I so enjoyed reading your description of the kinds of things you were able
to do with machines and equipment as a blind person.  I really admire people
who can physically accomplish things, whether it's carpentry, mechanical, or
whatever.  As a blind person myself, I have found that at times, it's too
easy to buy into sighted people's ideas of what we are not capable of.  The
other part of it is, as a blind person, it's very hard to find someone to
teach you the physical/mechanical skills on an individual basis (you can't
just watch someone else doing the task).  Even as a homeowner, I would like
to be able to do some carpentry/painting tasks, but I worry that I will
founder in the middle somewhere and be unable to complete the project.  Then
it might stay uncompleted, and create a mess, for nonths!  Anyway, I thought
your piece was excellent, and I am saving it.

- Jackie McCraw


-----Original Message-----
From: Senge, Jeff [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2000 11:51 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: canadian problem, vision disability


Dear Susan,

I certainly wouldn't reject the notion of this individual possessing the
talent to learn to become a successful automotive technician.  People who
are blind or visually impaired have been repairing engines and machinery for
years.

As a person who is legally blind and functionally blind by most standards, I
enjoyed a successful career as a professional turf equipment technician for
18 years before hanging up my wrenches and diving into my current profession
of adaptive technology.

I learned to work with all the dangerous tools that you mentioned in your
description of the course.  My actual job required me to maintain and repair
over 200 pieces of equipment ranging from the smallest engines you could
imagine to fairly good size tractors.  I worked on gasoline and diesel
engines as well as transmissions, drive-trains, steering and chassis
components, hydraulic pumps and systems, as well as electrical systems.

If the notion of having someone who couldn't see very well working on
machinery like this wasn't scary enough, add to this mix lots of very sharp
and very powerful cutting devices like giant hydraulically powered turf
mowers and chain saws.  I guess it might seam a little unsafe to an outsider
but I survived with relatively few serious injuries.  I'm not saying in 18
years I never had any stitches but I doubt there are many in such a
profession who can claim a better safety record than mine.  For the record,
I only had stitches twice, and in both instances, they were minor and not
related to my lack of sight.  They were related to not paying attention to
what I was doing just like many people do everyday.

In this profession, I needed to be able to adjust many things to very
specific tolerances and was able to manage this responsibility successfully.
For example, how many people could successfully adjust a precision real
mower used to cut golf course greens to shear paper as thin as tissue
without having one metal surface touching another.  Kind of like scissors
but without the blades actually touching.  Then take three of these mower
heads, line them up end to end and adjust their height in thousands to a
specified height and have them all simultaneously cut a swath six feet wide
exactly the same height, about five thirty-seconds of an inch.  This sure
doesn't sound like a task to trust to a blind guy.  I mention this to
illustrate the types of things I was able to do successfully without
assistance..

In addition to this type of stuff, I regularly rebuilt engines and
transmissions using micrometers and all sorts of hand and pneumatic power
tools, precision sharpened some very dangerous equipment using powerful
grinding and commercial sharpening machinery, and maintained a entire shop
complete with parts inventory.

The two things I was never able to master were painting with a sprayer and
welding.  Fortunately, these were not essential functions of the job and I
was able to contract with a professional painter and welder when I needed
these services performed.  Something to consider when evaluating the areas
of welding and painting is that both of these tasks are usually best
performed by professional welders and painters and not automotive
technicians.  In the real world beyond the classroom, I doubt many good
automotive technicians are good welders or professional welders qualified
automotive technicians.  While understanding the welding process and methods
are important to a mechanic, being able to weld might not be.  In my case,
contracting with a welder was my real-world work-around that enabled me to
perform the essential functions of my job successfully and deliver a
reliable finished product to my employer.

I hope some of this makes sense and this student is not rejected from your
automotive technology program because of safety concerns or the notion that
the lack of sight somehow prevents a person from being able to learn how
machinery works.  Sure there are real safety issues, but people with visual
impairments learn to deal with those everyday.  It is a matter of learning
different techniques to do the same job.  Those of us who have survived with
reduced sight have learned not to walk through glass doors or get mowed down
in traffic.  Sure you need to be careful but you also need to be able to
take the risk if you are going to get out there and have a life.

