[blindlaw] Important Study on Use of Workplace Personal Assistants, Please Participate!

Mon Oct 2 10:24:54 CDT 2006

Hi Folks,

Please take the time to read this post carefully.

This study could provide some important changes in the perception of how
those who are blind use personal assistants.  There was quite a bit of
discussion on this subject back a few months ago, so I know some of you
will have a lot to say on the subject.

What we need to get the researchers to understand is that when it comes
to workplace personal assistants for blind lawyers or other
professional-level blind people, a personal assistant may be much more
than a pair of eyes that work.  Those eyes may be called upon to make
very important observations about the dynamics of a situation,
non-visual communication that everybody but the blind person catches
directly, etc.  A reader for a blind professional is often called upon
to synthesize complicated material, or to scan through large amounts of
material looking for certain points, with a great amount of knowledge
and intelligence needed to do the job well.  

Please take the time to participate in this study if at all possible,
and please pass it along freely.

The research study is nationwide in scope, and can include people who
are now retired.  

The research is being conducted by the University of California San
Francisco, a very well respected research institution, and the results
of this study may have some significant ramifications.  Since this study
is open to all disabilities, let's make sure they hear from plenty of
blind folks, so we don't get lost in the  shuffle.

Sincerely,
Timothy Ford

-----Original Message-----
From: Joan Ripple [mailto:JRipple at infouse.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 3:23 PM
To: Ford, Tim (DHS-OLS)
Subject: Request for Research Interview

Hello, Tim, 

Thank you for your interest in our research project. Attached is the
material that will explain it in more detail.

One attachment is the letter of invitation to participate in the
research.  The other is the form in which you consent to be interviewed.
I will need to have your signed consent form before we can do the
interview.  You can fax the consent form to me at (510) 549-6512 and
send the original signed consent form by regular mail to InfoUse at the
address below.

Please send me a couple of days and times on those days when you would
be available for the telephone interview that will take about thirty
minutes. 

The web site for the Center for Personal Assistance Services is 
http://www.pascenter.org <http://www.pascenter.org/> .  The direct link
on that site to Workplace PAS is 
http://www.pascenter.org/workplace_pas/index.php
<http://www.pascenter.org/workplace_pas/index.php>  . 

The direct link to the part of that web site that is a training tool for
people who hire their own personal assistants is 
http://www.pascenter.org/pas_users/q_and_a.php?url=index_pas.php
<http://www.pascenter.org/pas_users/q_and_a.php?url=index_pas.php>  . 

The InfoUse web site is  www.infouse.com  <http:www.infouse.com> . There
you can see the Open Futures project, which shows a variety of role
models and careers for young people in transition. 

Would you please disseminate the attached recruitment poster as widely
as possible, especially to people who use workplace personal assistance.
The poster provides information on how they can contact us to
participate.

Thank you for your interest in this important project.

Joan 
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Message
Hi Folks,

Please take the time to read this post carefully.

This study could provide some important changes in the perception of how those who are blind use personal assistants.  There was quite a bit of discussion on this subject back a few months ago, so I know some of you will have a lot to say on the subject.

What we need to get the researchers to understand is that when it comes to workplace personal assistants for blind lawyers or other professional-level blind people, a personal assistant may be much more than a pair of eyes that work.  Those eyes may be called upon to make very important observations about the dynamics of a situation, non-visual communication that everybody but the blind person catches directly, etc.  A reader for a blind professional is often called upon to synthesize complicated material, or to scan through large amounts of material looking for certain points, with a great amount of knowledge and intelligence needed to do the job well.  

Please take the time to participate in this study if at all possible, and please pass it along freely.

The research study is nationwide in scope, and can include people who are now retired.  

The research is being conducted by the University of California San Francisco, a very well respected research institution, and the results of this study may have some significant ramifications.  Since this study is open to all disabilities, let's make sure they hear from plenty of blind folks, so we don't get lost in the  shuffle.

Sincerely,
Timothy Ford

-----Original Message-----
From:
Joan Ripple [mailto:JRipple at infouse.com]
Sent:
Thursday, September 28, 2006 3:23 PM
To:
Ford, Tim (DHS-OLS)
Subject:
Request for Research Interview
Hello,
 Tim, 
Thank you for your interest in our research project. Attached is the material that will explain it in more detail.
One attachment is the letter of invitation to participate in the research.  The other is the form in which you consent to be interviewed. I will need to have your signed consent form before we can do the interview.  You can fax the consent form to me at (510) 549-6512 and send the original signed consent form by regular mail to InfoUse at the address below.
Please send me a couple of days and times on those days when you would be available for the telephone interview that will take about thirty minutes.
The web site for the Center for Personal Assistance Services is 
http://www.pascenter.org/
http://www.pascenter.org
. 
The direct link on that site to Workplace PAS is
http://www.pascenter.org/workplace_pas/index.php
http://www.pascenter.org/workplace_pas/index.php
 . 
The direct link to the part of that web site that is a training tool for people who hire their own personal assistants is 
http://www.pascenter.org/pas_users/q_and_a.php?url=index_pas.php
http://www.pascenter.org/pas_users/q_and_a.php?url=index_pas.php
. 
The InfoUse web site is  
http:www.infouse.com
www.infouse.com 
. 
There you can see the Open Futures project, which shows a variety of role models and careers for young people in transition.
Would you please disseminate the attached recruitment poster as widely as possible, especially to people who use workplace personal assistance. The poster provides information on how they can contact us to participate.
Thank you for your interest in this important project.
Joan

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