American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Fall 2022 ADVOCACY
The Back-to-school Basics: Embracing Communication, Collaboration, Confidence, and Calm
by Elizabeth Rouse
Reprinted from the Blog of the National Association of Blind Students, August 8, 2021.
From the Editor: Elizabeth Rouse, a recent graduate of the Louisiana Center for the Blind, comes from a family of educators. She grew up in an enriched environment that encouraged self-advocacy in all aspects of life, especially in academia. Currently she is preparing to apply to law school. Her thoughts about getting ready to start a new college semester are relevant for blind students of any age, and they can be guidelines for parents, too.
Back-to-school season can seem overwhelming at times, especially for blind students entering a new environment. Whether you're heading off to your first semester of undergrad or starting to take control of your IEP meetings as a high school student, unfamiliar challenges can feel daunting. Over the past eight years, I've learned quite a bit about navigating new situations, and I'm excited to share a few of my ideas with you. I hope that my experience can make some of these steps in your educational journey a pinch less stressful.
Communication
One of the simplest pieces of advice I can offer is to use your voice. Letting those around you know what will help you is important, whether they are teachers/professors, disability services staff members, or even your closest friends. We may sometimes wish someone could simply read our minds and understand what we need, but that isn't reality. Instead, we are tasked with the responsibility of requesting, suggesting, and advocating for anything and everything that will make the classroom more conducive to our unique learning styles. After all, no one knows what we need to succeed better than we do ourselves.
Collaboration
Building on the idea of communicating with those around us, working alongside those same individuals comes next. Pay attention to the steps in the process that can make gathering resources easier for you. For example, if you are working with an office to find an accessible textbook or trying to schedule your upcoming IEP meeting at a time when everyone can attend, be attentive to deadlines. Respect the fact that you aren't the only student working with these entities to accomplish tasks. Make sure everyone is on the same page and remains tied into communication channels.
It's also important to remember that, in some instances, a system may already be in place to help you succeed. Check with an office coordinator to see how things have been done in the past. Use the tools already available to you before you start building systems from scratch.
If there isn't a system in place at your academic institution, remember that you've got a Federation family ready, able, and willing to assist. Reach out to someone in the National Association of Blind Students to see whether someone has gone through a similar experience. Doing everything alone gets tiring, and it's perfectly normal to lean on others for support since you've also got classes and extracurricular activities to contend with.
Confidence
When I first started college, I was anything but confident in my own abilities. I'd just graduated from a tiny high school, and I thought I was the only blind student at my college. However, by communicating with the Student Support Services office, I found two other blind students on my campus. They became a pivotal resource for me, and together we worked through difficulties we faced both in and out of the classroom. As I shared both my positive and my negative experiences with them, my confidence began to grow.
The more challenges I faced down and overcame, the more I felt I could take on. By working alongside those willing to help me, I evolved into a more confident person. I also stepped outside my comfort zone, attending events such as Washington Seminar, which helped me recognize how my newfound, and still developing, sense of confidence could benefit others to come after me.
Calm
The age-old phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day" is sadly true. It takes time to develop as a communicative and confident student dedicated to collaborating with others. Throughout this process, it is essential to try to remain calm when things get tough. At times you may experience stress, frustration, and a sense of defeat. Learning to cope with these feelings is a part of raising your level of maturity.
The calmer you remain, the more you can handle in a level-headed manner. Screaming, crying, and throwing things at a wall may work wonders on your frustration levels, but after your temper has settled, the problem still stands, and all you're left with is a mess to clean up. The most important thing to remember, though, is that you can clean up that mess, take a few breaths, and tackle the problem from a different angle.
Academia is a wonderful environment where students have the chance to grow into their own talents and abilities. Be patient with yourself and the situations you face, and remember to tap into your resources. No matter how you may feel, you're never facing things alone.
As you enter the classroom this fall, I encourage you to keep this Japanese proverb in the back of your mind: "Fall seven times and stand up eight." As students we are resilient, dedicated, and much stronger than we might think.