[blindkid] blindkid Digest, Vol 67, Issue 5

Melissa Green graduate56 at juno.com
Wed Nov 11 04:46:00 UTC 2009


Once again I agree completely.

Sincerely,
Melissa Green
Without Christ I am nothing,  Without me Christ is still God.  It's because 
of Christ I am able to stand!!!
Live journal topaz5674
Blog: http://readergirl5674.blogspot.com
Facebook: melissa green northern colorado
twitter: melissa5674
msn: graduate1531 at msn.com
Skype: lissa5674

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lisa Moon" <lmoon66 at yahoo.com>
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 11:50 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] blindkid Digest, Vol 67, Issue 5


Ian has had this happen to him on several occasions at school. On several 
occasions a child actually went to Ian's cubby and took whole bag of of 
those cheese fish crackers. Ian has low vision, but he was not sure where 
his food was going, and in fact thought that he may have misplaced it. I 
made a complaint to the teacher who readily dismissed it as Ian being lazy 
and forgetting where he put the snacks, then another child saw this happen 
and reported it to the classroom aid. The student that was responsible for 
taking the food, told the principal that he didn't think Ian would know that 
it was missing because Ian was blind. I requested that the principal notify 
the child's parents and inform them that their child was stealing from a 
blind student. I also requested that that child apologize to Ian in the 
principals office, face to face. The principal did honor our request, but it 
was shortly after this that Ian noticed things were missing
 from his lunch at the lunch table. We had a very frank discussion with Ian 
about stealing food, his right to have his belongings including his lunch 
respected by other people and that if he suspected that someone had taken 
food from his lunch he was to tell an adult immediately.

I think, that in order for our children to be able to protect themselves, 
they need to be part of the conversation. To me this is how they develop 
self advocacy skills.

Perhaps Kendra did suspect something was going on, but really couldn't grasp 
the whole event. Perhaps she had a feeling that she was being taken 
advantage of or that someone was invading her personal space/food and could 
not sort it all out. Having a conversation about the incident could help her 
to be ready for the next time.

Ian had a very strong feeling that someone was taking his lunch and snack 
items, but because of his poor vision he didn't want to offend anyone if he 
was wrong, so he just didn't say anything.

Lisa






________________________________
From: "blindkid-request at nfbnet.org" <blindkid-request at nfbnet.org>
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Sent: Thu, November 5, 2009 10:37:58 AM
Subject: blindkid Digest, Vol 67, Issue 5

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Today's Topics:

1. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Carrie Gilmer)
2. Re: blindkid Digest, Vol 67, Issue 4 (Leslie Ligon)
3. FW: [blind-family] Breaking barriers to access (Eric Calhoun)
4. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Barbara Hammel)
5. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Susan Harper)
6. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Carrie Gilmer)
7. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Susan Harper)
8. Re: Advice needed about school incident (LESLEY FISCHER)
9. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Melissa Green)
10. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Melissa Green)
11. IEP vs 504 (Carol Castellano)
12. paper on Braille literacy for blind children (Kasondra Payne)
13. Re: IEP vs 504 (holly miller)
14. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Richard Holloway)
15. Re: Advice needed about school incident (holly miller)
16. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Richard Holloway)
17. NBP-Announce: Kids: Have You Filled a Bucket Today? (Tony Grima)
18. Re: IEP vs 504 (Jess)
19. Re: IEP vs 504 (Steve & Karen Leinart)
20. Re: Advice needed about school incident (trising)
21. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Carol Castellano)
22. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Carol Castellano)
23. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Albert J Rizzi)
24. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Richard Holloway)
25. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Richard Holloway)
26. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Richard Holloway)
27. Re: Advice needed about school incident (Albert J Rizzi)
28. Re: paper on Braille literacy for blind children (Gibbs, Emily)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 13:11:38 -0600
From: "Carrie Gilmer" <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind
children\)'" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <4af1d1ef.0e0db80a.1295.3a9e at mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I can only say what I would do/have done. This "game" happens to blind
adults too; I once witnessed a sighted spouse do something on this order to
his wife who was getting training at one of our centers. First I make
absolutely sure, I don't assume the blind person does not already know or at
least suspect something and just has chosen to say/do nothing. If they don't
know I think it is right/'fair' for them to know; I would want to know. Even
as a young child. They should also be a part as a child I think of
determining what is right to resolve it for THEM. This is an important part
of raising a child who experiences prejudice out in society. They have to
learn to discern it and to deal with it and that it is not THEM.

My children have had to deal with prejudice both because of blindness and
blackness. It is heart wrenching to see that innocence be broken in a child
that someone would hurt them or wish them bad because of a disability or
other physical characteristic like skin color; I know it well. But they will
find out sooner or later that prejudice IS aimed at them, and likely will be
for their whole life. It is an opportunity to teach the wrongness and lies
of prejudice. It was not unusual when we would talk about some act that they
would bring up something else they had experienced but never told me of.


It also seems to ignore the obvious in consequences, after all the act was
direct to Kendra; it seems the apology should also be direct to her in my
mind. And as Lenora related after ignorance is educated sometimes they
become a real friend.



Carrie
-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH)
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:08 AM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident

I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
grade.
Thank you.
Stephanie

-----Original Message-----
Ms. Kieszak,

Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
(11/2),
two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.

Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
think
is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
at
school or at home)?


Sincerely,
Mrs. YY


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ail.com




------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 13:13:41 -0600 (CST)
From: "Leslie Ligon" <atfirstsight at ligondesign.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] blindkid Digest, Vol 67, Issue 4
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Message-ID:
<4267.173.74.46.84.1257362021.squirrel at webmail.dogbark.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1

Dave, thank you.

This is really nothing relevant to the sight, but I've got to say, I had
the worst argument with one of my kids Sunday night and was just miserable
all day yesterday and the day before, so I really needed that to remind me
why you shouldn't just leave when things get hard.

Again, sincerest thanks for making me smile through my tears!

Best,
Leslie

At First Sight...
Braille Jewelry you'll fall in love with!
http://www.braillejewelry.blogspot.com

Beautifully designed braille/print books:
http://www.BrailleInk.org




------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 14:00:21 -0600
From: "Eric Calhoun" <eric at pmpmail.com>
Subject: [blindkid] FW: [blind-family] Breaking barriers to access
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org, blindkid at nfbnet.org, blparent at nfbnet.org
Message-ID: <20091104200036.642232AF90C at node77.smtp.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"



Original Message:
From: "simonjacob.incp" <simonjacob.incp at yahoo.in>
To: blind-family at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [blind-family] Breaking barriers to access
Date:
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:53:47 -0000



Dear Group Members,

A big warm hello! I am part of the team which has created BookBole.com -
a website where visually impaired readers from the world-over connect
and share accessible content!

Finding reading material in accessible formats has been a massive
challenge for persons with visual impairment. At Bookbol? we
believe that the answer has to be a collaborative community-driven
solution where the community participates to overcome the barriers.

As a tool in the hands of the visually-impaired Bookbol? will, no
doubt, come to mean different things to different communities across the
world. To some, a place to share interesting books to read, to others, a
place to share learning, and to nearly all, a place to make friends,
share experiences and express themselves.

>From product reviews, personal stories, lifestyle tips to class notes,
journals and books, Bookbol? is all about the small stuff, but on a
really large scale. The possibilities of sharing and learning from each
other are endless.

I am sure that over the years a lot of tips & tricks would have got
shared on this list. If you can pitch in and share your experiences in
the form of accessible documents, it would be a great way for the
community to learn from each other.

You can check out the introduction wall to get a flavour of the site
http://www.bookbole.com/en/intro_wall_olderposts
<http://www.bookbole.com/en/intro_wall_olderposts>

Log on to www.bookbole.com <http://www.bookbole.com/> that's b o o
k b o l e dot com, start sharing and exploring accessible content, and
in the process get connected to visually impaired readers across the
world.

Remember, together, there are no barriers!

Warm Regards,

Simon Jacob




------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 14:19:32 -0600
From: "Barbara Hammel" <poetlori8 at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <BAY113-DS3FAC2702684DE9711882AEBB10 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

I would agree with everyone else,s advice but I think you should talk to
Kendra. Maybe not tell her of the incident but talk about how sighted kids
play tricks. My brother was notorious for stealing my food. I learned to
keep my hands around my plate all the time. (I also tried to bite him if I
caught him. Not advisable, but solved the problem.)
She needs to learn to be aware of what people around her are doing.
Lest you all should think bad of me for trying to bite my brother, it was
because crying and explaining and asking him to stop didn't work. He was a
brat!
Barbara

The Hawkeyes are 9 and 0! Let's go Iowa Hawkeyes!

