I wrote this on the Nabs-l list, but I figured this is also
the right list to post this message in.
Greetings, fellow blind students and list members,
How is everything? Hope all is well. I am in need of
some immediate advice dealing with a problem which just happened
Sunday night. Here's the deal.
Do you remember that I initially asked for tips and hints
as to how to effectively take and successfully pass a Computer
science class? Well, those tips worked, and I also have been
doing things by trial and error. I got a reader/tutor to work
with me outside of class, and things were going well. He also
would go to class with me and take notes for me because many of
the things the professor has are slides or diagrams of circuits
and other stuff that needs to be explained to me. As I said,
things were going OK, and I even have an A in that class.
Last week, we had a four part assignment we needed to do
for this week. I needed the help of my reader/tutor for doing
the assignment. We got the programs out of the way, but the
other two parts consisted of some analysis and something else
which I can't remember. Because I was going out of town late
that week, I wanted to finish everything, and he agreed. We
finished the first two parts on Wednesday night, and he asked if
we could possibly work on Sunday night after I arrived. I
reluctantly agreed because he told me that he needed to go do
some other stuff.
Upon arriving, I called him and left him a message
telling him I'd be ready to work with him if he'd give me at
least an hour to get settled and get something to eat. He called
me back and totally shocked me by telling me that he wouldn't be
able to help me any more and that because of one low grade he
received, he wanted more time for studying. He basically said he
didn't realize how much time working with me would take from his
schedule and that he was spreading himself too thin. I knew that
he spent other time doing nothing, and I could have said
something then and there, but I didn't. He then told me that he
was too tired and wouldn't be able to help me with the homework I
needed to finish (which was due yesterday). I was bewildered and
angry because it was after 11:00 and I was still willing to work
to finish my homework. He never said anything before about
quitting, and everything was extremely sudden!
Now, I have no reader or tutor. I'm desperately seeking
people here who know their stuff, but here's my question. I
tried talking with my TA to ask him about extra time for the
homework and I explained the situation. He told me to ask the
professor. Is this a valid and reasonable excuse, or is it a
weak excuse which uses blindness as its main factor? Is this
worth asking my professor for extended time for this assignment
and possibly next week's as well if I don't find anyone soon? I
think that I can let him know that my grades are high and that he
can trust me by giving me this chance, but I also don't want to
let him think that my blindness is going to be a hindrance. What
do all of you think, and do you have further advice?
-- Jim
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Mar 02 2002 - 01:40:38 PST