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
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
Hi all, Dr. Nora Griffin-Shirley and research student The Nguyen visited CCB a year ago this week to observe some Cane Travel lessons. Also, i previously participated in their study, "Teaching Strategies and Non-visual Skills Used by O&M Instructors who are Visually Impaired" I am interested in taking the survey. Thank you, Martin Becerra-Miranda, NOMC On Sep 14, 2022, at 4:46 PM, Edward Bell <ebell at pdrib.com> wrote: ? 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.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 <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> 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_41MGHCwShUp5SeO or the following QR code: 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 Mail for Windows _______________________________________________ NOMC mailing list NOMC at lists.nbpcb.org http://lists.nbpcb.org/listinfo.cgi/nomc-nbpcb.org
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 <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> On Behalf Of Edward Bell
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 5:46 PM
To: 'Powell, Deja (DSB)'
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
So, I did take the survey, and I did answer the question about hiring a
blind COMS as strongly disagree. I'm sure it will be taken, no matter how it
is answered, as it would be taken anyway. I hope there is a positive change
in the air here, a lot of years have passed from the days of direct
confrontation, but like everyone else, I do have my concerns.
Jeff
From: NOMC <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> On Behalf Of Edward Bell
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 5:46 PM
To: 'Powell, Deja (DSB)'
Hi Deja, Thanks for sharing this. I immediately took your survey tonight and I agree with your concerns. It?s no surprise to me that the author is Nora Griffin Shirley, from Texas Tech University. My Limited encounters with Dr. Shirley were not positive. First, she participated in something that the Texas agency for the blind was doing back in 2005 called Texas confidence builders. This was a required training for any orientation and mobility instructor who wanted to contract with the state to serve clients. Dr. Shirley wasn?t necessarily required but she chose to undergo the 2 1/2 day Texas confidence builders training because many of her graduates were doing so. Also, she would send interns to the Chris Cole training center to work with the COMS instructors every summer. One part of Texas confidence builders, there was a non-visual component indoors and outside. While the state wide orientation and mobility consultant and I were careful to chaperon the unskilled travelers through all the indoor and outdoor events, they were extremely challenging for everyone from Texas Tech University in 2005. Dr. Shirley was no exception. She actually demonstrated the old, erroneous description that all instructors hate with a passion. ?Those Who can do, those who can?t, teach. ?. She certainly appeared to believe that. That was my introduction to Dr. Shirley. Later, Joseph Cutter came to the ssouthwest orientation and mobility Association conference as a guest speaker. While Dr. Shirley?s students oh and many others across the state reached out to him hungrily for the information he had to teach them, demanding, why didn?t they teach this in college, Dr. Shirley was very hostile. At one point she asked him why people should just take his word for all of this stuff. He responded that he was the one who was asked to come and present. , subtly implying that someone thought he knew thing or two and invited him to present at SWOMA. I thought it was a great come back and cheered him on from the audience. So when I got into the survey and discovered the biases, it was no surprise to me after I had found her name associated with this instrument. At Times I can be a rather lazy blind person and sometimes i use my residual vision for things just because I think it might be faster. Right or wrong, I still do it. having done so, I want to report that there was also a bias that a screen reader might not have detected. One of every answer on the scale questions was written in all caps. It was usually the first one. The order changed regularly and a good student of test building could almost feel the answer that Dr. Shirley wanted the test take her to give by the positioning of the All caps answer. I will not be sharing the survey with the COMS at my agency. I?m afraid to let them see it. I was also very careful to answer some of the questions with the neutral, I don?t know. I did not want to strongly agree or disagree with something that could be taken out of context. I answered as you would expect but a couple of them were slanted so that I felt like it was probably better just to say I don?t know. The question that stands out is a question about hiring a blind COMS. I put I don?t know because frankly, I don?t think I would hire a Blind COMS because I have not seen a COMS university program that could provide the Mom visual training that we provide. I chose I don?t know because I thought that it would be taken out of context and assume I would not hire a blind person. it?s too bad they didn?t add a comment section or I would have commented that while I might hire a blind COMS, this would not happen if this person were competing with a blind NOMC. The NOMC certification will automatically trump the other certification. Well, that is, if I were doing the hiring. I want to warn everyone else, when you take this Survey, think about how the answers could be taken out of context. Saying that you would strongly disagree or strongly agree about hiring a blind COMS may be used when the data is compiled to demonstrate that you would not hire a blind person. Those of us who graduated from tech back when we still had to take statistics and psychometrics, God have mercy on our souls, well remember how data can be manipulated. I encourage everyone to look carefully at the survey and if your answer does not weigh heavily in favor of a blind teacher, be very careful not to tilt the odds away from us. I would like to see a lot of us come in and skew her data. it?s too bad that she will probably shuffle out all of the ones who say they are blind but say they are not COMS. She knows who we are. She knows we exist and the very fact that she did not offer NOMC as a choice is a direct insult. She knows better! I might go so far as to suggest that we ask Dr. Bell if he would consider reaching out to Dr. Shirley to discuss with her the biases in her survey and failing to mention the NOMC certified blind instructors. This would just be another way to let her know that people are aware of her biases and are not being fooled by them. If she intends to publish somewhere, we need to be watching this so we can have somebody ready with a rebuttal. Naturally she will head straight for journal of visual impairment and blindness. They will publish just about anything that the COMS want to say. Yours on the barricades, Jane Lansaw NOMC Tulsa Oklahoma Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 14, 2022, at 5:21 PM, Powell, Deja (DSB)
wrote: ? 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_41MGHCwShUp5SeO or the following QR code:
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 Mail for Windows
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participants (6)
-
debandjeff＠allophone.com -
Deja.Powell＠dsb.wa.gov -
ebell＠pdrib.com -
martinbecerramiranda＠yahoo.com -
PRESIDENT＠alumni.ecu.edu -
widearc2000＠gmail.com