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH)" <sek7 at cdc.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:07 AM
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident

> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
> grade.
> Thank you.
> Stephanie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Ms. Kieszak,
>
> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
> (11/2),
> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.
>
> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
> think
> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
> at
> school or at home)?
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. YY
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/poetlori8%40msn.com
>



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 15:30:47 -0500
From: Susan Harper <sueharper at firstchurchgriswold.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID:
<f6a56b5c0911041230tc26d62fg6de031ddce21c943 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

It happened at school. The school should be responsible for talking with
her and then the students involved should tell her what they did and
apologize, if and only if you think your daughter is mature enough to deal
with this. You may want to be the one to prep your daughter ahead of time
and be with her at school as a support. School needs to be responsible for
school. I don't know the age of your daughter, so this is my best guess
from the gut advice. Let us know how it goes.
Blessings

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH) <
sek7 at cdc.gov> wrote:

> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
> grade.
> Thank you.
> Stephanie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Ms. Kieszak,
>
> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
> (11/2),
> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.
>
> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
> think
> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
> at
> school or at home)?
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. YY
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
>
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/sueharper%40firstchurchgriswold.org
>


------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 15:03:54 -0600
From: "Carrie Gilmer" <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind
children\)'" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <4af1ec44.101abc0a.0a71.4039 at mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Something to think about too that I typically consider...
This could happen if your daughter was sighted too, in that something mean
or sometimes kids take something to tease or be mean when they think you are
not looking--or at lunch putting something INTO food~this is the historic
notoriety of school lunch rooms, same old same old~I realize that it is
likely they thought she would not know or "see" because of her blindness,
but if she were sighted and someone had done something to her like this
there would not be so much worry about her fragility in "handling"
it...likely whoever witnessed it would have said something and the kids
would have had to apologize on the spot...probably end of story and neither
you or the principal would have even heard of it...sometimes it is our
reaction in making it a bigger and more traumatic over sensitive deal than
it needs to be that can make things almost worse.

Hey someone was mean to Kendra, was it because they thought they could get
away with it cuz she could not see them?, they are wrong and IMO should be
disciplined matter-of factly, the school should also know that they can deal
with this...I mean it sounds like they were all so horrified and sensitive
they did not know what to do~and have had everyone in authority speak to
them~way more than if they had done something mean like this to soemone else
who they thought was not looking...why does the discipline need to be secret
and the child protected from the occurrence? To me that sends a message too,
and not a desirable one.

Carrie
-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Lenora J. Marten
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:13 AM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident


It helps if the other parents are aware and that the consequences involve
some education on blindness.

We had a similar incident with Eric when he was in first grade and also
chose not to tell him. When the boy's parents found out they were mortified
and
set out to make sure that their son learn how to treat all disabled people
with courtesy
and respect. It turned out to be a very positive experience as the
student involved learned a lot about blindness and as a result, became
one of Eric's good friends.

Lenora


-----Original Message-----
From: Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH) <sek7 at cdc.gov>
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Sent: Wed, Nov 4, 2009 11:07 am
Subject: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident



I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
eally know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
elling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
rade.
hank you.
tephanie
-----Original Message-----
s. Kieszak,
Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
11/2),
wo students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
ithout her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
ehavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
eturned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
anted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.
Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
hink
s a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
t
chool or at home)?

incerely,
rs. YY

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o unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
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.com

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To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
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------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 16:53:01 -0500
From: Susan Harper <sueharper at firstchurchgriswold.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID:
<f6a56b5c0911041353l2decdef6x365d9181b9bd65bf at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Yes, I have to agree. We have twins and Vinnie has learned that trick and
also to take his sighted brother's food. That is a typical sibling issue
and sometimes humorous and we really have to remember not to take ourselves
to seriously. Thanks for the laugh.
Blessings,
Sue H.

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 3:19 PM, Barbara Hammel <poetlori8 at msn.com> wrote:

> I would agree with everyone else,s advice but I think you should talk to
> Kendra. Maybe not tell her of the incident but talk about how sighted kids
> play tricks. My brother was notorious for stealing my food. I learned to
> keep my hands around my plate all the time. (I also tried to bite him if I
> caught him. Not advisable, but solved the problem.)
> She needs to learn to be aware of what people around her are doing.
> Lest you all should think bad of me for trying to bite my brother, it was
> because crying and explaining and asking him to stop didn't work. He was a
> brat!
> Barbara
>
> The Hawkeyes are 9 and 0! Let's go Iowa Hawkeyes!
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH)" <sek7 at cdc.gov>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:07 AM
> To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
>
> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
>> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
>> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
>> grade.
>> Thank you.
>> Stephanie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Ms. Kieszak,
>>
>> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
>> (11/2),
>> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
>> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
>> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
>> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
>> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.
>>
>> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
>> think
>> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
>> at
>> school or at home)?
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Mrs. YY
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blindkid mailing list
>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blindkid:
>>
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/poetlori8%40msn.com
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
>
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/sueharper%40firstchurchgriswold.org
>


------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 15:56:49 -0600
From: LESLEY FISCHER <lesleyfischer at dishmail.net>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID:
<f3aa12e40911041356w554921d9mf3aa18be18579404 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I can look at this in a few different ways. One, just the way you did- why
say anything because its over & second I think if this was my daughter who
this was done to I would want her to know what happened to her. With
appropriate situations I have always been honest with Kristy & I
explained situations to her in a way I knew she would understand. I think by
being honest with her it allows her the chance to learn how to deal with all
the good & bad in life. I would rather have her learn some of "life's
lessons" when they happen then to keep things from her & guard her from
things & when she is older it would be a shock to her & she wouldn't know
how to deal with things.

Acceptance is a hard skill to learn when you are an adult. I feel that's a
skill that is learned through life by experience. Appropriate exposure to
life gives us the experience that teaches us so many things, not only about
life itself but how to form relationships with other people around us & how
to deal with them. By telling her all the good & bad it allows her to learn
what life is all about. I think also if it was me I would want to know.

If they didn't already I also think that these kids should have apologized
to this child face to face. It sounded as if it was kept from the child who
got the food taken from her. I feel that was wrong & if it was my child I
would be mad. To me I get the impression that they are not even treating
this child as an equal. The school staff should have told her right away
what was done to her & if they didn't know how they should have called &
talked to the child's parents & took it from there. Just my opinion.
Lesley



On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 10:07 AM, Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH) <
sek7 at cdc.gov> wrote:

> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
> grade.
> Thank you.
> Stephanie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Ms. Kieszak,
>
> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
> (11/2),
> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.
>
> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
> think
> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
> at
> school or at home)?
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. YY
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
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------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:47:14 -0700
From: "Melissa Green" <graduate56 at juno.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <7BCE4BF0824245E089D0842A4EE01E18 at melissa>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

I agree.
I think that Kendra should be told about this.
I think that this may not be the first time this has happened. It is the
first time the children were caught.
I also agree that she needs to be aware that people won't like her. Just
because she is blind.
Like Carrie's kids, I experienced prejudices because I am blind and also
black.
I remember that children did some of the same things to me in school.
I think that this should be handled at home and at school.
The way the school sees it, is that the kids were dealt with. So it should
technically be the end of the issue. If they tell Kendra. They can say
that the others were dealt with and have them say they were sorry to her.
That would be the end of it.
I was teased by some kids that were older than I. When I was in first
grade. The teachers found out and had the children appologise to me. But I
went home and aksed my mom about what they had said to me. She answered my
questions. Then she went to the school as well as mentioned it to my
teacher of blind students.
I got in trouble with my teacher and was spanked in front of the class.
This was because as the teacher said, "they said that they were sorry", "you
need to learn how to shut up, and not tell your mother everything, because
they said they were sorry, and that is all that is needed."
Finally, this would be a good time to educate the kids and may be their
parents. In my situation, what did the kids learn? In my opinion, nothing
at all.
What will these kids learn?
HTH.
Melissa Green
Without Christ I am nothing, Without me Christ is still God. It's because
of Christ I am able to stand!!!
Blog: http://readergirl5674.blogspot.com
Facebook: melissa green northern colorado
twitter: melissa5674
msn: graduate1531 at msn.com
Skype: lissa5674

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carrie Gilmer" <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident


>I can only say what I would do/have done. This "game" happens to blind
> adults too; I once witnessed a sighted spouse do something on this order
> to
> his wife who was getting training at one of our centers. First I make
> absolutely sure, I don't assume the blind person does not already know or
> at
> least suspect something and just has chosen to say/do nothing. If they
> don't
> know I think it is right/'fair' for them to know; I would want to know.
> Even
> as a young child. They should also be a part as a child I think of
> determining what is right to resolve it for THEM. This is an important
> part
> of raising a child who experiences prejudice out in society. They have to
> learn to discern it and to deal with it and that it is not THEM.
>
> My children have had to deal with prejudice both because of blindness and
> blackness. It is heart wrenching to see that innocence be broken in a
> child
> that someone would hurt them or wish them bad because of a disability or
> other physical characteristic like skin color; I know it well. But they
> will
> find out sooner or later that prejudice IS aimed at them, and likely will
> be
> for their whole life. It is an opportunity to teach the wrongness and lies
> of prejudice. It was not unusual when we would talk about some act that
> they
> would bring up something else they had experienced but never told me of.
>
>
> It also seems to ignore the obvious in consequences, after all the act was
> direct to Kendra; it seems the apology should also be direct to her in my
> mind. And as Lenora related after ignorance is educated sometimes they
> become a real friend.
>
>
>
> Carrie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH)
> Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:08 AM
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
>
> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
> grade.
> Thank you.
> Stephanie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Ms. Kieszak,
>
> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
> (11/2),
> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.
>
> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
> think
> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
> at
> school or at home)?
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. YY
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/carrie.gilmer%40gm
> ail.com
>
>
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> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
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>

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------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:48:20 -0700
From: "Melissa Green" <graduate56 at juno.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <BD435722ACC146F38D5DACB82045E281 at melissa>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

