[blindkid] School services for an elmentary school VI studentgetting new teacher

[Carrie Gilmer]

Dear Lauren,
I have seen your story (Joli's story) over and over. It is not unlike my own
son's beginnings. My son has best 20/400. Her behaviors tell me one thing
and one thing only offers Joli real hope of normal literacy development.
Braille. 

If you learned it (there are free online and correspondence courses-and if
you are out of country we have those who are done with the courses and maybe
could send on to you materials--we can find a way), you would not at all be
the first mother to teach her child Braille and be the transcriber if unable
to get a Teacher of blind students to the school or train a para. She can
write with a simple tool that can be purchased for less than $25. It is
called a slate and stylus. If she started now-right now, and wrote everyday
within nine months to a year she could be catching up, without eye fatigue,
bending over or fatigue in general and she should be able to write as fast
as her peers. Dictation only puts off the inevitable day when she must learn
to communicate and write herself and the longer you wait the harder it will
be and the more she will be behind, and the more advanced the coursework
with greater demands on length.

I don't know what country you are in-some of the details as far as how to
get her Braille books I can not say, but it could be worked out.  A Braille
display to hook up to a computer is not that expensive, under $1500 I
believe- a small price to pay for literacy.

I know that you might not like this answer. I know that it might be hard for
you and will mean a lot of work from you. But it is the only way to not be
hard for Joli for the rest of her life. You are preparing her for the rest
of her life. As an adult would you want to be limited to only a few
paragraphs painstakingly written? You already describe exhibited feelings of
defeat and boredom in her. She needs a long term solution not a short term
band-aid. Dictation will not teach her spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.
I am quite serious with the situation you describe that Braille is the only
answer. I am quite serious that without getting it your daughter's future
will likely be severely limited AT BEST. 

The other problems need to be addressed also but the literacy is
foundational to everything else. I also recommend ordering two books from
www.nfb.org Independence Market, Bridge to Braille and Making it Work, both
by Carol Castellano. Also go to www.nfb.org/nopbc and put Low Vision,
Braille, Ruby Ryles, Blind Child in the Regular classroom in the search
engine (not all at once-smile), and read the articles that come up.

If you decide to go with Braille, we can all help with suggestions for your
unique living situation on how to get it and learn it and teach with the
slate. Thousands of blind children around the world learn to read and write
as fast as the sighted with the "old-fashioned" and cheap slate and stylus
everyday. Where there is true will, there is always a way.

With Understanding,
 
 
Carrie Gilmer, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
A Division of the National Federation of the Blind
NFB National Center: 410-659-9314
Home Phone: 763-784-8590
carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
www.nfb.org/nopbc
-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of L W
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 12:36 PM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] School services for an elmentary school VI
studentgetting new teacher

I am feeling a little frustrated. I just found out that My daughter
Joli's teacher is leaving the school one Friday. The school will be hiring
somebody new who is not familiar with Joli's vision (corrected 20/400) and
language issues. They haven't decided who they are hiring yet.

I am worried however, I am going to try to use this as opportunity to get
some additional services for Joli. I have some questions:

Do you have a scribe for your child? I have found during homework time Joli
(Age 7 & Vision: 20/400 corrected) is often told to write a few paragraphs
about something, or to use each of her spelling words in sentences showing
meaning. Last week she was given a writing exercise where she had to invent
her own Greek myth where somebody had to send somebody on a task of finding
something. 3 things had to go wrong and each needed to be resolved, and at
the end of her myth the task had to be completed. Joli is able to dictate
such things to me, and I write down what she says. Then she copies what I
have written into her homework exercise book . The process of getting the
ideas out of her head and onto the paper without my taking her dictation
would take forever because of her vision and her language issues. She often
looses her place when writing and so has to go back and find it again. It's
painstaking because by the time she has written one sentence it has
 taken so long that she has forgotten the rest of what she is trying to say.
The physical problem with her writing is that she has to hold her face so
close to the page that it actually gets in the way of her hand. Anytime she
needs to look away from her paper and glance at something on her  worksheet
that she needs to refer to, she must again find her place on her page to
finish writing. I don't want her to be dependent on others but at that same
time it kills me to see her struggle with her nose resting on her paper
trying to squeeze the letters on the line. I am wondering how she is able to
do any kind of writing -- creative or otherwise -- in the classroom because
of this. (Whatever is written on the big classroom board is also given to
her either on her personal hand held white board or as an enlarged
worksheet. I am more worried about the writing that has to come from her own
head rather than note copying.) I am wondering if having her do her
 classwork on a laptop where she can enlarge the text and where it would be
easier for her to self edit on the fly wouldn't be a good idea. Her  teacher
who is leaving has been worried that she may loose her cursive script. To be
honestly I am amazed that she is able to fit her letters on the lines
correctly at all. 

Right now the extras she receives:
worksheets are enlarged. -- (her school doesn't use textbooks as all
assignments are on worksheets. The reading books they have are individual
children?s paperbacks and the kids take out one at a time so each kid works
at her own level) Once a week she has an hour of extra reading and language
help. The nurse puts sunblock on her if they are going outside for more than
5 mins. Her class doesn?t use any over head projectors except during whole
school assembly. She is allowed to wear a hat and sunglasses. I have
provided her regular glasses plus reading glasses, hand held magnification
devices, and a clip board which we find helps with her writing because
otherwise her neck gets stiff from having to hold her face so close to the
papers. She sits in the front in her class for everything. However I
recently attended a whole school assembly and her class was in the 3rd row,
and she remained with her class. I am not sure if this is a good thing or
not. In
 a way I want her to remain with her classmates but if she can't see that?s
not good either.  As I said above she gets anything writen on the board put
on her hand-held board or on her enlarged worksheet.

She isn?t receiving extra time on tests or assignments etc. Her teachers
also complain that she is often restless and will get up out of her seat at
times when she shouldn?t and will talk out of turn. She also sometimes asks
a teacher to repeat himself many times which frustrates him to no end. (She
did this with last year?s teacher too.) I am not sure what the issue is
there. I don't know if she is doing it just because she wants to or because
she can't see who the teacher is calling on. I don?t know if she is restless
because she is bored or hyper or if she needs a break because her eyes are
tired.

Our school doesn't have a TVI or IEP. It's a small private school outside
the US.

Right now I am thinking about asking for a classroom scribe for her at least
for her literacy /writing portions that are more than just copying and/or
letting her use a laptop for writing excursuses in class.

Thoughts? Any other ideas of things I should ask for? 

I am esp interested if people think a scribe is a good idea.  I was thinking
maybe having one for the times when Joli has to write more than one or two
paragraphs...?
Thanks!
Lauren


      
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