Literacy-Related Activities and Visual Impairment and Physical Disability

Jackie is a blind student who also has severe back problems. He was very keen to undertake a Practical Journalism course but was anxious about how his back would hold up. Fortunately, the college offered the opportunity to complete a single unit in Feature Writing that contributed to the qualification in Practical Journalism. Jackie signed up for this to see if he liked this kind of work and explore whether or not his back could take it.

Although the college did not initially have assistive technology, Jackie has his own computer which was equipped with a screen reader called JAWS (Job Access With Speech), so to begin with, he used to take away instructions from the college to work on his feature articles at home.

Jackie’s tutor soon realised that he had the ability to write and use the computer just like the rest of the class. To begin with, Jackie worked his way through the Feature Writing unit. He made brief notes on tape, and he and his tutor exchanged emails and sat together in class going through his written work. By the end of the summer term, Jackie knew that the Practical Journalism course was for him. He asked his tutor if he felt there might be any problem areas to overcome if he started the course. His tutor felt that DTP (Desktop Publishing) and shorthand might be difficult to adapt, but was prepared to enrol him on the course, especially since he had gained a merit pass in Feature Writing.

Prior to the course, Jackie was given a grant (Disabled Student’s Allowance) to buy the services of a specialist note-taker that would help overcome the hurdle of doing shorthand. He was also given funding to buy assistive technology - Braille Note, a small, device that contains a Braille display of 32-cells. When Jackie types Braille into the machine, he’s then able to read back what he has written.

Though Jackie had done well on his first unit, he decided that full time study would place too much strain on his back and be too tiring for him to cope with. After negotiation with the college, it was agreed that he could complete the course on a part time basis. For most of the subjects, he was given notes on disk, or sent them by e-mail if they were not immediately to hand. The college bought a copy of the screen reader, JAWS, that he used at home and loaded it onto a computer in the newsroom. This enabled Jackie to access the Internet and complete all the same tasks as required of his peers. He was able to make notes on the PDA and read them back at his own leisure, or transfer them to his computer at home.  The shorthand units were particularly successful. The lecturer dictated all the passages to him, and he read them back to her using his Braille PDA. He then typed these up on his PC so that she had a written record of what he had achieved. Jackie was delighted with the friendliness and ‘can-do’ attitude of the staff at the college and is looking forward to a career in writing.

Remember, the experience of disability is highly individualised, and people with the same impairment may have very different needs when it comes to making adjustments to practice. It is really important to have a discussion with the disabled person themselves about what their particular needs – and solutions – might be.