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Blind StudentsAs a blind student preparation is important. The first step is registering for classes. It is important to pre-register for classes as quickly as you can in case it takes time to get your books read or in an alternative format. When you are an undergraduate student, you can go to the academic advising department, or you can go to your advisor in your major to register. Some colleges will assign an academic advisor to you. The advisor will help you with planning your class choices, so that you graduate on schedule, to make sure you fulfill all graduation requirements, let you know if a particular class is only offered in certain semesters, and answer any questions you might have. Make sure they advise you of all your options and go over the course descriptions with you. When you are in grad school, you must go to an advisor in the program you are studying in, for example, I would go to someone in the Business school. Only they can help register you for classes.
Talking with ProfessorsVisually impaired and blind students may need accommodations in the classroom depending on the type of class, instructor teaching methods and other resources or technology the visually impaired or blind student might have access to. I always make an effort to introduce myself to my professors for the next semester before classes begin. Ideally I like to meet with them in person. This is not always possible, especially in the summer. My second choice is to introduce myself over the phone.Although it is nice to drop your prof a quick e-mail or swing by his or her office before class starts, sometimes that is not possible. On many occasions, on your class schedule, it will say staff. That means they have not yet determined who will teach the class. Sometimes you do not get this information until the very first day of class. Other times, your professor might be on vacation or taking a semester off from teaching Ninety nine per cent of my college experiences were great. There were no problems introducing myself to my professors. Most professors will ask how they can meet your needs, and you just be honest with them. Tell them what you can do, and what they can do to make things better if there is anything. I usually ask them to read aloud anything that they write on the chalkboard or any information on an overhead projector. I will also explain how I will access the course materials and how I will take the tests and quizzes. I took a French class in 2000, and a couple in 2001. The entire time I was taking classes, the chairman of the foreign language department expressed that he did not want a blind student in his courses. He said blind people are incapable of learning French because it’s a visual language, there is a lot of hand waving and gesturing involved. I said, “So there are no blind people in France that speak French?” The idea was silly to me. It’s good to meet with your instructors in advance, if you can, because they will be able to tell you what is involved in the course. There might be laboratory requirements, films to watch, special projects, field trips or other events that might not appear on the syllabus. Talking to the instructor ahead of time gives you an opportunity to line up transportation, make sure you have enough reader hours, and get materials in alternative formats or whatever else you might need to do in order to get the most out of the experience.
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