I just hate to see these types of situations.  To me it seems as though the
glass is being viewed as half empty instead of half full.  If I was to tell
you I met a totally blind man a few years ago who works in the field of
professional motor racing on a Indy car racing team it may seem hard to
believe.  However, it is true.  He knows so much about what he is doing,
that he has the job of examining the telemetry that comes off the race car
while it is racing.  He evaluates the data and provides ongoing performance
information to others on the racing team.  This is a critical job that
requires an extensive understanding of automotive technology and computers
but probably not much about welding.  By the way, he uses a portable
computer equipped with JAWS to do his job.

My reason for mentioning this is to illustrate there are many aspects of
automotive technology that are dependent on a persons ability to synthesize
diagnostic information rather than their ability to wrench bolts.  There are
lots of people who can do an acceptable job of wrenching bolts but not that
many who can provide an accurate diagnosis of an automotive problem.
Knowing what the problem is often requires a higher level of skill than
actually fixing the problem.

If I can be of further help to you or your student, please don't hesitate to
contact me by email.

All for now...

Jeff Senge
Information & Computer Access Program Coordinator
California State University, Fullerton
Phone:  (714) 278-7253
Email:  [log in to unmask]




> ----------
> From:         SUSAN ALCORN MACKAY[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Library Access -- http://www.rit.edu/~easi
> Sent:         Thursday, August 31, 2000 7:50 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      canadian problem, vision disability
>
> We don't have the ADA in Canada but we do have Human Rights Legislation
> that does guide us in providing accommodations to students with
> disabilities. Mostly the issues are fairly clear but I have an issue today
> that is a complex one - accommodation? vs safety? vs substantive program
> modification.?
>
> Any thoughts you may have to illuminate this situation would be very
> welcome.
>
> Day of registration, we find a legally blind student fully registered in
> Automotive Maintenance. Student has Retinitis pigmentosa which has
> degenerated over the past year. 50% of the work is done in the shop and
> each project must be accomplished in the shop and graded. There is
> specific time to do these projects which involve engines, tools and
> safety, gasoline and diesel fuel systems, power trains, suspension,
> steering and brakes.This course introduces shop practices, hand and power
> tools, measuring and cutting tools, shop equipment, oxy-acetylene welding
> fundamentals, graphic communications, shop systems, first aid, seals,
> fasteners, lubricants, air conditioning systems and CFC Certification
>
> Our first thought was to provide an educational assistant to ensure safe
> practices in the shop. The teacher quickly dispelled that notion as
> helpful; an ea would require the qualifications of an automotive
> technician to be truly safe and helpful. Keep in mind that the shop is
> full of students who are just learning with all manner of equipment. Some
> of the projects are very detailed and precise. This would necessitate the
> expense of an automotive technician ($25-30/hr or about $15,000-20,000)
>
> With or without a technician, the teacher is understandably  concerned
> about safety. The teacher is responsible for the safety of ALL students
> and the physical plant.
>
> It became clear that this situation was anything but clear!
> It would appear that this student, even with accommodations, may present a
> significant safety risk to other students.
>
> There is also a question of the validity of the suggested accommodation.
> The need for an automotive  technican may really be a substantial change
> in how the program is delivered; is this not one-to-one teaching? - Not an
> accommodation but a special program created 50% of the course time for a
> particular student.
>
> Does anyone feel that hiring teachers for one-to-one teaching of certain
> students with vision disabilities (or motor, or hearing, or psychiatric or
> some LDs) and providing alternate but equal access to facilities, is a
> reasonable accommodation for a publically funded college?
>
> We have requested (and will pay for), an opinion by the student's
> opthamologist about his ability to perform the essential requirements of
> the course given the program demands  the teacher is completing on the lab
> component.
>
> My questions:
> 1) is a technician an appropriate accommodation? or is that a substantive
> alteration of program?
> 2) is the safety issue valid?
>
> I would much preferred having this conversation in May - may have saved
> the student $65, + $300 shop supplies, a year potentially lost due to a
> career adjustment. But his high school didn't assist him with any
> transition planning.
>
> Any help to illuminate this situation would be definitely appreciated!!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Susan Alcorn MacKay, Director
> The Glenn Crombie Centre
> Cambrian College
> Sudbury, On P3A 2V8
> http://homepages.cambrianc.on.ca/snrrc
>