Very good points.
That is another way to look at this situation.
Melissa Green
Without Christ I am nothing, Without me Christ is still God. It's because
of Christ I am able to stand!!!
Blog: http://readergirl5674.blogspot.com
Facebook: melissa green northern colorado
twitter: melissa5674
msn: graduate1531 at msn.com
Skype: lissa5674

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carrie Gilmer" <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 2:03 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident


> Something to think about too that I typically consider...
> This could happen if your daughter was sighted too, in that something mean
> or sometimes kids take something to tease or be mean when they think you
> are
> not looking--or at lunch putting something INTO food~this is the historic
> notoriety of school lunch rooms, same old same old~I realize that it is
> likely they thought she would not know or "see" because of her blindness,
> but if she were sighted and someone had done something to her like this
> there would not be so much worry about her fragility in "handling"
> it...likely whoever witnessed it would have said something and the kids
> would have had to apologize on the spot...probably end of story and
> neither
> you or the principal would have even heard of it...sometimes it is our
> reaction in making it a bigger and more traumatic over sensitive deal than
> it needs to be that can make things almost worse.
>
> Hey someone was mean to Kendra, was it because they thought they could get
> away with it cuz she could not see them?, they are wrong and IMO should be
> disciplined matter-of factly, the school should also know that they can
> deal
> with this...I mean it sounds like they were all so horrified and sensitive
> they did not know what to do~and have had everyone in authority speak to
> them~way more than if they had done something mean like this to soemone
> else
> who they thought was not looking...why does the discipline need to be
> secret
> and the child protected from the occurrence? To me that sends a message
> too,
> and not a desirable one.
>
> Carrie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Lenora J. Marten
> Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:13 AM
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
>
>
> It helps if the other parents are aware and that the consequences involve
> some education on blindness.
>
> We had a similar incident with Eric when he was in first grade and also
> chose not to tell him. When the boy's parents found out they were
> mortified
> and
> set out to make sure that their son learn how to treat all disabled people
> with courtesy
> and respect. It turned out to be a very positive experience as the
> student involved learned a lot about blindness and as a result, became
> one of Eric's good friends.
>
> Lenora
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH) <sek7 at cdc.gov>
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Wed, Nov 4, 2009 11:07 am
> Subject: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
>
>
>
> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and don't
> eally know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
> elling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
> rade.
> hank you.
> tephanie
> -----Original Message-----
> s. Kieszak,
> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
> 11/2),
> wo students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
> ithout her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
> ehavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
> eturned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
> anted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your advice.
> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
> hink
> s a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us here
> t
> chool or at home)?
>
> incerely,
> rs. YY
>
> ______________________________________________
> lindkid mailing list
> lindkid at nfbnet.org
> ttp://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> o unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> ttp://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/bluegolfshoes%40aol
> .com
>
> _______________________________________________
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> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/carrie.gilmer%40gm
> ail.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
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>

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------------------------------

Message: 11
Date: Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:53:37 -0500
From: Carol Castellano <carol_castellano at verizon.net>
Subject: [blindkid] IEP vs 504
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Message-ID: <699937.12243.qm at smtp104.vzn.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Hi Everyone,

This is a question for those whose children have albinism. Does your
child have an IEP or a 504 Plan? If it's a 504, how was that decision made?

Thanks,
Carol

Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nfb.org/nopbc





------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 20:17:39 -0700
From: "Kasondra Payne" <kassyp36 at msn.com>
Subject: [blindkid] paper on Braille literacy for blind children
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>,
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>, "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'"
<blparent at nfbnet.org>, <napub at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <COL109-DS2223F82BBBB9DBABECCA91C3B00 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Everyone,



I am writing a paper on Braille literacy for blind children as part of my
intermediate writing class at Utah State University. I have spent the past
several weeks researching why and how blind children do or do not read
Braille. My own personal story and that of my children will be the backbone
of the paper, and my research will support it. I am directing this paper at
a general audience because I want to do my part to increase awareness of
Braille and blindness. I am



looking for a couple things to finish out this paper. I need a visual
representation of a Braille cell, an image of the Braille vs. the print
alphabet, and possible a picture of a Brailler and slate and stylus. I am
hoping someone can lead me to some images I can incorporate in my paper. If
anyone has any great stories, quotes, statistics, or anything else that you
think I should see, please send them to me by this weekend. I am also
asking for your thoughts and prayers. There is a chance that this could be
entered into a huge competition on campus or get published in an anthology
for this particular class. I love writing, and I am so thankful that I can
read and write Braille. I want to see the Braille literacy rate improve.
Thank you for your help and support!



Kasondra Payne



------------------------------

Message: 13
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 22:38:16 -0500
From: holly miller <hollym12 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] IEP vs 504
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID:
<7d85dc6d0911041938h3125f068o88f331df70a24b8d at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hank has an IEP

Holly

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 9:53 PM, Carol Castellano <
carol_castellano at verizon.net> wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
>
> This is a question for those whose children have albinism. Does your child
> have an IEP or a 504 Plan? If it's a 504, how was that decision made?
>
> Thanks,
> Carol
>
> Carol Castellano, President
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> 973-377-0976
> carol_castellano at verizon.net
> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
>
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/hollym12%40gmail.com
>


------------------------------

Message: 14
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:41:11 -0500
From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <36162BC7-4A0D-4121-B684-68C26EFD68FC at gopbc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

For any who don't know the connection I am Kendra's dad (and
Stephanie's husband). Kendra is seven, and in the first grade. This is
her first year in her new school. Overall, things have been going
really well both at this school as well as her last. Her previous
school went through kindergarten only and this is the school to which
most of her classmates from her last school typically matriculate.

Kendra is the only blind child in the school, and to my knowledge the
only blind child that either her regular ed or special ed teachers
(this is a co-taught classroom) have ever had. Because so many things
are new to this situation and especially to both of these teachers,
many things are being learned and done "on-the-fly" the first time
they come up. We do have an outstanding and very experienced TVI but
she was not involved in this situation when it happened. Had she been
there, I suspect none of this discussion would ever have come up; it
would have been solved on the spot.

On top of everything else, Kendra's regular ed teacher was out sick
the day this happened. My suspicion is that what happened caught the
teacher who first learned of this so off-guard that she was virtually
stupefied. No matter if it is typical or not for kids her age and
younger, we've generally only had problems with kids arguing over who
gets to walk with Kendra (fighting to HAVE a turn) when they pair off
in twos or trying to be the one who hands Kendra her cane as they head
to the door. (Followed by an adult explaining how nice it is that they
want to help but that she knows where her cane is and she can [and
will] get that herself.) There are lots of IEP kids at this school (as
with her previous school-- WAY more than average) so most of these
kids are quite used to dealing with diversity and should "know
better"...

This is sort of a classic example of wanting to examine what happened
in the context of what SHOULD have happened, but that is in the past.
We needed to figure out the value of telling her that it did happen
which after some thought and discussion is what we plan to do at this
point; she needs to know and she should have learned right when it
happened. Now that this has come up, we can also have a strategy for
the future and be on the same page with the teachers at school. Try as
one may, it is hard to have a plan for everything BEFORE it happens...

I think the real problem is that once the ideal response didn't happen
as it should have, now it is much harder to know the exact proper
approach; we are no longer "in the heat of battle". Kendra is really
only just learning to try to understand what it means that others can
"see", so the notion that others can see and use this magical power to
steal from her is a concept that I was not really wanting to try and
teach just yet, but we have to adjust the plan as the game is played...

Having no light perception at all, I think that the entire notion of
sight is still a bit baffling to Kendra. We're not trying to keep the
concept of sight a secret obviously, but we're still very much trying
to help the concept of "vision" make some reasonable sense to her. In
fact, I wonder if there are any no-light-perception-since-birth people
on this listserv who can offer any suggestions to sighted adults
trying to convey the concept of vision to a child who has never had
any. Not what vision is for or what it does so much, as what it "is".
I really can't understand how one would do that well for any
completely absent sense. Any thoughts? What has worked for other
parents who's kids have been totally blind since birth?

I can sort of imagine telling someone with really low vision, or even
just light perception that some people can get a lot more information
than a general shape (or just light and dark etc.) but where do you
start with the explanation, again, given the experience of even a very
bright seven year old in a way that is useful?

When it comes down to it, I guess the actual incident is not that big
of a deal-- that one child took part of another's lunch. And if you
were one typical kid grabbing another sighted kid's food, you would no
doubt want to do that when that kid wasn't looking as well, so I
cannot really put my finger on just how or why this seems so terrible,
yet it still does... I mean on the one hand, we want to say everyone
is the same and equal, but on the other, there is a weakness here (for
lack of a better term) and somehow, right or wrong, it does seem to be
a good deal more inappropriate (at least to me) to grab a blind kid's
food than it does to sneak it from a sighted kid when he or she is not
looking.

