Accessing The Written Word For Students With A Visual Impairment – Roles And Responsibilities

Accessing The Written Word For Students With A Visual Impairment – Roles And Responsibilities By Heidi de Klerk

Introduction • “It feels like a first year blind student has so much more responsibilities than a first year student who isn’t blind. I mean we constantly have to ensure that we have our notes. You can’t just go to class and check whether you have your notes, because of course you don’t. So you constantly have to remember and check-up. And every now and again you slip up and then you get into trouble.” -First year student (BA humanities)

Introduction • “two things: firstly, it feels like there isn’t a clear distinction between the responsibilities of the student, the responsibilities of the tutor, the responsibilities of the lecturer and the responsibilities of the Braille office - so what should the poor student do? The second thing is, if you don’t get the help that you should receive, what then? Then you have to do damage control all the time.” -Master’s student (music)

Introduction • Learning is stifled by limited and delayed access to course material • Students uncertain of their responsibilities in accessing course material; • Students meet challenge of limited access by taking all responsibilities upon themselves; • Emotionally draining and requires being assertive; • Responsibilities should be defined to prevent responsibility-overload

Roles and responsibilities • At SU three important role-players in making course material available: - The student; - The lecturer and - The Braille office.

The Student • The student’s responsibilities are: (a Early disclosure and; (b Ensuring that Braille office receives material on time.

The Student • (a Early disclosure • “I MOVE IN a solitude fuelled by secrecy. O Lord, let me never be seen with the white cane. Let me roll through the heavy oceans like the beluga whale, filled with dark seeds, always coursing forward. Let no one find me out! This is my lacerating tune.” -Stephen Kuusisto (Planet of the Blind) • “So I’m always between a rock and a hard place: whether I should tell my lecturer in order to try and make my life easier, or whether I should keep quiet and try to fit in. Because sometimes you really just want to fit in.” -Third year student

The Student • Disclosure sometimes accompanied by emotional difficulty; • Needs at times forfeited in order to appear similar to peers; • Often hope that disability unit would disclose on their behalf • Despite disclosure on application forms, lecturers still unaware of their specific needs;

The Student • At Stellenbosch, personal disclosure still necessary; • Braille office need to know unique requirements to provide individualised formats; • Disclosure preferably early in course to avoid any delays.

The Student • (b Ensure that the Braille office receives material on time • Upon receiving texts, students should immediately take it to Braille office; - Then Braille office can plan time and improve their effectiveness.

The Lecturer • It is helpful to students if lecturers: (a Make timeous decisions on course materials; (b Make course material available to the student on time; (c Where possible, provide the student with electronic text; (d Liaise directly with the Braille office.

The Lecturer • (a Make early decisions on course materials: - Immediately communicate content decisions to the student; • (b Make course material available to the student on time - Provision of course material and - Early provision of course material.

The Lecturer • (c Where possible, provide students with electronic texts; - Electronic texts usually immediately accessible (especially Microsoft Word); - If students prefer Braille, electronic texts will shorten process considerably

The Lecturer • (d Liaise directly with the Braille office • “And you have to be the link to what’s happening all the time. They don’t pick up the phone and say listen or whatever. You run up and down the stairs, attend class, please explain to this one for this and to that one for that. Oh no!” - Second year student (humanities)

The Lecturer • Draining for students facilitating communication between Braille office and lecturer; • Helpful if lecturer has direct contact with Braille office; • E.G., sudden content changes can directly be communicated to the Braille office.

The Braille office • At Stellenbosch University, the Braille office is responsible for: (a Conversion of printed material into electronic text and Braille; (b Making sure that students get their accessible material and books on time; (c Liaising with lecturers and students.

The Braille office • Braille office can perform optimally if student and lecturer adhere to responsibilities; • At Stellenbosch students mostly satisfied with Braille office; • When Braille office didn’t give texts in time students fell behind; • Tremendous feeling of shame when falling behind.

Conclusion • All role-players need to understand and accept their responsibilities; • Then learning of students with a visual impairment will be optimised.

Referrences • Hanafin, J., Shevlin, M., Kenny, M., & McNeela, E. (2007). Including young people with disabilities: Assessment challenges in higher education. Higher Education, 54(3), 435-448. • Holloway, S. (2001). The experience of higher education from the perspective of disabled students. Disability and Society, 16(4), 597-615. • Madriaga, M., Hanson, K., Heaton, C., Kay, H., Newitt, S., & Walkter, A. (2010). Confronting similar challenges? Disabled and non-disabled students' learning and assessment experiences. Studies in Higher Education, 35(6), 647-658.

Accessing The Written Word For Students With A Visual Impairment – Roles And Responsibilities