Harvard Provides Recordings for Blind Students

To the Editors of The Crimson:

The article written by Kelly A.E. Mason about the experience of blind students in the College ["A Question of Responsibility for the Blind," April 9] contains an incorrect statement in regard to "independence."

The article states: "For instance, the University does not provide students with readings of texts because it believes blind students should learn to use outside resources like Readings for the Blind, a private organization which publishes books on tape."

In fact, the College has two paid readers on staff who spend twenty hours per week in the library reading and making recordings for visually impaired students. In addition, there is a core of volunteer readers who supplement the work done by the paid staff. The latter have always been an important part of the support network for blind students, and new volunteers are always welcome.

The point I intended to make is that--as part of our effort to enhance the independence of blind students--we have been asking students to take active responsibility for a number of aspects of their enrollment. By having students deal directly with Recording for the Blind (a lending library with more than 70,000 educational texts on tape), we enable them to develop the advocacy skills that will carry them from college into the working world.

If the in-term arrangements that students and professors are expected to make in order to ensure the accessibility of course materials are falling too much on students, then we must consider whether our current procedure is the right one. We, too worry about the time demands on students, and feel we must in supporting their efforts to work through the usual channels (which is good for faculty and teaching assistants also) be realistic about the number of hours in a day.

We welcome a review of the way we are doing things and count on generating a system where the considerable ability, not disability, of the students with whom we work is evaluated when all is said and done. Thomas A. Dingman   Associate Dean   Director, Disability Resources