Hi Caroline,
Yes, the electronic Braille route is one that we've thought of too. He uses
the Braillenote quite proficiently --well, he ought to anyway, because I
trained him on it!!! However, if we were to permit him to use his own
Brailenote for the exams, we would definitely have to take his machine off
him in advance of every exam, download every file onto a flash card or
equivalent storage medium, then give him the Braillenote totally empty at
the start of the exam. We could not possibly allow any other arrangements,
because we would need to know for certain that there was nothing pre-stored
on the Braillenote. This would also mean that he was without his main
note-taker for given revision periods, which also seems a little unfair.
You're right in that this would make things easier for us however, it's just
a question of how to do it. As I've said on this newsgroup before, sadly
there are not enough electronic Braille note-takers floating around
generally, especially in assessment centres.
Is it a reasonable adjustment? I'm still undecided on this one. I think
one could just as easily say that Jaws is provided and that's reasonable.
I'm NOT saying that, but feel that this could be argued. For example, this
same student sent me a booklist last month which was 63 books in length.
Now, if he chose to ask us to make every one of those books available in
Braille, would that be a reasonable adjustment, and, if not, where's the
difference? I've not even managed to source 10 in an accessible format yet,
so where do we stand ...
Paul.
Paul Jarman,
Disability Support Officer,
2.39 Francis Bancroft Building,
Queen Mary, University of London,
Mile End Road,
LONDON. E1 4NS
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7882-2757,
Fax: +44 (0)20 7882-5223,
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Caroline Davies
Sent: 15 March 2007 15:20
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Examinations in Braille
Hi Paul,
I seem to recollect that when I worked at London Met we had a blind student
who used a Braille 'n' Speak to write her exam. This was then printed out
afterwards via a computer. This worked well as far as I can remember and
this method would miss out having a person to do the transcription. Not
knowing enough about the way in which manual and electronic machines are
used, would your student be able to transfer his Braille skills to one of
these? If he could, perhaps you could hire one or persuade one of the
suppliers to lend you one. Just a thought.
Yes, I do think it is a reasonable adjustment, either way.
Caroline
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Jarman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 12:43 PM
Subject: Examinations in Braille
> HI everyone,
>
> Has anyone ever allowed any of their visually-impaired students to write
> their examination papers in Braille, and have them transcribed afterwards?
> Of course I am aware that a standard reasonable adjustment is to have the
> papers themselves turned into Braille--and I can do that myself,
> obviously--but what about the student's answers? We have an international
> student who has put in a request to write out his exam answers on a
> perkins--that's one of those old-fashioned mechanical Brailling machines
> for
> those who don't know--because this is how he has always done things in
> school in Iran. In fact, that's how things are usually still done here in
> schools as well. At HE level however, I get the impression that most VI
> students use the PC with Jaws/Supernova etc. That's how all our previous
> VI
> students have sat exams anyway, as did I. Have any of your students just
> Brailled them out though, and would you consider this to be a reasonable
> adjustment to allow him to do so? He says that his typing speed is not
> sufficient to use the PC. Of course it would land us with plenty more
> work,
> transcribing back into print etc., but I guess this is no excuse, as
> always.
> Thoughts welcome.
>
> Paul.
>
> Paul Jarman,
> Disability Support Officer,
> 2.39 Francis Bancroft Building,
> Queen Mary, University of London,
> Mile End Road,
> LONDON. E1 4NS
> Tel.: +44 (0)20 7882-2757,
> Fax: +44 (0)20 7882-5223,
> E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
>
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