Jackie Cairns - Being practical about journalism

I am a totally blind student at Fife College of Further and Higher Education in Kirkcaldy. I am studying Practical Journalism at HND level.

Between 1996 and 1997, I successfully completed a National Certificate in Arts and Social Sciences at the same college, but was unable to return at a higher level for some time due to severe back problems.

But undeterred, and keen to go further, I returned to the campus in 2001 to see what courses were on offer at HND level. When my sighted friend told me there was a course in Practical Journalism on the curriculum, I was immediately drawn to it. But it was only early March, and I knew that starting something of that magnitude would need to wait until after the summer holiday, when all new students for such courses were enrolled. But the leaflet offered interested candidates the opportunity to complete a unit in Feature Writing that would go towards the HND in Practical Journalism, starting immediately.

Taking the bull by the horns at once, I marched up to the reception desk and promptly enrolled for the Feature Writing unit, due to start the following week. I felt this was meant: it would allow me to see if I liked the flavour of the work; gradually integrate me with people I would undoubtedly come across if I started the HND; and build up my confidence to see if my back, and my resolve, could take it!

From that day, I never looked back. The tutor was so positive about my presence that any nerves I had quickly evaporated. The tutor and I quickly exchanged e-mail addresses, and he soon realised I had the ability to write and use the computer like the rest of the class. To begin with, I had to use my own computer at home, and take away instructions from the college to work on my feature articles there. This is because my computer is equipped with a screen reader called JAWS (Job Access With Speech).

Between March and June 2001, I worked my way through the Feature Writing unit. I made brief notes on tape, and my tutor and I exchanged emails and sat together in class going through my written work. By the end of the summer term, I knew the Practical Journalism course was for me, and that I really wanted to pass the HND badly. I asked my tutor if he felt there might be any problem areas for us all to overcome if I commenced the course in August the same year. He felt that DTP (Desktop Publishing), and shorthand might be difficult to adapt, but was prepared to enrol me on the course, especially since I had gained a merit pass in Feature Writing.

In the summer, I applied for DSA funding to purchase a specialist note-taker that might overcome the hurdle of doing shorthand. I purchased a Braille Note with the money. It is a small device that contains a Braille display of 32-cells. If I type Braille into the machine, I am then able to read back what I have written.

For most of the subjects, I was given notes on disk, or sent them by e-mail if they were not immediately to hand. The college purchased a copy of the screen reader, JAWS, that I use at home. This is now on a computer in the newsroom there, and enables me to access the Internet or complete all the tasks required of my colleagues. I am able to make notes on the PDA and read them back at my own leisure, or transfer them to my computer at home. At the end of my first year, I had passed all subjects, six with merit.

The shorthand units have been particularly successful. The lecturer has dictated all the passages to me, and I have read them back to her using my Braille PDA. I have then gone to the computer and typed these up so she has a written record of what has been achieved. My speeds of 60, 70, 80 and 90 words per minute have been accurate, and the whole process has never posed a single problem for anyone concerned.

Next year, I aim to complete the remainder of my HND. I believe there is a unit in photography, but my Head of Programme has agreed to substitute this for something less visual. The Desk Top Publishing unit has also been slightly adapted for me to make the environment less visual, and with my Braille shorthand being an equivalent to T-Line, the Scottish Qualifications Authority have been both accommodating and pleased with my progress.

I hope this information will inspire other people. Going to college with a disability requires guts, determination and a good dose of motivation to succeed. I believe you get out what you put in, and can safely say this has been the case for me. I long to graduate as a personal triumph, and perhaps hope to go on to university to study a media-related subject in the future.

What does Skill do to help people like Jackie?

• Skill publishes Into Higher Education, an annual guide to universities that gives disabled people the information they need about applications, grants, support and individual institutions.
  
  
• Skill's consultancy team runs practical training for higher education staff on a wide range of disability issues
  

[Posted 3rd April 2003]

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