{"id":9210,"date":"2021-03-01T20:30:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T20:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2021\/03\/08\/soar-creates-model-of-vital-material-for-visually-impaired-student\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:38:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:38:50","slug":"soar-creates-model-of-vital-material-for-visually-impaired-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/soar-creates-model-of-vital-material-for-visually-impaired-student\/","title":{"rendered":"3D model conveys course concepts to visually impaired student"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone agrees the doughnut is fundamental.<\/p>\n

But Fatima Quintana \u201924 couldn\u2019t see it, couldn\u2019t make sense of the circular chart and the material written on and around it.<\/p>\n

So the Student Office for Accessibility Resources (SOAR), the facilities department and Quintana\u2019s professor collaborated to deliver a three-dimensional model labeled with Braille text.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur whole major is built on this framework,\u201d said Geoffrey Habron, professor of sustainability sciences. \u201cEverything is based on this doughnut.\u201d<\/p>\n

The circular model defines the department\u2019s stance on sustainability science, visualizing the relationship between the environment and social foundations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is fundamental, and I don\u2019t know how to convey this\u201d to a student who can\u2019t see it, Habron said.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Fatima Quintana \u201924.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe references it all the time,\u201d Quintana said. And now, \u201cI can actually follow along when he\u2019s talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

SOAR\u2019s mission is to identify and remove barriers on campus. About 400 students currently are registered with the office. Of those, some self-disclose a disability for one-time assistance, perhaps with an issue such as housing. About 220 students engage regularly with SOAR staff members for support.<\/p>\n

Jessica Lane, accessibility specialist, reaches out to faculty members who have students with visual impairments and collects textbooks and other materials so she can remain ahead of them, whether that means printing materials in Braille or finding digital versions.<\/p>\n

Her first attempt to make the doughnut accessible for Quintana was a Braille model on paper. It didn\u2019t work, and Lane knew she needed to try a three-dimensional approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then I knew my own limitations \u2013 I didn\u2019t have the materials or know-how to work with wood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The obvious next step was the facilities department, which had solved problems for SOAR in the past, including developing a sound-proof cabinet for SOAR\u2019s Braille printer.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir work is just top-notch,\u201d said Judy Bagley, director of SOAR. \u201cThey\u2019re so talented.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a Zoom meeting to explain the situation and introduce the paper diagram, then Larry Cox, a Furman carpenter, did most of the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get it in our head and we can make it happen,\u201d Cox said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The model is about 12 inches wide \u2013 Braille text takes up about four times the space of traditional print. And Quintana loves it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make sure I was properly learning it,\u201d she said. \u201cDescription is great, but at the same time, I\u2019m a tactile learner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quintana, who is majoring in political science and international affairs, has no vision in her left eye and limited vision in her right. She sometimes uses audio materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I prefer when I can get my hands on a Braille copy, just because I retain information better and understand it more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Quintana has appreciated Habron\u2019s willingness to learn new ways to convey information. To his knowledge, she is the first visually impaired student he has had in a class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love how curious he is about it and how willing he is to work with you,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

For SOAR, it\u2019s another day, another doughnut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are often trying to find solutions to accessibility barriers,\u201d Bagley said. \u201cIt\u2019s not often that we have to involve as many offices as we did this time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone agrees the doughnut is fundamental. But Fatima Quintana \u201924 couldn\u2019t see it, couldn\u2019t make sense of the circular chart and the material written on and around it. So the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-four-news-4th-story","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}