Richard



On Nov 4, 2009, at 3:30 PM, Susan Harper wrote:

> It happened at school. The school should be responsible for talking
> with
> her and then the students involved should tell her what they did and
> apologize, if and only if you think your daughter is mature enough
> to deal
> with this. You may want to be the one to prep your daughter ahead
> of time
> and be with her at school as a support. School needs to be
> responsible for
> school. I don't know the age of your daughter, so this is my best
> guess
> from the gut advice. Let us know how it goes.
> Blessings
>
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/
> NCEH) <
> sek7 at cdc.gov> wrote:
>
>> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and
>> don't
>> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
>> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
>> grade.
>> Thank you.
>> Stephanie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Ms. Kieszak,
>>
>> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
>> (11/2),
>> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
>> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
>> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
>> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
>> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your
>> advice.
>>
>> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
>> think
>> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us
>> here
>> at
>> school or at home)?
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Mrs. YY
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blindkid mailing list
>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blindkid:
>>
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/sueharper%40firstchurchgriswold.org
>>
> _______________________________________________
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> blindkid at nfbnet.org
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> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
> for blindkid:
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------------------------------

Message: 15
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 01:04:12 -0500
From: holly miller <hollym12 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID:
<7d85dc6d0911042204w26486e79o8242f20b1c37c6fd at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I've been thinking on this a lot.
I do think Kendra should be told. At first I had been thinking why upset
her if she didn't even know anything happened? She is a little kid and she
has a long time to learn people aren't always so nice. Then I thought about
first graders. They are terrible at keeping secrets. If I were in your
shoes, I'd rather she heard it from me than on the playground.

I'd want the message to the offenders to be "It's wrong to steal food from
other people" rather than "It's wrong to steal food from the poor blind
girl" Believe me, I understand the poppa & momma bear feelings welling up
right now but that's not what she needs. She needs her community to
understand wrong is wrong no matter who it happens to. Depending on the
rapport you have with the teacher, see if you can get a feel for what kind
of kids these are. Maybe the little snots *are* stealing from all the kids,
not just Kendra. If that's the case, in a bizarre 1st grade way it could
actually be a sign of acceptance. As if the other kids don't see her as
needing special exemption from their rottenness, she's just one of the gang.


It's late so I don't guarantee I'm making much sense right now LOL!
Holly
aka Hank's mom

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 12:41 AM, Richard Holloway 
<rholloway at gopbc.org>wrote:

>
>
> When it comes down to it, I guess the actual incident is not that big of a
> deal-- that one child took part of another's lunch. And if you were one
> typical kid grabbing another sighted kid's food, you would no doubt want 
> to
> do that when that kid wasn't looking as well, so I cannot really put my
> finger on just how or why this seems so terrible, yet it still does... I
> mean on the one hand, we want to say everyone is the same and equal, but 
> on
> the other, there is a weakness here (for lack of a better term) and 
> somehow,
> right or wrong, it does seem to be a good deal more inappropriate (at 
> least
> to me) to grab a blind kid's food than it does to sneak it from a sighted
> kid when he or she is not looking.
>
> Richard
>
>


------------------------------

Message: 16
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 01:30:48 -0500
From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <57D6956C-2AD0-4AAB-8543-666C3ADBEB5D at gopbc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

It is late but that makes good sense and it is pretty much where we
ended up. It isn't like this would be okay of she were sighted, so the
focus does need to be that those kids took her food and it is wrong-- 
plain and simple.

I just dread what may come up in the whole realm of how is it they can
see and what does that mean-- how does it make it easier for them to
take her things, and why can't she just see too, but that may not even
come up this time at all, and again, that was all going to have to
come up sooner or later and we've slowly been trying to explain that
concept anyhow.

Life is complicated!...

Richard


On Nov 5, 2009, at 1:04 AM, holly miller wrote:

> I've been thinking on this a lot.
> I do think Kendra should be told. At first I had been thinking why
> upset
> her if she didn't even know anything happened? She is a little kid
> and she
> has a long time to learn people aren't always so nice. Then I
> thought about
> first graders. They are terrible at keeping secrets. If I were in
> your
> shoes, I'd rather she heard it from me than on the playground.
>
> I'd want the message to the offenders to be "It's wrong to steal
> food from
> other people" rather than "It's wrong to steal food from the poor
> blind
> girl" Believe me, I understand the poppa & momma bear feelings
> welling up
> right now but that's not what she needs. She needs her community to
> understand wrong is wrong no matter who it happens to. Depending on
> the
> rapport you have with the teacher, see if you can get a feel for
> what kind
> of kids these are. Maybe the little snots *are* stealing from all
> the kids,
> not just Kendra. If that's the case, in a bizarre 1st grade way it
> could
> actually be a sign of acceptance. As if the other kids don't see
> her as
> needing special exemption from their rottenness, she's just one of
> the gang.
>
>
> It's late so I don't guarantee I'm making much sense right now LOL!
> Holly
> aka Hank's mom
>
> On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 12:41 AM, Richard Holloway
> <rholloway at gopbc.org>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> When it comes down to it, I guess the actual incident is not that
>> big of a
>> deal-- that one child took part of another's lunch. And if you were
>> one
>> typical kid grabbing another sighted kid's food, you would no doubt
>> want to
>> do that when that kid wasn't looking as well, so I cannot really
>> put my
>> finger on just how or why this seems so terrible, yet it still
>> does... I
>> mean on the one hand, we want to say everyone is the same and
>> equal, but on
>> the other, there is a weakness here (for lack of a better term) and
>> somehow,
>> right or wrong, it does seem to be a good deal more inappropriate
>> (at least
>> to me) to grab a blind kid's food than it does to sneak it from a
>> sighted
>> kid when he or she is not looking.
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
> for blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/rholloway%40gopbc.org




------------------------------

Message: 17
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:37:39 -0600
From: "Tony Grima" <agrima at nbp.org> (by way of David Andrews
<dandrews at visi.com>)
Subject: [blindkid] NBP-Announce: Kids: Have You Filled a Bucket
Today?
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Message-ID: <auto-000126264632 at mailfront2.g2host.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

November 2009 Book Club Selection
Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids
by Carol McCloud
Print/Braille edition, $9.95
Ages 4-9

The book is one of the highest-ranking (sales-wise) children's book on
Amazon right now. It basically uses the metaphor of "filling a bucket"
to convey the simple lesson of "doing unto others, as you would want
done unto you." It reminds kids that they have the ability to "fill
someone's bucket up" by being or saying something nice, or just the
opposite. Kids find it easy to understand and employ. Schools have
embraced this idea to communicate respect and responsibility toward
others. It's won 7 children's book awards.

"I bought this book for my two grandsons, ages 5 and 3, when they
visited a few weeks ago. When I went to visit them last weekend, I was
thrilled to hear their mom and them constantly referring to "filling
someone's bucket." Both children understand that when you are being
nice, you are filling other's buckets, AS WELL as your own, and that
when being unkind, everyone's bucket gets emptied. I highly recommend
it!"
-- J. Hesford

"As a school counselor, I am always looking for ways to work with
students to help them understand how their acts of kindness not only
help others but help themselves. This is the first book I have come
across the does this in such a magnificent way. I have read this book to
all of our students in Kindergarten through fifth grade. I would highly
recommend this book for parents, teachers, and counselors."
-- J. Counselor, Western Wisconsin

"I was sucked into the whole bucket thing because the corresponding
program is what my elementary school is doing this year. We have the
posters throughout the school, the assemblies, and the books. But, when
it gets down to it, this simple little book packs a message that every
kid needs to know. Because, despite what we think, too many kids need
lessons in how to be kind."
-- E. Taylor, Utah

To order or read more about this book online, visit
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/BC0911-BUCKET.html

******
To order any books, send payment to:
NBP, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115-4302
Or call and charge it: toll-free (800) 548-7323 or (617) 266-6160 ext
20. Or order any of our books online at
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/publications/index.html .



_______________________________________________
Nbp mailing list
Nbp at nbp.org

PLEASE DO NOT respond to this message! It is an automated message and
your query will not reach us. Send questions to orders at nbp.org .

Visit us at http://www.nbp.org




------------------------------

Message: 18
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 06:05:28 -0500
From: "Jess" <jessica.trask.reagan at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] IEP vs 504
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <0100964256444F8DAC99D63A9EB1BF4C at Jessica>

Carol,
I had an IEP from Preschool through graduation from high school.
Jessica
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "holly miller" <hollym12 at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:38 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] IEP vs 504


> Hank has an IEP
>
> Holly
>
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 9:53 PM, Carol Castellano <
> carol_castellano at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> This is a question for those whose children have albinism. Does your
>> child
>> have an IEP or a 504 Plan? If it's a 504, how was that decision made?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Carol
>>
>> Carol Castellano, President
>> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>> 973-377-0976
>> carol_castellano at verizon.net
>> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blindkid mailing list
>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blindkid:
>>
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/hollym12%40gmail.com
>>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/jessica.trask.reagan%40gmail.com





------------------------------

Message: 19
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:34:05 -0600
From: Steve & Karen Leinart <s.leinart at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] IEP vs 504
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <4AF2C63D.4030501 at comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Matthew has an IEP. I know of one child with a 504 rather than an IEP,
and it's because her vision is so good... her 504 only addresses
sunscreen, shade outdoors, and things like that.

Karen

Carol Castellano wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> This is a question for those whose children have albinism. Does your
> child have an IEP or a 504 Plan? If it's a 504, how was that decision
> made?
>
> Thanks,
> Carol
>



------------------------------

Message: 20
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 09:09:23 -0500
From: "trising" <trising at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <B9280621C5B244B884069658D369CF0C at user6389c7a3c9>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response

I had similar things happen as the only blind high school student. Someone
took food, ate part of it, and had the whole table laughing when they put
the french fry back on my tray and I ate it, not knowing it had been bitten
off of. This was a painful experience for me, as I was the social outcast
that no one would eat with at school. After the incident I described, I was
almost relieved to eat alone. As to being told I was totally blind and
others had vision, I think at age six I thought adults could see, because my
parents could. This meant they could drive, read using eyes instead of
hands, know colors and read my temperature on a glass rod when I was sick. I
thought kids read Braille and went on a small bus to school. I got told in
no uncertain terms by another little girl that I was wrong. She rode on a
bigg bus, rode a bike with two wheels, had 26 kids in her class and was
learning to read with her eyes. The way she said it made me feel inferior.
It took until I was out of school and found the Federation and my husband
who is also a part of the Federation before I realized that it was
respectable to be blind. It was sure grand to realize our techniques were
not inferior, but just different!




