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Below, Texas Standard producer and reporter Shelly Brisbin shares her thoughts about her story on a Baylor professor teaching chemistry to blind students, and what it meant to her.








It’s an unfortunate fact of life that when the subject of disability comes up, conversation often turns to what can’t be accomplished. There are plenty of things you can do, the well-meaning teacher or employer might say; just not that one thing. And from such attitudes come low expectations.


Taking high school chemistry is among the things that a lot of blind and visually impaired people are told they can’t do. You need to observe changes in color or be able to draw a molecule, right? And if you can’t take chemistry – the so-called “central science” – what are the chances you will be able to pursue a career in science, if that’s what you want to do?


Earlier this month, I went to visit Dr. Bryan Shaw, a chemistry professor at Baylor University. Shaw wants to make chemistry more accessible, and he’s using a grant funded by the National Institutes of Health to create the ways and means to do it. Shaw’s son is visually impaired, and while that’s a pretty good motivation for such a project, Shaw says it was observing a friend of his son’s that really got him thinking about ways of gathering information that don’t require eyesight.


At a birthday party in Shaw’s backyard, his son’s friend, who is blind, began putting things in his mouth, trying to identify and understand what he found. Shaw realized that the idea of alternative methods of gathering information could be applied to chemistry. What if a blind student could use a 3D model or a tactile image to understand the parts of a butterfly or the structure of a molecule? And what if machines could
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do some of the dangerous work of experimentation, like mixing volatile compounds in just the right amounts? These alternative ways of interacting would give blind people the ability to study chemistry, and even to pursue science as a career.

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My Texas Standard story about Shaw’s work, and the group of blind and visually impaired students he invited to his lab, was personal for me. I’m visually impaired, and when I was a junior in high school, I was on the college track. That meant I should be taking chemistry – but I was told I couldn’t, because I didn’t have the vision needed to do experiments. I never planned to make a career of science, but I enjoyed the physical science and biology courses I had taken, and I had done well. Being told “no” let me know that my disability was more visible than my intelligence. That never feels good.


So when I watched these high school kids learning about molecules and measuring out chemicals to make compounds in a college chemistry lab, I had to reflect on how a willingness to see beyond the obvious – plus some modern printing and robotics technology – can open doors to careers that wouldn’t have been possible when I ended my science career after 10th grade.

Reach out through
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send an email here.

- Shelly Brisbin

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@shelly

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Science ‘on their fingertips’: Texas professor making chemistry available to blind students

Baylor professor Bryan Shaw and a team of blind chemists designed experiments and learning aids so blind and visually impaired students can get a literal feel for chemistry.




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How disinformation is threatening the midterm elections in Texas

Two years after 2020, the Big Lie – the false claim the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump – is as alive as ever in Texas.




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'Black Country Music ' and the roots of a music revolution

The genre’s history boasts many artists – from Charley Pride to Our Native Daughters – who expanded the conversation about what it means to be Black in a largely white space.



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Harris County calls timing of letter from Texas Secretary of State’s office ‘suspicious’
The letter asking the county for more records from a 2020 election audit also says they will be sending more poll watchers to the area.




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Noticed nails in Dallas streets? Police say they've caught the 'nail bandit'
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(KERA)
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Travis County secures nearly 10,000 doses of life-saving overdose drug
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(KUT)
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Harris County budget cuts are locked in as county is forced to adopt “no new revenue rate”
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(Houston Public Media)
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County judge candidates spar over significance of 'Dr. No,' DeBerry's critical nickname for Sakai
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(Texas Public Radio)
The Talk of Texas is running down the state’s entire 254 counties – Anderson to Zavala – with points of interest pulled from the Texas Standard archives.


Is there a can't-miss attraction in your area?
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Drop us a line and let us know.



Calhoun County

Founded: 1846

County seat: Port Lavaca

Population: 20,106

Chemical reaction: Coastal Calhoun County has plenty of chemical industry due to its position on the bay. While that’s important for the local economy, it also means environmental issues ranging from
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red dust to concerns about
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nurdles (the tiny plastic pellets melted into products and packaging).

Shell yeah: It’s not all bad news: Just this year, conservationists found nearly four dozen
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Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchlings in the waters off Calhoun County’s Magnolia Beach. They say it’s the first time the endangered turtles have been found in the bay there.

One last thing: The second-highest ranking member of the Port Lavaca police force is the Captain – a
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white and orange cat . Although we first met Captain four years ago, his stint with the police is still purring along. You can ride along with Captain
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on Instagram .

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- Ayden Castellanos
Castellanos, the host of the spooky podcast "Susto," highlights and preserves the folk tales from South Texas and beyond.
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Listen to our interview here.

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