FEATURE
Junior Annmarie Bedard walks the track twice a week on the Boca campus for a grade. She, along with her 35 classmates, is required to hike around the track in the scorching Florida sun. But Bedard faces an additional challenge — she’s also legally blind.
Born 17 weeks premature, Bedard was diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity at 2 months old, causing complete blindness in the left eye and a sight of 20/400 in the right. Doctors had very little hope for her when she was born, but now, 21 years later, she’s on track to graduate from FAU.
“I feel like a fighter because of it. They thought I was not going to be able to walk or talk, and have mental problems,” said Bedard, a social work major.
While in her junior year at FAU, Bedard is taking five classes. Not all are typical lecture-style; she’s also enrolled in a walking class (PEM 1148), where she is required to do physical activity.
Her classmates help guide her on the track.
“They usually tell me to go to the left, or my friend Christina tells me when I’m going off the track,” explained Bedard.
Although Bedard is legally blind, she is able to do homework, take tests, make presentations, read textbooks and find her way around campus — independently.
“I don’t like it when people do things for me all the time,” said Bedard.
To assist her with classes, she uses services from the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). She also uses note-takers and programs like JAWS and Kurzweils that are offered by the OSD to help her.
According to Nichole Rokos, director of the OSD, the programs offered are used by students to be advocates for themselves.
“If you have anyone who would be the perfect example of that, [it] would be Annmarie.”
JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a screen-reader computer program for the visually impaired used to access e-mails and Internet sites, take tests and read notes. The program reads aloud information on the screen.
The Kurzweils program scans paper-form documents, such as handouts and notes, to read aloud to the user.
Rokos explained that the programs Bedard uses are geared toward helping students become self-sufficient.
“If she [has] to do research and she has to read a book, she would use Kurzweils, but if she has to do Internet research or type up something, then she uses JAWS,” explained Rokos. “[She] would have to get her assignment in the same time as everyone else; no special accommodations other than she would have to [go] somewhere [to have the programs] available to use.”
According to Bedard, she frequently makes in-class presentations a part of her courses.
“I do presentations on PowerPoint. There is a program that you can [use to] voice-record what you want to say,” said Bedard. “The last presentation I did was for my health class [on] breast cancer. Through the voice-recorder narration, I said, ‘What is breast cancer?’ And when I present the slide, I have a sound effect, so I know what to talk about. I have that at the beginning of every slide as a cue for me.”
When it comes to taking tests, she goes to the OSD to take her exams. She uses a combination of her programs to help read the questions, and she marks an “X” by the correct answers.
The only class Bedard had problems with was a research methods and statistics class, because she had to read and interpret graphs she could not see.
“For me to do math problems, I would […]need to see what I’m doing,” explained Bedard. “My JAWS program won’t explain graphs to me, so I would have to skip those questions and just do everything else.”
Students in her classes have asked her how she is able to do schoolwork just like any other student, and Bedard replies: “The only real thing I do differently that has to do with school is] my programs.”
Other than her programs, she is just like any other FAU student. She uses the gym twice a week, is president of the OSD Club and gets around campus by herself using a walking stick.
“I’m pretty independent when it comes to getting around campus,” said Bedard. “I can tell it’s the Breezeway because there is so much noise. I have three classes in the [General South] building, and I can tell there is a huge open space on the right. That’s how I know it’s the GS building, and I take the same way all the time.”
Bedard doesn’t mind assistance when she needs it, but she hates when people try to do things for her all the time.
“I don’t like it when people feel sorry for me [and ask], ‘How do you do this?’ and ‘What are you going to do when you get out in the real world?'”
When it comes to having a disability, Bedard wants students to keep an open mind.
“Be positive. If you try, you can do anything. Just because you have issues, don’t just give up on life, because then you won’t accomplish anything,” said Bedard.
Classes
Annmarie Bedard is currently taking five classes, and will be considered a senior in the spring with 90 credits. After graduation, she plans on continuing her education to receive her master’s in social work.
Walking (PEM 1148)
Social Work Practice II (SOH 4313)
Intercultural Communication (SPC 3710)
Health and Ffitness for Life (HSC 2100)
Social Psychology (SOP 3004)
Helpful services
The Office for Students with Disabilities is currently assisting 635 students with different services to help them be independent students*:
• Volunteer note-taking – According to Nichole Rokos, director of the OSD, the volunteer note-taking service is “the most-used accommodation” by students registered with the OSD. This fall semester, there are 304 students who are note-takers, and about 35 percent of students registered with the OSD use this service.
• Paid note-taking – Students who apply as paid note-takers work 16 weeks, for three hours per week, getting paid $8.50 per hour.
• Access to computers with JAWS and Kurzweils programs. OSD also provides training for these programs.
• Use of voice recorders in classes
• Additional time allowed for exams
• Orientation mobility, which is when someone teaches a visually impaired student how to navigate campus
• Copies of overheads
* Services depend on the student’s needs, and not all students receive the same accommodations.