------------------------------

Message: 21
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:11:51 -0500
From: Carol Castellano <blindchildren at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <110625.65243.qm at smtp104.vzn.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

I think the reason it seems so hard or so unclear is that the offense
may indeed have involved the fact that Kendra is blind and we parents
have very good reasons to shield our kids from difficult and complex
issues when they are young.

A similar thing happened to Serena when she was in Girl Scouts--she
was probably in 3rd grade, maybe 8 or 9 at the time. There was one
mean girl--the Scout leader's daughter, of course!--who one night
when we were all out at a pizzeria after an activity, pretended to
pour her soda on Serena's head. I was alerted by another scout and
turned to see it happening. It seemed to me the other girls were
sort of squirming embarassedly and laughing a little. Serena, of
course, didn't have a clue of what was funny.

I think I called out to the offender, "that's not nice to do" and she
of course stopped. Oh, did I mention her mom the troop leader was oblivious?

That evening Serena and I told Serena what the girl had done. We
talked about why a person might do such a thing and why trying to
make fun at the expense of others was wrong. It certainly would have
been more difficult to discuss when Serena was younger, like Kendra
is now, and understood less.

We always kept our eyes on the blind adults we knew who were skilled
and knowledgeable--we knew that there was a way to be that as a blind
person, so we never felt, and of course did not want Serena to feel,
that she would always be vulnerable to being taken advantage of
because she was blind. In fact, so far in Serena's life, it seems as
if she brings out the best in people!

Regarding what vision is, we got a lot of tips from Gary Wunder who
speaks poignantly about his own journey to understanding. Serena is
also completely blind without light perception. I think we began
with something like this: Serena, you know how your cane goes out in
front of you and out to the sides and you can see what's
there? Well, eyesight is something like that, but it can go much
farther, even miles. As time went by, we added details so that she
would get a full understanding. We always spoke (still do) about it
matter-of-factly--for whatever the action we were trying to explain,
we'd say, This is the way a grown up sighted person would accomplish
this task; this is the way a grown up blind person would do it,
without making any deal out of whether the person accomplished the
task with eyes or fingers or ears.

Carol

At 12:41 AM 11/5/2009, you wrote:
>For any who don't know the connection I am Kendra's dad (and
>Stephanie's husband). Kendra is seven, and in the first grade. This is
>her first year in her new school. Overall, things have been going
>really well both at this school as well as her last. Her previous
>school went through kindergarten only and this is the school to which
>most of her classmates from her last school typically matriculate.
>
>Kendra is the only blind child in the school, and to my knowledge the
>only blind child that either her regular ed or special ed teachers
>(this is a co-taught classroom) have ever had. Because so many things
>are new to this situation and especially to both of these teachers,
>many things are being learned and done "on-the-fly" the first time
>they come up. We do have an outstanding and very experienced TVI but
>she was not involved in this situation when it happened. Had she been
>there, I suspect none of this discussion would ever have come up; it
>would have been solved on the spot.
>
>On top of everything else, Kendra's regular ed teacher was out sick
>the day this happened. My suspicion is that what happened caught the
>teacher who first learned of this so off-guard that she was virtually
>stupefied. No matter if it is typical or not for kids her age and
>younger, we've generally only had problems with kids arguing over who
>gets to walk with Kendra (fighting to HAVE a turn) when they pair off
>in twos or trying to be the one who hands Kendra her cane as they head
>to the door. (Followed by an adult explaining how nice it is that they
>want to help but that she knows where her cane is and she can [and
>will] get that herself.) There are lots of IEP kids at this school (as
>with her previous school-- WAY more than average) so most of these
>kids are quite used to dealing with diversity and should "know
>better"...
>
>This is sort of a classic example of wanting to examine what happened
>in the context of what SHOULD have happened, but that is in the past.
>We needed to figure out the value of telling her that it did happen
>which after some thought and discussion is what we plan to do at this
>point; she needs to know and she should have learned right when it
>happened. Now that this has come up, we can also have a strategy for
>the future and be on the same page with the teachers at school. Try as
>one may, it is hard to have a plan for everything BEFORE it happens...
>
>I think the real problem is that once the ideal response didn't happen
>as it should have, now it is much harder to know the exact proper
>approach; we are no longer "in the heat of battle". Kendra is really
>only just learning to try to understand what it means that others can
>"see", so the notion that others can see and use this magical power to
>steal from her is a concept that I was not really wanting to try and
>teach just yet, but we have to adjust the plan as the game is played...
>
>Having no light perception at all, I think that the entire notion of
>sight is still a bit baffling to Kendra. We're not trying to keep the
>concept of sight a secret obviously, but we're still very much trying
>to help the concept of "vision" make some reasonable sense to her. In
>fact, I wonder if there are any no-light-perception-since-birth people
>on this listserv who can offer any suggestions to sighted adults
>trying to convey the concept of vision to a child who has never had
>any. Not what vision is for or what it does so much, as what it "is".
>I really can't understand how one would do that well for any
>completely absent sense. Any thoughts? What has worked for other
>parents who's kids have been totally blind since birth?
>
>I can sort of imagine telling someone with really low vision, or even
>just light perception that some people can get a lot more information
>than a general shape (or just light and dark etc.) but where do you
>start with the explanation, again, given the experience of even a very
>bright seven year old in a way that is useful?
>
>When it comes down to it, I guess the actual incident is not that big
>of a deal-- that one child took part of another's lunch. And if you
>were one typical kid grabbing another sighted kid's food, you would no
>doubt want to do that when that kid wasn't looking as well, so I
>cannot really put my finger on just how or why this seems so terrible,
>yet it still does... I mean on the one hand, we want to say everyone
>is the same and equal, but on the other, there is a weakness here (for
>lack of a better term) and somehow, right or wrong, it does seem to be
>a good deal more inappropriate (at least to me) to grab a blind kid's
>food than it does to sneak it from a sighted kid when he or she is not
>looking.
>
>Richard
>
>
>
>On Nov 4, 2009, at 3:30 PM, Susan Harper wrote:
>
>>It happened at school. The school should be responsible for talking
>>with
>>her and then the students involved should tell her what they did and
>>apologize, if and only if you think your daughter is mature enough
>>to deal
>>with this. You may want to be the one to prep your daughter ahead
>>of time
>>and be with her at school as a support. School needs to be
>>responsible for
>>school. I don't know the age of your daughter, so this is my best
>>guess
>>from the gut advice. Let us know how it goes.
>>Blessings
>>
>>On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/ NCEH) <
>>sek7 at cdc.gov> wrote:
>>
>>>I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and
>>>don't
>>>really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
>>>telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
>>>grade.
>>>Thank you.
>>>Stephanie
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>Ms. Kieszak,
>>>
>>>Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
>>>(11/2),
>>>two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
>>>without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
>>>behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
>>>returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
>>>wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your
>>>advice.
>>>
>>>Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
>>>think
>>>is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us
>>>here
>>>at
>>>school or at home)?
>>>
>>>
>>>Sincerely,
>>>Mrs. YY
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>blindkid mailing list
>>>blindkid at nfbnet.org
>>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>>>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>blindkid:
>>>
>>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/sueharper%40firstchurchgriswold.org
>>_______________________________________________
>>blindkid mailing list
>>blindkid at nfbnet.org
>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>for blindkid:
>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/rholloway%40gopbc.org
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>blindkid mailing list
>blindkid at nfbnet.org
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>for blindkid:
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/blindchildren%40verizon.net





------------------------------

Message: 22
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:46:06 -0500
From: Carol Castellano <blindchildren at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <693160.56728.qm at smtp101.vzn.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Boy, you sure put your finger on the issues. Thank goodness for the
NFB and NOPBC and all our outreach and activities for parents.

Because once the parents find out that it's okay to be blind, and
once their expectations are raised, then the child can be brought up
in an atmosphere of normal expectations, an emphasis on competence
and skills, and ideas and answers for those difficult situations. It
seems to me the more skill the child has and the more he/she can
handle his/her own life, the more respect peers have.

I'm so glad you found the Federation.

