Education for Success

Have you ever walked through an unfamiliar building in complete darkness with no flashlight. Attended a class with complete strangers in complete darkness? Read on to learn more.

One goal I always have each year; like the ones I refer to in New Year – Plans and Reflections is to continue to learn, increase my awareness of issues that impact the worlds population and to try to make a positive difference in my workplace and the community.

I love knowledge and enjoy pursuing my education. This education can be for personal or professional benefit. The education I talk about can come from a standard formal classroom, on-line training, real life experiences or from a wide variety of excellent sources.

As some of you might know from reading the other messages at this blog; I am completely blind. If you do not know others who are blind or visually impaired you might wonder how a completely blind person can attend formal public courses. I am sure some of you know others who are blind or visually impaired and have attended public courses quite often and have an idea of how this can be accomplished. For those of you who do not know and wonder how a blind person can successfully attend a public course I want to explain one method. My experience and tips might help others with no external visible challenges.

Taking public courses in unfamiliar buildings with people I had never met is relatively new to me. I used to have perfect eyesight not too long ago. Now walking in darkness inside unfamiliar buildings can make me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Proper Planning is the Key to Success
I believe that proper planning is the key to success. I am a project manager at a large corporation. I wanted to increase my project management skills to improve my value to my employer, and to myself. To help me insure success in my learning experience I did some research and planning prior to attending the course.

Research Prior to Registration
I talked with the vendor who was putting on the courses I was interested in. I told them I was completely blind and talked about the assistive technology I would be using in the course. I talked about the materials and presentation styles that would be used for the courses I was interested in. I wanted to see if the tools used in the course would allow me to effectively learn the materials presented; or if any adjustments needed to be made. I educated the vendor on accessible materials; since in my experience accessibility is a new concept for most people who do not work with the disabled. Once I found a course I was interested in and all of my learning objectives could be accomplished ,I signed up for the course.

Preparing Instructor so We Could Both Succeed
I talked with the instructor of the course I would be taking prior to attending the course. I told him I was blind and would be using my assistive technology to participate in the course since I could not read the printed materials all the other students would be using. I told him I needed my course materials in a format that was compatible with my assistive device. I told him I needed the materials ahead of time to allow me time to convert the documents and transfer them to my Braille note taker.

I talked with the instructor about his teaching techniques so we could reduce any difficulties we might run into during the course. A lot of instructors may not have ever had the opportunity to teach a blind or visually impaired student before and I wanted to insure success for myself; as well as the instructor. As it turned out; my instructor had never had a blind person in any class he had taught and welcomed my ideas to help him help me.

Preparing for Course

I converted over 60 files that I was sent by postal mail on a CD. I sorted the files by file content, naming the files in such a way that all like content would have the same file prefix. I had files for reading materials, lessons, exercises, reviews and other materials for each chapter. I also had files for appendixes, bibliographies and additional reading. I did this file naming convention for all the files within each chapter and section. Then I placed each file into its unique folder. I did this so I could get to each lesson and backup materials quickly in the class like the other sighted students who had the materials in a printed binder with tabs that separated each section.

Pre Orientation

I called the facility where the course was to be held. I asked where the classroom was in relationship to the lobby and to the front desk. I asked what floor the classroom was on so I could prepare myself mentally and give myself more time the first day of class to find the room if I had to orientate myself to any elevators. Luckily my class was on the first floor, which would make finding the room a little easier. I asked if their building complex had a place to get breakfast, snacks or lunch. I am diabetic and need to be concerned about eating at regular intervals to keep a constant blood sugar level to allow me to think clearly and absorb the course materials to the best of my ability.

Time to Pack my Duffle Bag for My Learning Adventure

The course was three days long. I lived in the area where the course was to be held; so I took my local paratransit to and from the course each day. This meant waking up a lot earlier and getting home later each day; but I saved money by not having to stay at the hotel.

I loaded my duffle bag with 2 drinks in plastic bottles with screw on tops, my lunch, snacks, Braille note taker, voice recognition organizer, cell phone, business cards with Braille and glucose pills, just in case of a low blood sugar episode. I brought my lunch each day. This would allow me to work through lunch if I needed to. This removed any extra stress on me; wondering where I would eat each day.

