Teaching with Heart

For too many years, sisters Katy and Olivia Shaw have been told in class to just sit back and listen. Their eye sight prevented them from seeing the materials like all the other students. Olivia can make out shapes, light and dark and Katy can see words in extra large font.

It wasn’t until the 19-year-old sisters arrived at Northwest Vista College that they experienced a different kind of learning. In their Biology 1 class, instructor Gladys Malave taught herself two different types of Braille in four weeks and built tactile learning boards that the sisters could feel in order to involve them in class projects.

Gladys, who once was going to learn Braille when she was battling her own visual issues, said the sisters have been like a gift to her and have inspired her teaching even more.

“Life threw at these sisters lemons and they showed they were able to make pink lemonade and be successful. If they were able to do it, then why couldn’t I teach them?” Gladys said.

Not only did Gladys learn Braille, she watched a lot of videos and tutorials on how to best teach blind students. She even made a few innovative teaching tools on her own that some of her colleagues have told her she should patent. Two other students from the Biology class immediately volunteered to assist the sisters in class. One volunteer had a grandfather who is blind and another had experience working with people with disabilities.

The sisters mother, Laura Shaw, said while her daughters have always requested learning accommodations at the different schools they attended, it’s never been to the level like at Northwest Vista College.

“Normally it’s difficult to get accommodations and it has always been a fight. It’s just so impressive what Ms. Malave has done because of the challenges we have faced for so many years,” said Laura, who has moved from Hawaii to California and now San Antonio to get better education for her daughters.

Katy and Olivia are currently dual credit students and another sister of the same age, Elizabeth, makes them triplets. Elizabeth also has learning disabilities due to her loss of hearing. She will be attending NVC next semester. In spite of what life has handed these three girls, they all have set high goals. Both Katy and Olivia are moving from San Antonio to attend college separately. Katy wants to be a marine biologist and Olivia has a goal to be a psychiatrist. Elizabeth is hoping to study photography at NVC.

Richard T. Chamblin, Jr., Northwest Vista’s  Chair of Natural & Physical Sciences, said teaching a blind student presents its own special challenges, but teaching two in a lecture/lab science majors’ class would be the ultimate challenge.

He said with the help of an electronic Braille labeler that the NVC Wellness area purchased for Gladys, it has enabled her to engage the girls in the labs by taking measurements, collecting data, labelling equipment, and even for testing them.

“Gladys worked the entire four-week winter break on the first few labs in her class,” Richard added. “Since then she has continued to work hours and hours making tactile boards, learning Braille and Nemeth Code (a special Braille for science and mathematics), and immersing herself into the work. She has been more excited recently than I have ever seen her before.”

Sharon Dresser of the NVC Access Office said while other faculty have gone out of their way to accommodate students with disabilities, the challenge she gave the science department wouldn’t be easy.
“I did not have to ‘twist anyone’s arm’ to help them understand that we needed to make the course accessible to these blind students,” Sharon said. “It really does take a whole campus to create these opportunities for success… to create access for excellence. As I think of the commitment and devotion of all these awesome colleagues, a quote from Vincent Van Gogh comes to mind… ‘Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on Earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”

Sharon was instrumental, along with Barbara Partaka of the NVC Wellness Center, in buying supplies and materials for Gladys to make the learning tools for the sisters.

Gladys said teaching Katy and Olivia actually has been inspiring for her. The sisters grade Gladys’ tactile boards, which motivates Gladys to create more so the sisters can continue to be apart of the class and not just sit and listen.