April 4 - Looking Back

I have a bad habit of not deleting old files from my computer but today I decided to tackle this task. Many of my saved files were from a course I took with Athabasca University. Some were merely old papers I had written but others were personal observations of the time in question. The program was one of distance learning with essays and projects being submitted electronically. There were also electronic course interactions with other students and the professor of the course. Part of my enthusiasm at the beginning of the course was that I would be able to participate on a level playing field with other sighted students. Nobody would need to know that I couldn’t see.However, as the course progressed, this reluctance also became a source of frustration. With my standard audible computer program I encountered technical communication barriers.  Other students who were no doubt far more technically superior than I was seemed to delight in power point presentations which were often unaccompanied by printed text. When these also had a musical background, my audible program simply froze. I found I needed to speak up.Today, as I was rereading some of my files, I came across the following note I had written to one of my instructors towards the end of the course time. It was a good reminder of my feelings at the time. I wonder if others who communicate mostly online have similar feelings.This is what I wrote:When I first registered for MAIS, I was disappointed that technical difficulties necessitated that I identify myself as someone who was unable to see. Originally, I had hoped to retain a degree of anonymity regarding my eyesight. I have often observed in face-to-face interactions that responses towards me are different when people realize that I cannot see. Eventually, in my progress through the MAIS program, I discarded this stance and became aware that the program might be a good platform to advocate both on my own behalf and on the behalf of others with visual disabilities. I would say that this change in attitude was my most valuable lesson learned during the course of the MAIS program. Considering my own change in attitude also enabled me to see more clearly that people with disabilities cannot all be painted with the same brush. As with people who are sighted, we are all at different points in our lives’ journeys.