Carol

Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nfb.org/nopbc

At 09:09 AM 11/5/2009, you wrote:
>I had similar things happen as the only blind high school student.
>Someone took food, ate part of it, and had the whole table laughing
>when they put the french fry back on my tray and I ate it, not
>knowing it had been bitten off of. This was a painful experience for
>me, as I was the social outcast that no one would eat with at
>school. After the incident I described, I was almost relieved to eat
>alone. As to being told I was totally blind and others had vision, I
>think at age six I thought adults could see, because my parents
>could. This meant they could drive, read using eyes instead of
>hands, know colors and read my temperature on a glass rod when I was
>sick. I thought kids read Braille and went on a small bus to school.
>I got told in no uncertain terms by another little girl that I was
>wrong. She rode on a bigg bus, rode a bike with two wheels, had 26
>kids in her class and was learning to read with her eyes. The way
>she said it made me feel inferior. It took until I was out of school
>and found the Federation and my husband who is also a part of the
>Federation before I realized that it was respectable to be blind. It
>was sure grand to realize our techniques were not inferior, but just
>different!
>
>_______________________________________________
>blindkid mailing list
>blindkid at nfbnet.org
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>for blindkid:
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/blindchildren%40verizon.net





------------------------------

Message: 23
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 09:56:00 -0500
From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind
children\)'" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <379E97BCA6DC4882B3555EBA610E922B at JkTC4D1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I have been listening to this dialogue about Kendra's lunch room experience.
As and educator stuff like this happens a lot. But as you said something
seems wrong about it being done when the person it is being done to cannot
appreciate the "fun" in it or the mischievousness of it all. i think you are
correct when you say that if all things were as they typically were,
teachers not being absent and all, this never would have come up in
discussion. First, again let me compliment you on your level headed and
heart felt thoughts, I look forward to learning from you everytime I open an
email from you. Kendra is a very lucky young lady. I am inclined to suggest
you ask the teacher to turn this into a teachable moment. Have her or him,
tell a story, a few stories for that matter, about people being mischievous
and only having "fun". In this way more children will benefit from the
experience and perhaps Kendra will gain more from a dialogue amongst her
peers as they together define what is or is not appropriate behaviour. I am
feeling a wonderful story line for a childrens book coming on. let me know
what you think. You seem to be the type of parents who let Kendra learn from
her own experiences and this time many others could learn from her as well.
One thing I have learned since loosing my eye sight is that it is up to us,
the members of the blind community, included are those affected as well, to
educate and inform all people on blindness so that we can perhaps
collectively dispel antiquated myths and misperceptions about vision loss.

Albert J. Rizzi
CEO/Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York 10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."


-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Richard Holloway
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 12:41 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident

For any who don't know the connection I am Kendra's dad (and
Stephanie's husband). Kendra is seven, and in the first grade. This is
her first year in her new school. Overall, things have been going
really well both at this school as well as her last. Her previous
school went through kindergarten only and this is the school to which
most of her classmates from her last school typically matriculate.

Kendra is the only blind child in the school, and to my knowledge the
only blind child that either her regular ed or special ed teachers
(this is a co-taught classroom) have ever had. Because so many things
are new to this situation and especially to both of these teachers,
many things are being learned and done "on-the-fly" the first time
they come up. We do have an outstanding and very experienced TVI but
she was not involved in this situation when it happened. Had she been
there, I suspect none of this discussion would ever have come up; it
would have been solved on the spot.

On top of everything else, Kendra's regular ed teacher was out sick
the day this happened. My suspicion is that what happened caught the
teacher who first learned of this so off-guard that she was virtually
stupefied. No matter if it is typical or not for kids her age and
younger, we've generally only had problems with kids arguing over who
gets to walk with Kendra (fighting to HAVE a turn) when they pair off
in twos or trying to be the one who hands Kendra her cane as they head
to the door. (Followed by an adult explaining how nice it is that they
want to help but that she knows where her cane is and she can [and
will] get that herself.) There are lots of IEP kids at this school (as
with her previous school-- WAY more than average) so most of these
kids are quite used to dealing with diversity and should "know
better"...

This is sort of a classic example of wanting to examine what happened
in the context of what SHOULD have happened, but that is in the past.
We needed to figure out the value of telling her that it did happen
which after some thought and discussion is what we plan to do at this
point; she needs to know and she should have learned right when it
happened. Now that this has come up, we can also have a strategy for
the future and be on the same page with the teachers at school. Try as
one may, it is hard to have a plan for everything BEFORE it happens...

I think the real problem is that once the ideal response didn't happen
as it should have, now it is much harder to know the exact proper
approach; we are no longer "in the heat of battle". Kendra is really
only just learning to try to understand what it means that others can
"see", so the notion that others can see and use this magical power to
steal from her is a concept that I was not really wanting to try and
teach just yet, but we have to adjust the plan as the game is played...

Having no light perception at all, I think that the entire notion of
sight is still a bit baffling to Kendra. We're not trying to keep the
concept of sight a secret obviously, but we're still very much trying
to help the concept of "vision" make some reasonable sense to her. In
fact, I wonder if there are any no-light-perception-since-birth people
on this listserv who can offer any suggestions to sighted adults
trying to convey the concept of vision to a child who has never had
any. Not what vision is for or what it does so much, as what it "is".
I really can't understand how one would do that well for any
completely absent sense. Any thoughts? What has worked for other
parents who's kids have been totally blind since birth?

I can sort of imagine telling someone with really low vision, or even
just light perception that some people can get a lot more information
than a general shape (or just light and dark etc.) but where do you
start with the explanation, again, given the experience of even a very
bright seven year old in a way that is useful?

When it comes down to it, I guess the actual incident is not that big
of a deal-- that one child took part of another's lunch. And if you
were one typical kid grabbing another sighted kid's food, you would no
doubt want to do that when that kid wasn't looking as well, so I
cannot really put my finger on just how or why this seems so terrible,
yet it still does... I mean on the one hand, we want to say everyone
is the same and equal, but on the other, there is a weakness here (for
lack of a better term) and somehow, right or wrong, it does seem to be
a good deal more inappropriate (at least to me) to grab a blind kid's
food than it does to sneak it from a sighted kid when he or she is not
looking.

Richard



On Nov 4, 2009, at 3:30 PM, Susan Harper wrote:

> It happened at school. The school should be responsible for talking
> with
> her and then the students involved should tell her what they did and
> apologize, if and only if you think your daughter is mature enough
> to deal
> with this. You may want to be the one to prep your daughter ahead
> of time
> and be with her at school as a support. School needs to be
> responsible for
> school. I don't know the age of your daughter, so this is my best
> guess
> from the gut advice. Let us know how it goes.
> Blessings
>
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/
> NCEH) <
> sek7 at cdc.gov> wrote:
>
>> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and
>> don't
>> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is that
>> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
>> grade.
>> Thank you.
>> Stephanie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Ms. Kieszak,
>>
>> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
>> (11/2),
>> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
>> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for their
>> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
>> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
>> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your
>> advice.
>>
>> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do you
>> think
>> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us
>> here
>> at
>> school or at home)?
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Mrs. YY
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blindkid mailing list
>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blindkid:
>>
>>
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hurchgriswold.org
>>
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> for blindkid:
>
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------------------------------

Message: 24
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:20:03 -0500
From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <5BE7B630-C5FF-4AAF-8A82-1444D754251E at gopbc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

I appreciate your feedback--

Your story is interesting, in particular the notion that a blind child
would possibly think that one grows into having vision, and especially
so since I have heard virtually the exact same thing from other adults
who were blind since birth. There is definitely a tale of caution
there. One never knows what a child (vision notwithstanding) is going
to assume. For the longest time (as a sighted young child) I had
reached the seemingly obvious conclusion that "white milk" came from
the predominantly white cows and chocolate milk from the brown or
black ones. It made total sense to me. I think I had even worked out
that cows with a good mixture of light and dark patches would dispense
both kinds, depending on the "spigot" used. I never really asked
anyone, I just intuitively "knew" this. Fortunately for me, there was
no longstanding impact from my misguided assumption in this case.

We never try to withhold information of that nature and we don't
withhold much of anything at all. In fact I can only recall
withholding things that seem not to be age appropriate except in that
we all (I would assume) sometimes try to give out information only as
quickly as our kids can process and deal with it at times-- For me,
this is generally related to knowing how things work-- Kendra wants a
full and complete understanding and sometimes it takes a while to
build enough foundation to get to the particulars of how a certain
machine might work, for example. Kendra would, I think, like to
understand a lot more about how and why electricity works sometimes
(especially as related to audio recording), but I have yet to work up
to a clear explanation of electrical theory for ANY first graders, so
that really has little to do with blindness-- How do I "adapt"
something that does not exist to begin with?

Thinking of not discussing the stolen food is the only thing I believe
we have given serious thought to avoiding and that was, again, mainly
because it was hard to see the benefit of her learning so far away
from the actual event. Besides, it is my nature to try and protect
anyone I know (child or adult) from hurtful things that are sometimes
said or done in life; something I have never quite worked out in life
in general.

Kendra absolutely knows it is respectable to be blind, though I guess
I tend to use the words "fine" or "okay" more. She understands that
some kids can see with their eyes and some cannot and the same is true
for adults and that is fine, just like some kids cannot hear with
their ears or walk with their legs. In fact one thing we have really
liked about her current and previous school is that some kids there
use walkers or wheel chairs-- things that Kendra can notice without
any intervention so SHE can initiate a question like why a classmate
us in a wheelchair.

I have not tended to focus on the ratio, but she knows for example
that she is the only child who cannot see with her eyes at school but
that at other places like the Center for the Visually Impaired, many
people there are blind an she sees sighted and blind kids away from
those places at times also. We remind her to use her cane "like Anil"
when she is not touching her cane back-and-forth as she knows Anil
Lewis quite well and that he is also blind. She is aware of the
distinctive sound that he as an NFB cane user makes as he travels so
it is a great reminder for her. (Sometimes her cane tends to "hover" a
few inches off the ground otherwise...)

We absolutely want Kendra to know not only that it is respectable to
be blind, but to grow up knowing successful blind adults that she
encounters just like any other "grown-ups" from time to time.

