[Nomc] Survey on Perceptions on Blind Cane Travel Instructors

Hi all, I don't find this particularly concerning from the comments that I'm reading in the email thread. Whatever they produce, it becomes part of our professional discourse. When we analyze the final product with our Structured Discovery ideology, we will be able to explain whatever they put out there. In my opinion, the ableism in the Vision-Centered approach is more dangerous when it is kept quiet than when it is flushed out in the open so that we can discuss it. If they come out with a product that demonstrates that they have measured the attitudes of COMS-bearing instructors, then this will become evidence of how COMS-bearing instructors think about us. If they frame it as the ultimate truth about blind instructors, they will still need to document their sampling methods in the methodology section of their paper. If we need to offer our critique, we can do that. I would enjoy such a project. It is much harder to critique something that remains quietly undocumented than it is to critique something that is out in the open. Such a critique would also be able to highlight the similarities between Dr. Bell's previous work with the Social Responsibilities about Blindness Scale. Quite frankly, with some of the work I'm interested in doing about acceptance of blind people into our profession, which could literally become the substance of my dissertation, this kind of study would give me something good to use as justification for why I need to do the study I need to do. We know we aren't accepted in the workforce very much, and we know that there are tons of problems related to that. What makes our case difficult is that this information isn't out there in the professional literature so that we can call it out and confront it. I don't know if they'll let me take the survey since I don't get paid to teach cane travel right now, but I'll go check it out. Aloha, Justin Justin Mark Hideaki Salisbury he/him/his Phone: 808.797.8606 Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury "Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore." Cesar Chavez From: NOMC <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> On Behalf Of debandjeff at allophone.com Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 7:46 PM To: 'Edward Bell ' <ebell at pdrib.com>; 'Powell, Deja (DSB)' ; nomc at lists.nbpcb.org Subject: Re: [Nomc] Survey on Perceptions on Blind Cane Travel Instructors Hello Dr. Bell, I actually have participated with the research that Dr. Nora Griffin-Shirley has been conducting, along with her assistant The Nguyen, at the request of Carlos Servan. This consisted of answering a number of questions during an interview, and then later, after COVID had slowed down, they came to Nebraska to video my working with students. I was naturally concerned about where this would lead; however, they did seem very receptive, and so far, the all too common attacks have not come. They appear to be interested in both how we teach as blind instructors, and how to prepare blind people to be instructors. I strongly recommended that they contact you and study the program at LATech, since that is where the expertise is to be found. In any case, I was not aware of this survey being prepared, and I will have to take a look at it, just to see what all of this is leading to. Jeff From: NOMC > On Behalf Of Edward Bell Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 5:46 PM To: 'Powell, Deja (DSB)' >; nomc at lists.nbpcb.org Subject: Re: [Nomc] Survey on Perceptions on Blind Cane Travel Instructors Thank you Deja, I am not accusing anyone of plagerism, but the structure and format of these questions is strikingly similar to my social responsibility about blindness attitudes scale. The first 20 questions follow almost the same format and wording. Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC, Director, Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness Louisiana Tech University 600 Mayfield Ave / 210 Woodard Hall PO Box 3158 Ruston LA 71272 Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 ebell at latech.edu www.pdrib.comhttp://www.pdrib.com ************* "I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." -- Stephen Jay Gould From: NOMC > On Behalf Of Powell, Deja (DSB) Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 5:21 PM To: nomc at lists.nbpcb.org Subject: [Nomc] Survey on Perceptions on Blind Cane Travel Instructors Hello NOMC's: I recently came across a survey that I found to be very interesting. The survey is asking about current O&M instructor's perspectives on blind cane travel teachers. I logged into the survey and was immediately asked if I was a COMS, which I replied "NO" to, then I was asked if I teach cane travel in my current job position, which I said, "YES". This did take me to the survey to complete-which I did. I am deeply concerned about the wording of some of these questions and the consequences of the results for those of us who are blind instructors. I would encourage each of you to fill out the survey and provide feedback. I would also love to hear perspective on this research and how it could effect those of us who are blind, and in the field. Below is the email I received including the link to the survey. Please feel free to share and pass it along. Thanks, Deja Powell, MA, NOMC External Email Dear Robin, We are writing to request your assistance in completing the study "Attitudes Towards Orientation and Mobility Instructors Who Are Blind." Specifically, I am requesting that you forward the attached participation invitation to all current orientation and mobility instructors in your organization. The purpose of the study is to determine the attitude of currently certified orientation and mobility specialists (COMS) toward orientation and mobility (O&M) instructors who are blind because of the increase in recent of certified O&M specialists who are blind. Participants who accept my invitation will be asked to answer a 10-15 minute via this following link: https://educttu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_41MGHCwShUp5SeOhttps://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Feducttu.az1.qualtrics.com%2Fjfe%2Fform%2FSV_41MGHCwShUp5SeO&data=05%7C01%7CDeja.Powell%40dsb.wa.gov%7C1a7eb803f43f41597cd408da969aea6a%7C11d0e217264e400a8ba057dcc127d72d%7C0%7C0%7C637987889349086116%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=WyXiYoGWUCcwBwKM%2BeKbaNjzDmNHASqs%2BjOcHdqk030%3D&reserved=0 or the following QR code: [Qr code Description automatically generated] We appreciate the participants' time and effort for this research study. When they leave their names, phone numbers and emails at the end of the survey, they will have a chance to receive one of four $25 Amazon gift cards in a random drawing. One week after the data process is completed and the research team receive the recipient forms from the selected participants, four participants will receive the gift cards. If you have any questions about this research, please contact Dr. Nora Griffin-Shirley at n.griffin-shirley at ttu.edu or 806-835-0225, or The Nguyen at the.nguyen at ttu.edu or 806-834-1750. We highly appreciate your time and support for sending the attached information sheet to your orientation and mobility instructors. Sincerely, Nora Griffin-Shirley Texas Tech University Box 40171 Lubbock, TX 79409-1071 Email: n.griffin-shirley at ttu.edu Phone number: (806) 8350225 Bradley Blair at bradley.m.blair at gmail.com Laura Bozeman at laura.bozeman at umb.edu The Nguyen at the.nguyen at ttu.edu Sent from Mailhttps://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986 for Windows