[Athen] A student who is blind has been accepted! Advice?

[Adam Kosakowski]

Hello wise list-ers!

A student who is blind has been accepted to my school and is very interested in coming, this is great news! However, my institution is not used to working with students who are blind. Also, his attendance will require some additional staffing as we'll likely need another staff member for at least 15 hours a week who will primarily help format documents like class notes and exams so he and his refreshable braille display can best access them. He is also asking for assistance as needed with formatting research papers that require footnotes and such. Luckily, he is not interested in being a STEM major so there won't be too many STEM books he will need, but the amount of formatting he'll require help with will be substantial, I am sure, especially since professors here are not used to making accessible documents.

I have a few questions, especially to any assistive technology or alternative media specialists:
How much time do you spend formatting educational materials per class per week for one student who is blind? Is my 15 hours/week estimate safe or not enough?
How much time in advance did you request class notes from professors? What about textbooks?
Did you have to write a proposal to require additional staffing to meet a similar need? How did it go?

Thanks!
Adam

Adam Kosakowski
Director of Student Accessibility Services (SAS)
Clark University
Preferred pronouns: he/him/his
Phone: 508-798-4368
Fax: 508-421-3700
SAS is in room 430 of the Goddard Library
To make an appointment, please call the office or stop by!
Student Accessibility Services website<http://www2.clarku.edu/offices/aac/ada/index.cfm>
Diversability<http://www2.clarku.edu/offices/aac/ada/diversability.cfm> meets every Wednesday at 4 p.m. in room 402 of Goddard Library, come by!



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