Richard




On Nov 5, 2009, at 9:09 AM, trising wrote:

> I had similar things happen as the only blind high school student.
> Someone took food, ate part of it, and had the whole table laughing
> when they put the french fry back on my tray and I ate it, not
> knowing it had been bitten off of. This was a painful experience for
> me, as I was the social outcast that no one would eat with at
> school. After the incident I described, I was almost relieved to eat
> alone. As to being told I was totally blind and others had vision, I
> think at age six I thought adults could see, because my parents
> could. This meant they could drive, read using eyes instead of
> hands, know colors and read my temperature on a glass rod when I was
> sick. I thought kids read Braille and went on a small bus to school.
> I got told in no uncertain terms by another little girl that I was
> wrong. She rode on a bigg bus, rode a bike with two wheels, had 26
> kids in her class and was learning to read with her eyes. The way
> she said it made me feel inferior. It took until I was out of school
> and found the Federation and my husband who is also a part of the
> Federation before I realized that it was respectable to be blind. It
> was sure grand to realize our techniques were not inferior, but just
> different!
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
> for blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/rholloway%40gopbc.org




------------------------------

Message: 25
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:59:08 -0500
From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <0DD67B7E-25EE-48DD-A334-2C3F772FF047 at gopbc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Carol,

Your comments are reassuring, thanks. Even as we try and build the
knowledge base that will hopefully allow Kendra to develop a more
reasonable understanding of a vision concept I am forever finding
"holes" in what I think we have built.

When my (sighted) teenaged daughter was quite young, I remember once
telling her not to roll her eyes at me in a conversation. She was
completely taken aback that I had "caught" her doing this, as she was
on the other end of the telephone and clearly WELL out of sight. (What
a glorious moment that was BTW as she then became CERTAIN that her Dad
ALWAYS knew what she was doing, LOL...)

I get the impression that our blind children all too often get that
same sort of impression in daily life from a great many sources-- "How
do all these people know what I am doing when I cannot tell what THEY
are doing-- how exactly does this vision thing work?!!" I don't think
that Kendra thinks it is inferior to do things without sight, but she
wants to understand the idea of vision and I sometimes feel like I
give sub-par information when I try and explain it.

As with so many kids, our younger two children have generally reserved
locations in our car. Kendra sits right behind me as I drive,
primarily so I can keep by best watch on her little brother-- (a
typical boy in most every sense of that description, always in motion
and often on the edge of mischief when he's in the car). (My son rides
behind the front passenger seat). The other day, Kendra was asking me
to look at something and as she was getting a little bit agitated, I
realized that something was up. I looked behind me a little when I was
stopped at a light and realized that she was shaking something towards
me and getting mad that I didn't see what she was "showing me". So the
light bulb goes on for me, and I start trying to explain that unlike
sound or smell, sight is just in front of a sighted person's eyes and
that we have to turn our head to see. Then I try to explain that there
is so much that I have to watch in FRONT of me as I drive that I can
only look at her when we are stopped somewhere.

Then she wants to know WHY that is-- that eyes only see in one
direction. Ugh! "Well, that's just they way it is--" It is a poor
explanation, but I really have no decent answer that doesn't involve a
discussion of light waves and collection and focus-- somewhat beyond
the scope of this discussion, I'm thinking, ESPECIALLY while I am
still driving in heavy traffic.

Another really interesting thing to try and explain is solid but
transparent objects. If I can see through a closed window, why can't I
see though a wall? And yet at times, say with a crack in a wall or
more commonly between fence planks, one CAN seemingly see through a
"solid" thing", or OVER something solid that is too high to feel the
top of...

If sound is stopped by closing a window why is it that light is not? I
want to explain all I can about these things, but it just takes a long
time to really begin to construct a solid base of understanding in
these matters. Still, I know we'll get there.

Anyhow, thanks for the feedback. It all helps to build MY knowledge
base!

Richard




On Nov 5, 2009, at 9:11 AM, Carol Castellano wrote:

> I think the reason it seems so hard or so unclear is that the
> offense may indeed have involved the fact that Kendra is blind and
> we parents have very good reasons to shield our kids from difficult
> and complex issues when they are young.
>
> A similar thing happened to Serena when she was in Girl Scouts--she
> was probably in 3rd grade, maybe 8 or 9 at the time. There was one
> mean girl--the Scout leader's daughter, of course!--who one night
> when we were all out at a pizzeria after an activity, pretended to
> pour her soda on Serena's head. I was alerted by another scout and
> turned to see it happening. It seemed to me the other girls were
> sort of squirming embarassedly and laughing a little. Serena, of
> course, didn't have a clue of what was funny.
>
> I think I called out to the offender, "that's not nice to do" and
> she of course stopped. Oh, did I mention her mom the troop leader
> was oblivious?
>
> That evening Serena and I told Serena what the girl had done. We
> talked about why a person might do such a thing and why trying to
> make fun at the expense of others was wrong. It certainly would
> have been more difficult to discuss when Serena was younger, like
> Kendra is now, and understood less.
>
> We always kept our eyes on the blind adults we knew who were skilled
> and knowledgeable--we knew that there was a way to be that as a
> blind person, so we never felt, and of course did not want Serena to
> feel, that she would always be vulnerable to being taken advantage
> of because she was blind. In fact, so far in Serena's life, it
> seems as if she brings out the best in people!
>
> Regarding what vision is, we got a lot of tips from Gary Wunder who
> speaks poignantly about his own journey to understanding. Serena is
> also completely blind without light perception. I think we began
> with something like this: Serena, you know how your cane goes out
> in front of you and out to the sides and you can see what's there?
> Well, eyesight is something like that, but it can go much farther,
> even miles. As time went by, we added details so that she would get
> a full understanding. We always spoke (still do) about it matter-of-
> factly--for whatever the action we were trying to explain, we'd say,
> This is the way a grown up sighted person would accomplish this
> task; this is the way a grown up blind person would do it, without
> making any deal out of whether the person accomplished the task with
> eyes or fingers or ears.
>
> Carol
>
> At 12:41 AM 11/5/2009, you wrote:
>> For any who don't know the connection I am Kendra's dad (and
>> Stephanie's husband). Kendra is seven, and in the first grade. This
>> is
>> her first year in her new school. Overall, things have been going
>> really well both at this school as well as her last. Her previous
>> school went through kindergarten only and this is the school to which
>> most of her classmates from her last school typically matriculate.
>>
>> Kendra is the only blind child in the school, and to my knowledge the
>> only blind child that either her regular ed or special ed teachers
>> (this is a co-taught classroom) have ever had. Because so many things
>> are new to this situation and especially to both of these teachers,
>> many things are being learned and done "on-the-fly" the first time
>> they come up. We do have an outstanding and very experienced TVI but
>> she was not involved in this situation when it happened. Had she been
>> there, I suspect none of this discussion would ever have come up; it
>> would have been solved on the spot.
>>
>> On top of everything else, Kendra's regular ed teacher was out sick
>> the day this happened. My suspicion is that what happened caught the
>> teacher who first learned of this so off-guard that she was virtually
>> stupefied. No matter if it is typical or not for kids her age and
>> younger, we've generally only had problems with kids arguing over who
>> gets to walk with Kendra (fighting to HAVE a turn) when they pair off
>> in twos or trying to be the one who hands Kendra her cane as they
>> head
>> to the door. (Followed by an adult explaining how nice it is that
>> they
>> want to help but that she knows where her cane is and she can [and
>> will] get that herself.) There are lots of IEP kids at this school
>> (as
>> with her previous school-- WAY more than average) so most of these
>> kids are quite used to dealing with diversity and should "know
>> better"...
>>
>> This is sort of a classic example of wanting to examine what happened
>> in the context of what SHOULD have happened, but that is in the past.
>> We needed to figure out the value of telling her that it did happen
>> which after some thought and discussion is what we plan to do at this
>> point; she needs to know and she should have learned right when it
>> happened. Now that this has come up, we can also have a strategy for
>> the future and be on the same page with the teachers at school. Try
>> as
>> one may, it is hard to have a plan for everything BEFORE it
>> happens...
>>
>> I think the real problem is that once the ideal response didn't
>> happen
>> as it should have, now it is much harder to know the exact proper
>> approach; we are no longer "in the heat of battle". Kendra is really
>> only just learning to try to understand what it means that others can
>> "see", so the notion that others can see and use this magical power
>> to
>> steal from her is a concept that I was not really wanting to try and
>> teach just yet, but we have to adjust the plan as the game is
>> played...
>>
>> Having no light perception at all, I think that the entire notion of
>> sight is still a bit baffling to Kendra. We're not trying to keep the
>> concept of sight a secret obviously, but we're still very much trying
>> to help the concept of "vision" make some reasonable sense to her. In
>> fact, I wonder if there are any no-light-perception-since-birth
>> people
>> on this listserv who can offer any suggestions to sighted adults
>> trying to convey the concept of vision to a child who has never had
>> any. Not what vision is for or what it does so much, as what it "is".
>> I really can't understand how one would do that well for any
>> completely absent sense. Any thoughts? What has worked for other
>> parents who's kids have been totally blind since birth?
>>
>> I can sort of imagine telling someone with really low vision, or even
>> just light perception that some people can get a lot more information
>> than a general shape (or just light and dark etc.) but where do you
>> start with the explanation, again, given the experience of even a
>> very
>> bright seven year old in a way that is useful?
>>
>> When it comes down to it, I guess the actual incident is not that big
>> of a deal-- that one child took part of another's lunch. And if you
>> were one typical kid grabbing another sighted kid's food, you would
>> no
>> doubt want to do that when that kid wasn't looking as well, so I
>> cannot really put my finger on just how or why this seems so
>> terrible,
>> yet it still does... I mean on the one hand, we want to say everyone
>> is the same and equal, but on the other, there is a weakness here
>> (for
>> lack of a better term) and somehow, right or wrong, it does seem to
>> be
>> a good deal more inappropriate (at least to me) to grab a blind kid's
>> food than it does to sneak it from a sighted kid when he or she is
>> not
>> looking.
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>>
>> On Nov 4, 2009, at 3:30 PM, Susan Harper wrote:
>>
>>> It happened at school. The school should be responsible for talking
>>> with
>>> her and then the students involved should tell her what they did and
>>> apologize, if and only if you think your daughter is mature enough
>>> to deal
>>> with this. You may want to be the one to prep your daughter ahead
>>> of time
>>> and be with her at school as a support. School needs to be
>>> responsible for
>>> school. I don't know the age of your daughter, so this is my best
>>> guess
>>> from the gut advice. Let us know how it goes.
>>> Blessings
>>>
>>> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/
>>> NCEH) <
>>> sek7 at cdc.gov> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I received this e-mail from my daughter's teacher this morning and
>>>> don't
>>>> really know how to respond. Any suggestions? My gut reaction is
>>>> that
>>>> telling her now doesn't really serve a purpose. Kendra is in first
>>>> grade.
>>>> Thank you.
>>>> Stephanie
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> Ms. Kieszak,
>>>>
>>>> Upon my return to school this week, I was informed that on Monday
>>>> (11/2),
>>>> two students from our class took some of Kendra's food during lunch
>>>> without her knowing. The two students received consequences for
>>>> their
>>>> behavior on the day of the incident and further consequences when I
>>>> returned. Mrs. XX, our Assistant Principal, also spoke with them. I
>>>> wanted to let you know about the situation and to ask for your
>>>> advice.
>>>>
>>>> Do you think we should tell Kendra what happened? If so, what do
>>>> you
>>>> think
>>>> is a good approach to letting her know and by whom (i.e. one of us
>>>> here
>>>> at
>>>> school or at home)?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>> Mrs. YY
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> blindkid mailing list
>>>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>> for
>>>> blindkid:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/sueharper%40firstchurchgriswold.org
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> blindkid mailing list
>>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
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>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>> for blindkid:
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>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
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>> for blindkid:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/blindchildren%40verizon.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> blindkid at nfbnet.org
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------------------------------

