I agree with Ellen and the others that the student should be brought into this conversation/exploration.  To assume out of hand that he or she would be unsafe and incapable of the requirements shows lack of experience with this kind of disability on the part of the instructor and the school.  The best remedy for inexperience is to learn.  The student is the most experienced of all those present, regarding personal strengths and limitations.

The person who suggested working with an organization that specializes in working with people have visual impairments is also on target.  Please go to others who have expertise for your answers.

About the person to assist the student in the class: aides are different from tutors and are routinely used under US law, especially under IDEA.  Section 504 is earlier and not as inclusive as ADA or IDEA, especially in terms of educationally-related questions.  Most importantly, despite what the teacher clearly thinks, an aide or aide-type person might actually work quite well.  If other students are expected to grasp the basic concepts and safety procedures, why couldn't a non-technician aide help the student with vison differences do the same?  To think otherwise assumes lesser mental capacity/general ability of both the student and the aide, individually and as a team.

I'm distressed with the tone of paying attention to the "letter of the law", whatever laws may apply.  What about the strengths, abilities, hopes and dreams of the student?  We all work to help students achieve the most they can.  This situation should be no different.  As a button I wear proclaims, "Attitudes are the real disabilities." 

Good for you for looking for help!  You've made the first step in overcoming the real disability!

Audrey 

<<< [log in to unmask]  8/31 10:59a >>>
Re the student in Canada with vision differences who wishes to
take a hands-on automotive engineering course.

Has the student been consulted as to whether s/he believes s/he
can successfully complete the course as written in the syllabus?

I have had a mobility difference since day one, and do many
things, including carrying heavy packages and walking long
distances, that people falsely assume I am not capable of doing.
I just may do some things differently. I  also know what I should
not even attempt to do for safety reasons, and do not even think
of attempting what for me, as well as for others around me, would
be unsafe.  It is a matter of compensating for one's weaker
points by developing one's strengths. [don't we all?]


The perceptual, spatial, and tactile accuity and awareness that
people with vision differences develop, perhaps by necessity, are
extraordinary and far exceed what we who seem to take our vision
for granted ever usually attain. And with today's high tech ...

First Stop:  The Student.

------

Ellen Perlow
Chair, ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Committee
"Celebrating a New Century that Celebrates Diversity"
http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
----------------------------------------------------
Web: http://twu.edu/~s_perlow/
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]