Arrival and Getting Oriented

I arrived early at the hotel where the course was being held. I checked in at the lobby’s front desk and asked where the class was to be held. With a big smile, duffle bag over my shoulder, my long white cane in my right hand and my white support cane in my left hand I followed the person who guided me down a hallway to the classroom. I followed my guide by listening to their voice as we talked; or the sounds of their shoes tapping on the floor as they walked. Along the way to the hallway that lead to my classroom I noticed there was very few turns we had to maneuver through to get to the room that would be my classroom for the next three days. I also realized that the surface we walked on was smooth and hard with something that felt like either tile or another hard surface. If I got off track while walking through the lobby I stepped on a carpeted softer surface. Following a smooth surface outlined by carpeting made my navigation much easier. When I left the large open area of the lobby to walk down the hallway that lead to my classroom the acoustics were great. I could tell I was in the hallway because the echoes and the extra noise left the air. From that point I followed the right hand wall to the first door to my classroom. Since I had arrived early as planned, I asked where the restroom was. I practiced finding my way to and from the restroom from the classroom so I would have the route memorized. I took some extra time to orientate myself within the restroom to make sure I could find everything. During the brakes I did not want to delay the class by getting lost on the way to, or from the restroom.

Time for My Continued Learning Experience

When I walked into the classroom there was only one student and the instructor. I pleasantly introduced myself to the instructor and the other student with a friendly handshake. I sat at a table that had a clear path to the door. I then got my Braille note taker set up and organized my other items I had brought to help me throughout the day for quick and easy access. Soon the other students started arriving to the classroom. I could tell others were arriving by listening to the new voices that entered the room. As I sat there in my darkness I was wondering how I would tell the others students I was completely blind. The thought of telling them made me a bit nervous. Since I was sitting down I do not think the other students knew I could not see a thing. I wanted them all to know so I would not catch them off guard or make them feel uncomfortable when we started working together and they found out on their own.

I had my opportunity to let the others know I was blind during the introductions. They had never seen a Braille note taker and were interested in how it worked; so I told them a little about the device I would be using to participate in the course. Everyone was very inviting and friendly.

Success!

Soon the three days had gone by. I had successfully completed every individual lesson. I participated in the group lessons with the other sighted students. We sat around the table and held lively conversations while we worked on the lessons and solved the problems. I was able to keep up with the other students because of my file system I had created on my Braille note taker to find the reading materials, lessons and exercises the others were referring to in their printed binders quickly and easily. While the instructor showed Power Point slides on the overhead, I followed along on my Braille note taker with the files I had received ahead of time and took notes. After the course was completed I even passed my final exam!

A very short list of some sources to help you further your education, knowledge, discover meaning in your life and work follow.

• Attend formal training
• Reading, or listening to audio books
• Attend seminars or conferences
• Family and friends
• Co workers
• Professional or Personal Associations
• Volunteering
• From yourself by reflecting on your past experiences

I hope nothing stops you from continuing to learn. Not even complete blindness or other challenges. With proper planning, preparation and determination; anything is possible.

We would all like to hear others stories and experiences of your continued learning. Any other tips you have to share with us to help us be successful in our continued learning? I only talked about how a blind person might go about attending a public course. We would like to hear how others with other types of disabilities or challenges (permanent or temporary) prepare and attend courses. Even if you do not have any disability; we would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

We all look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Comments

[R Wells]

What a thoughtful, memorable piece. Thanks for taking the time to get it all down on paper. A lot to think about.

[Tim Swartos]

Good job Bill! I feel the same way about education. Bill and I work at the same company and share a common bond in that we participate in a disability forum at work as well as becoming disabled as an adult. I also enjoy learning and though I have a different disability I also have to prepare for classes and teachers. I am starting my third degree since getting disabled next month and love every minute of it. Because of this pursuit of knowledge my wife is completing her second degree since we've been married and the two grown up kids are earning their degrees and the third is only five years old. Which is quite a feat when you look into our past histories and backgrounds!

[Mathew Mung'oma wesonga]

My name is Mathew Mung'oma. I would like to request if anyone would like to send me 320 Dollars to help to pay for my visa so i can pursue a certain training in the USA get in touch as soon as you can . I am currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. I am partially sighted and a person of special needs.