Message: 26
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:04:57 -0500
From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <B1D19F30-67AA-4827-BBC9-03960D2B18DC at gopbc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Thanks Albert. I appreciate your kind words. You have an interesting
suggestion there indeed for a story. Hmm...

That is worth some further thought on this end-- I have been thinking
of a project like that for sometime.

This might be the start of something good!...

I'm right with you in that we are all constantly trying to dispel
myths about blindness!

Richard


On Nov 5, 2009, at 9:56 AM, Albert J Rizzi wrote:

> I have been listening to this dialogue about Kendra's lunch room
> experience.
> As and educator stuff like this happens a lot. But as you said
> something
> seems wrong about it being done when the person it is being done to
> cannot
> appreciate the "fun" in it or the mischievousness of it all. i think
> you are
> correct when you say that if all things were as they typically were,
> teachers not being absent and all, this never would have come up in
> discussion. First, again let me compliment you on your level headed
> and
> heart felt thoughts, I look forward to learning from you everytime I
> open an
> email from you. Kendra is a very lucky young lady. I am inclined to
> suggest
> you ask the teacher to turn this into a teachable moment. Have her
> or him,
> tell a story, a few stories for that matter, about people being
> mischievous
> and only having "fun". In this way more children will benefit from the
> experience and perhaps Kendra will gain more from a dialogue amongst
> her
> peers as they together define what is or is not appropriate
> behaviour. I am
> feeling a wonderful story line for a childrens book coming on. let
> me know
> what you think. You seem to be the type of parents who let Kendra
> learn from
> her own experiences and this time many others could learn from her
> as well.
> One thing I have learned since loosing my eye sight is that it is up
> to us,
> the members of the blind community, included are those affected as
> well, to
> educate and inform all people on blindness so that we can perhaps
> collectively dispel antiquated myths and misperceptions about
> vision loss.
>
> Albert J. Rizzi
> CEO/Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York 10004
> www.myblindspot.org
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one
> who is
> doing it."



------------------------------

Message: 27
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:31:58 -0500
From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind
children\)'" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <9F9D65B1C64B4802865E67664A2DA36A at JkTC4D1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Please feel free to contact me off line to discuss this matter at length.
Having just secured my 501c3 and knowing that schools are required to have
books and the like exemplifying disabilities and diversity as it were, and
knowing there is very little out there which positively promotes inclusion
we may have something to build on. I have contacts to make this happen,
Kendra could be an author before she even gets to college.

Albert at myblindspot.org


Albert J. Rizzi
CEO/Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York 10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."



-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Richard Holloway
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 11:05 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Advice needed about school incident

Thanks Albert. I appreciate your kind words. You have an interesting
suggestion there indeed for a story. Hmm...

That is worth some further thought on this end-- I have been thinking
of a project like that for sometime.

This might be the start of something good!...

I'm right with you in that we are all constantly trying to dispel
myths about blindness!

Richard


On Nov 5, 2009, at 9:56 AM, Albert J Rizzi wrote:

> I have been listening to this dialogue about Kendra's lunch room
> experience.
> As and educator stuff like this happens a lot. But as you said
> something
> seems wrong about it being done when the person it is being done to
> cannot
> appreciate the "fun" in it or the mischievousness of it all. i think
> you are
> correct when you say that if all things were as they typically were,
> teachers not being absent and all, this never would have come up in
> discussion. First, again let me compliment you on your level headed
> and
> heart felt thoughts, I look forward to learning from you everytime I
> open an
> email from you. Kendra is a very lucky young lady. I am inclined to
> suggest
> you ask the teacher to turn this into a teachable moment. Have her
> or him,
> tell a story, a few stories for that matter, about people being
> mischievous
> and only having "fun". In this way more children will benefit from the
> experience and perhaps Kendra will gain more from a dialogue amongst
> her
> peers as they together define what is or is not appropriate
> behaviour. I am
> feeling a wonderful story line for a childrens book coming on. let
> me know
> what you think. You seem to be the type of parents who let Kendra
> learn from
> her own experiences and this time many others could learn from her
> as well.
> One thing I have learned since loosing my eye sight is that it is up
> to us,
> the members of the blind community, included are those affected as
> well, to
> educate and inform all people on blindness so that we can perhaps
> collectively dispel antiquated myths and misperceptions about
> vision loss.
>
> Albert J. Rizzi
> CEO/Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York 10004
> www.myblindspot.org
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one
> who is
> doing it."

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------------------------------

Message: 28
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:37:46 -0600
From: "Gibbs, Emily" <egibbs at brazosportisd.net>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] paper on Braille literacy for blind children
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID:
<B2034E7B9B557F4E9F5252170FC06B1A0652B969 at bisd-exch1.brazosportisd.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Kasondra,

As for statistics on Braille Literacy, there is no better place to look
that Dr. Ryles' study, "The Impact of Braille Reading Skills on
Employment,
Income, Education, and Reading Habits" You can find the study here.
http://nfb.org/legacy/bm/bm98/bm980204.htm. I've also included an
attachment The Braille Literacy Crisis.

Here are some links for the images that you have requested.

A Braille Cell
http://www.ncaonline.org/files/nca_images/alt_formats/Braille-Cell.jpg

The print alphabet with the corresponding braille letter beneath it.
http://highlinelibrary.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/braille_alphabet1.jpg

A Perkins Brailler
http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~gb/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/perkinsbrailler
.jpg

A Slate and Stylus
http://csmt.cde.ca.gov/images/324.jpg

Hands using a slate and stylus
http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/fr/fr28/Slate-and-stylus.gif


Hope this helps!
Emily Gibbs

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Kasondra Payne
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 9:18 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'; blindkid at nfbnet.org; 'NFBnet Blind
Parents Mailing List'; napub at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] paper on Braille literacy for blind children

Hi Everyone,



I am writing a paper on Braille literacy for blind children as part of
my
intermediate writing class at Utah State University. I have spent the
past
several weeks researching why and how blind children do or do not read
Braille. My own personal story and that of my children will be the
backbone
of the paper, and my research will support it. I am directing this
paper at
a general audience because I want to do my part to increase awareness of
Braille and blindness. I am



looking for a couple things to finish out this paper. I need a visual
representation of a Braille cell, an image of the Braille vs. the print
alphabet, and possible a picture of a Brailler and slate and stylus. I
am
hoping someone can lead me to some images I can incorporate in my paper.
If
anyone has any great stories, quotes, statistics, or anything else that
you
think I should see, please send them to me by this weekend. I am also
asking for your thoughts and prayers. There is a chance that this could
be
entered into a huge competition on campus or get published in an
anthology
for this particular class. I love writing, and I am so thankful that I
can
read and write Braille. I want to see the Braille literacy rate
improve.
Thank you for your help and support!



Kasondra Payne

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