coordinator, Assistive Technology
Student Accessibility Services
DeWeese Health Center, Room 23
Kent, Ohio 44242

Email: mdimac at kent.edu

Phone: 330-672-3391

Confidentiality Notice:  This e-mail is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This e-mail message may contain confidential information intended only for use of the individual or entity named. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please do not read, use, disclose, copy or distribute this message and do not take any action in reliance upon it.  If you have received this transmission in error, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is prohibited. Please delete it from your system without copying or forwarding it, and notify the sender of the error by reply e-mail or by calling 330-672-3391.


-----Original Message-----
From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Jeffrey A Dell
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 5:33 PM
To: gdietrich at htctu.net; Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] Visually Impaired Student Completing Math Homework

Ohio's vocational rehabilitation agency does not support international students. A couple of years ago we had a student with cerebral palsy that we tried to refer to Ohio's Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and she was denied services because she's not a US Jeff citizen.

Sent from my iPhone. please excuse errors from using Apple's dictation feature.


> On Sep 15, 2015, at 4:55 PM, Gaeir Dietrich <gdietrich at htctu.net> wrote:

>

> Just as an FYI, having a blanket policy ("we do not...") when it comes

> to accommodations will not fly with the Office for Civil Rights. OCR's

> expectation is that every student's needs will be assessed on a

> case-by-case basis. Although you can have guidelines and best

> practices of how to accommodate a situation, the strategy that was

> outlined below is essentially an OCR complaint waiting to happen.

>

> What would the student's option be for working with your state

> blindness agency? In California, I know our state agency that works

> with blind students sometimes will assist foreign students, but I do

> not know what Ohio's policy might be. State agencies will often cover

> reader services when required.

>

> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> Gaeir (rhymes with "fire") Dietrich

> HTCTU Director

> 408-996-4636

> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-list

> [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of

> Dimac, Marcie

> Sent: Monday, September 14, 2015 9:29 AM

> To: Access Technology Higher Education Network

> Subject: Re: [Athen] Visually Impaired Student Completing Math

> Homework

>

> Susan,

>

> I completely understand and realize that utilizing this new technology

> would be overwhelming. As a practice (not my call) we do not hire

> students to read textbooks to other students, nor do we hire them to

> record audio versions of textbooks - we rely on electronic text,

> audiobooks when available, and technology to provide content to students.

>

> We also do not provide accommodations for homework assistance, and we

> are concerned that if the student doesn't utilize the accommodation

> and learn the software, the student will struggle to complete homework assignments.

>

> We are currently providing readers and scribes for exams but again,

> wouldn't do so for homework or other assignments.

> What no tech solutions would you recommend?

>

> Thanks for your valuable input! Marcie

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

>>> On Sep 14, 2015, at 12:13 PM, Susan Gjolmesli

>> <susan.gjolmesli at bellevuecollege.edu> wrote:

>>

>> Just a question...Why are you forcing the student to use technology

>> he is

> not familiar with? Why is it you are providing more barriers for the

> student rather than working a solution for him that is more within the

> scope of what is familiar to him?

>>

>> As a blind person who uses JAWs but is not a geek...who struggles

>> with

> each upgrade and every change that is thrown my way I can empathize

> with this student. Add to that the fact that he is ESL I cannot imagine...

>>

>> Technology is what it is...imperfect. Interfaces with

>> Jaws....especially

> with something as concrete as math will be challenging - even to sighted

> individuals.

>>

>> Work innovatively minus the technology...my two cents.

>>

>> S.

>>

>> Susan Gjolmesli, Director

>> Disability Resource Center, B132

>> Phone: (425) 564-2498

>> http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc/

>>

>>

>> This email and any files transmitted may contain confidential

>> information

> as protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),

> 20 USC § 1232g and/or Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C.

> § 2510-2521. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby

> notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution is prohibited.

> Furthermore, if you are not the intended recipient, please notify me

> immediately by telephone or return e-mail and completely delete this

> message from your system.

>>

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: athen-list

>> [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On

> Behalf Of Maria Bohn

>> Sent: Monday, September 14, 2015 6:55 AM

>> To: Access Technology Higher Education Network

>> Subject: Re: [Athen] Visually Impaired Student Completing Math

>> Homework

>>

>> Could you make it one of his accommodations to turn in homework via

> recorder? Or have a scribe for homework if the Professor will not

> accept the recorded homework. I would think the student cannot write

> the mathematical equations himself without assistance. I am not sure

> of the math type and if that will work in this situate . Or have

> someone sit with him when he uses Math talk/Dragon - to make sure it is outputting the way he is speaking it?

>>

>>

>> Maria Bohn

>> Senior Resource Accommodation Specialist Assistive Technology Office

>> of

> Specialized Services Bergen Community College

>>

>> From: <Dimac>, Marcie <mdimac at kent.edu<mailto:mdimac at kent.edu>>

>> Reply-To: Access Technology Higher Education Network

> <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>

>> Date: Monday, September 14, 2015 at 9:31 AM

>> To: "athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>"

> <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>

>> Subject: [Athen] Visually Impaired Student Completing Math Homework

>>

>> Morning all,

>>

>> I have a rather unique (I think) situation here and would love some

> feedback.

>>

>> Student:Doctoral level, pure mathematics students, from Vietnam. This

> student has been in the United States for about a month, has very

> little English speaking skills but seems to understand English well.

> The student is blind, and in Vietnam, his accommodations were

> drastically different from what they are/will be here.

>>

>> In Vietnam:An actual person would read his textbooks and homeworks

>> aloud

> to him, at his convenience. The student knows how to use JAWS (on

> version

> 14) but has never used it to read mathematical content. The student

> was able to vocally dictate his answers into a recorder and turn the

> recorder in to the professor as homework submissions.

>>

>> At Kent State:We have hired mathematical content editors (doctoral

>> level)

> to edit his books and homeworks with Mathtype and we have worked with

> the student to understand JAWS (v. 16) so he can use it to navigate

> mathematical content. None of his books were already available in

> audio format and must be formatted from "scratch". The student is

> insistent that we provide a reader for his textbooks and homework,

> which we are currently not providing, (as we are editing the books to be compatible/readable with JAWS 16).

>>

>> Current Concern:The student came in on Friday and informed us that he

>> had

> submitted an audio recording of himself answering the questions for

> his latest homework assignment and the professor had rejected the

> work. We are asking if anyone has ANY technology solutions for this

> situation. I have looked into Dragon and Mathtalk, but I'm pretty sure

> you need to be sighted to use this.

>>

>> Any thoughts?

>>

>> Thanks :)

>>

>> Marcie Anne Dimac, M.A. Ed.

>>

>> Coordinator, Assistive Technology

>> Student Accessibility Services

>> DeWeese Health Center, Room 23

>> Kent, Ohio 44242

>>

>> Email: mdimac at kent.edu<mailto:mdimac at kent.edu>

>>

>> Phone: 330-672-3391

>>

>> Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail is intended only for the use of

>> the

> individual or entity to which it is addressed. This e-mail message may

> contain confidential information intended only for use of the

> individual or entity named. If the reader of this message is not the

> intended recipient, please do not read, use, disclose, copy or

> distribute this message and do not take any action in reliance upon

> it. If you have received this transmission in error, you are hereby

> notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this

> communication is prohibited. Please delete it from your system without

> copying or forwarding it, and notify the sender of the error by reply e-mail or by calling 330-672-3001.

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> athen-list mailing list

>> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

>> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>> _______________________________________________

>> athen-list mailing list

>> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

>> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

_______________________________________________
athen-list mailing list
athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu
http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list


More information about the athen-list mailing list