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March 25, 2008
Please Help a Newly-Blind Tax Prof
I received a request for help from a colleague of a Tax Prof who suddenly lost his sight. Please post in the comments any "information/tips/advice from others who teach or practice tax law and who have already successfully coped (or begun to cope) with a similar problem."
March 25, 2008 in Law School | Permalink
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Comments
Another resource is Bruce Winick at the University of Miami
Email: bwinick@law.miami.edu
Phone: (305) 284-3031
Posted by: Paul Caron | Mar 25, 2008 9:59:14 AM
Your colleague could contact Dan Meador at U.Va. Dan lost his sight suddenly in mid-life and has continued to be an effective scholar and teacher for over 20 years. His home page is http://www.law.virginia.edu/lawweb/Faculty.nsf/FHPbI/dmeador
phone: (434) 924-3947
Posted by: Bryan Camp | Mar 25, 2008 10:39:14 AM
I have a younger brother, Greg Williams (Phd. in Theoretical Chemistry, Churchill College, Cambridge), who was born with congenital glaucoma (essentially no sight) and teaches several subjects at a small Christian school in Oklahoma. He has an in-class assistant and a projector that attaches to his laptop that he uses to teach. He can be reached at greg.williams@cantab.net or 219-730-9699. I can be reached at alan-williams@law.northwestern.edu. There are also several national organizations and bulletin boards for the blind that could provide advice or information.
The professor's tasks have been made more difficult, but not impossible. The largest differences in teaching would seem to be improvising examples with whiteboard diagrams without in-class assistance and looking up Code provisions. Fortunately, technology has improved dramatically in the last decade. Additionally, Macintosh's built-in reader software is generally considered superior and cheaper to the third-party reader software available for PC's.
Posted by: Alan Williams | Mar 25, 2008 10:56:52 AM
One of my younger brothers, Greg Williams (Phd. Theoretical Chemistry), was born with congenital glaucoma and has essentialy no sight. He is currently teaching several science and non-science courses at a small Christian school. He has access to technology and an in-class assistant. Greg can be reached at greg.williams@cantab.net or 219-730-9699.
There are also several national organizations and active bulletin boards that could be of assistance.
Posted by: Alan Williams | Mar 25, 2008 11:19:51 AM
My wife has been legally blind since birth and worked in educational settings (higher ed administration, higher education teaching, contract research and K-12) for most of her career.
Most states have a vocational rehabilitation office which is available on a categorial, non-financial need basis to blind or legally blind individuals. These offices often are extremely helpful in locating providers of adapative technologies and services, and in knowing what has worked with other clients.
Of particular usefulness are dictation software (like Dragon dictate), and software that reads alound what is on the screen
Vocational rehab offices often offer training sessions on matter from installing and using software to life skills crossing the street and using public transportation and arranging foodstuffs in your kitchen cabinets.
Their employees are frequently willing to serve as advocates for you in establishing an ADA accomodations plan with an employer which often considers points you wouldn't have come up with on your own, and gives the employer the comfort of knowing that the accomodations selected have an official impromtur and have worked with other employers.
Posted by: ohwilleke | Mar 26, 2008 9:31:15 AM
