:) I am a special education teacher and am required to complete IEP...etc on line. The font for this program is about eight and is very hard for me to read. The assistant principal has brought up my eye sight in the past two days at different meetings. Comments were " I have seen you walk into walls", "You make grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes on your IEPs". The principal is now using these mistakes against me in my evaluation. She implying that my eye sight is effecting my ability to do my job. Is there anything I can do to 1)have it explained on my evaluation that I can't see what I am typing because the font is to small; and 2) I want all discussion of my eye sight stopped. In October I made a request to the person in charge of the program to enlarge the print, I received to reply.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for listening!
Johna

Johna,
I believe a good place for you to start is the ADA (Americans with Disabilities ACT).
Anyone with a disability is protected under this act, and references to your disability seem inappropriate, at the very least.
Good Luck.
Hellas

John, do you work on a network? Do you have your own computer station? If so, the settings can be changed for you only and saved under your login information. Get after the IT person again. If not, does your computer use Windows? You can go to Start/Programs/Accessories/Accessibility/Magnifier. Set up the magnifier the way you want it. You can have light or dark background and any size font. Place the magnifier window where you want it. I use it across the bottom of the screen. Although it opens in a rectangle, it will stretch right across the width of the screen. Whatever you point at shows up in the window, magnified. It takes a bit of getting used to, but works well. Put a shortcut to the magnifier on your desktop, close it up and it's gone for the next user.

Hope this is of some help.

K.

Hellas and Keela
Thank you for replying to my post about my boss bringing up my eyesight. Hellas I am going to check into the Act and see if I am covered. Thank you for the suggestion I had forgotten about the Act. Keela I'll give it a try, the computer is in my classroom and the program is on the school network. I am wondering if I can ask for accommodations from the center office that it be enlarged so I could see it.
Thanks again for the input.........I hate it when people remind me how blind I am...I remember each day when I try to walk up the stairs and sometimes fall.
Take care
Johna

Johna, if you're still reading...
The Start/Programs/Accessories/Accessibility/Magnifier is rather clunky. In fact, when it opens, a window pops up with this admission:
"Magnifier is intended to provide a minimum level of funtionality for users with slight visual impairments. Most users with visual impairments will need a maginfication utility program with higher funtionality for daily use."
followed by:
"For a l ist of Windows-based magnification utilities, see Microsoft Web site."
with a link, which I clicked.

We're not allowed to post links (I think), so I will just suggest that you enter these search terms in your favorite Internet search engine:
Electronic Visual Aid Specialists screen enlargers

The first non-sponsored link is from the Library of Congress and has a detailed list of what's available.

About your boss, is he a bit cranky and a bit obsessive compulsive in general?
I totally agree with what Hellas said, but I still wonder if you should take it personally or if he's always needling individuals about their weaknesses.

I am also a teacher, and I have just recently started looking at IEPs. I have been given a temporary resource room position that requires me to read the students IEPs. I agree, that the font is much too small. I don't have to write IEPs, but I have to read what others have written! (reading typing is bad enough - try reading people's handwriting when it is that small!) But since I am looking at the actual paper copies, I can use a magnifying glass to help me.

I don't know where you teach, but you do have a union, right? Have you spoken with your union rep about how you are being treated?

It's not your boss' place to worry about your health if you are able to handle it. And you can't be treated differently because you have vision trouble.

Referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act is a good place to start.You also need to remind your Assistant Principal and Principal that just as visually impaired students are entitled to accomodations, so are visually impaired teachers.

Hi Purple,
I am in the state of Virginia also know as the state of confusion at times. NEA has branches here for each county school system. The principal on Friday told me I better not go to the CEA, because I did she would fight me.
Weird..........I am writing a letter(email) to center office asking if the font can be increase to at least a 14..this will be my second such letter in a year. Thank you for the input, you made some very valid points. :)
Johna

I know you don't want to get into a big fight over this, but let her fight you if she's going to be that nasty about it. She can't threaten you if you decide to go to your union for help. That's what they are there for! It's your right to go to your union! At the very least, you can ask them for some advice on how to deal with her. She's lucky you are not making a formal complaint against her for harrassment and non compliance with the ADA.

I am in New York City and we have a union representative in every school. They are right there to deal with all of this garbage from the administration and they sit in on meetings in order to act as union representation for the teacher. In New York at least, principals can conceivably get in a lot of trouble if they don't make accomodations for disabled teachers. Can you possibly get transferred to a different school if this keeps up?

Anther way to help yourself might be to look into purchasing your own magnifyer for your computer screen. Also, in the program that you use for looking at the IEPs, can you adjust the font size while you are reading it, and then change it back to normal size when it is time to print it up? (You know, like in Microsoft Word you can play with the font size.) Just a thought. Or you could hold up a magnifying glass to the computer screen if that's at all possible.

I encourage you to continue fighting for your rights. From one teacher to another and one person with a disability to another, don't let them discriminate against you or harrass you.

Elyse

P.S. New York is the other state of confusion. :D