[blindkid] Community track
H. Field
missheather at comcast.net
Fri Apr 9 17:44:12 UTC 2010
Dear Carly,
Firstly, I encourage you to be thankful for the commissioner. She is
teaching you early on in your child's life that he will face ignorance
and fear-based discrimination as he chooses to take part in life in
the community. You will need to learn how to deal with this and teach
him what you learn so that he can advocate for himself as soon as
possible and into his adult life. You shouldn't be shocked, indeed you
should generally expect that you will encounter this kind of reaction.
As the NFB explanation says, blindness is not the problem; it's the
misconceptions and lack of understanding about blindness that cause
problems. We have no evidence to suggest that this will change in the
near future, so better to accept it and learn to deal with it in a
positive way for all concerned.
Secondly, as this track organisation is, in fact, an organisation you
should expect that there are policies and you should show good will by
enquiring about them and complying. If there is a formal request
policy then you should follow it. This is very much to your, and your
child's advantage, because it will be very clear to all as to exactly
what you are and are not requesting. If you aren't asking for special
accommodations then that is what you can write on the form. I would
fill in and submit the form as soon as possible. I would also
completely ignore the drivel from the commissioner. If there is a
board and there are policies, and you aren't asking for special
accommodations then I don't see that there will be any problems
arising from what she might say. The fact that this treatment of you
and your child has happened is annoying but, sadly, fairly normal. It
is your job to respond positively and firmly. You may wish to attach a
cover letter to your form which says something like the following:
Dear board members,
Thank you for being so organised with your policies for children with
disabilities. I have attached a request form detailing what my child
does and does not need. You will be pleased to read that he needs only
minimal accommodations in the form of------.
I was also please to speak with your Commissioner On Special Needs and
as she told me she has never worked with and has had absolutely no
experience with blind children, I enjoyed the opportunity to converse
with someone used to accommodating children with special needs and
educate her about the needs unique to blind children.
When I spoke with one of the coaches who will be working with my child
I was also very impressed with the calibre of your volunteers and I
know that my child will have a very positive time learning to be part
of a sporting team. Spending the first five years of his life in an
orphanage has severely limited my child's life experiences and this is
a wonderful opportunity for him to learn how to have fun with other
children, make friends and be successful as he tries new things. When
he is finally ready to formally compete in a year or two I know it
will be as a result of the kind teaching and support he receives from
(name organisation). I look forward to being part of this wonderful
organisation.
Yours sincerely,
Carly
If you write such a letter, you are very diplomatically describing the
situation to the board, laying out your request, your expectations and
clearly showing them that you - the obvious expert on blind children
because you have one - know far more about the needs of blind children
than their commissioner who has, with her own mouth, told everyone
that she hasn't worked with blind children before. The board will get
the message as to who should be trusted regarding the danger, or lack
thereof, for your blind child and other children on the team. Take the
opportunity when conversing with members of the board to complement
them on how well they meet ADA requirements. This will communicate to
them in a very diplomatic manner that you know your child's rights.
In over 40 years of advocating for myself as a blind person, I have
found that this is the best initial approach to take. Most of the time
you are educating people and dispeling their inaccurate stereotypes
and wrong thinking. You gain nothing by being confrontational and
threatening and putting them on the defensive. People will defend
themselves if you threaten them; it is instinct and it often has
little to do with what is right of fair. You can always go to the next
level if you need to. However, Brian will be far better off if you
make these people your friends. Resentful, unhappy people can make his
time with the team much less valuable.
Incidentally, I would work on desensitising him to the sound of the
gun. This is very doable and will make a big difference for him in
track. Please let us know how it all works out.
Warmest regards,
Heather Field
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carly B" <barnesraiser at gmail.com>
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 10:29 PM
Subject: [blindkid] Community track
Hi all! I'm an avid reader of this list and I am so impressed with the
excellent advice and support that's offered here! So I'm coming to you
for a
bit of that for our family. We adopted our son Brian two years ago. He
has
albinism and with it, low vision. He is 7 years old and in 1st grade.
We
signed him up for community Track this spring. He had his first
practice
tonight. In an effort to create a comfortable adjustment, I contacted
the
coach (it's a husband/wife team, and I spoke with the wife) and asked
her if
I could tell her a little bit about our son. We had a very pleasant,
hour-long conversation. She has a teaching background, a son with a
disability, and seemed very understanding, warm, and willing to be
accommodating. That said, I didn't ask for any "unusual"
accommodations, like
equipment or a one-on-one coach. His needs actually relate more to his
having been institutionalized for the first five years of his life,
and he
is still playing catch-up in terms of skills like jumping with both
feet and
landing with both feet, as well as other coordination skills. I
mentioned
that he has a strong aversion to loud sounds, especially sudden
sounds, and
that he cannot stand the sound of the gun. I said that I want him to
participate in practices but not in meets, and that in the next year
or so
when he is better able to tolerate the gun then he can start attending
meets. For now, I just want him to have the peer experience and
hopefully
gain some skill and confidence. She said she thought that was an
excellent
idea.
Well, when I arrived at practice, the Track Commissioner was there.
She came
over and greeted me, and then proceeded to explain to me that she is
quite
concerned about Brian's safety and the safety of the other players.
She
mentioned this at least three times in the course of our 45-minute
conversation. I was shocked... will I ever stop being shocked? She
also said
that the "Board" has a policy on the website (implying strongly that I
should have known about it and read it ahead of time) that requires
any
child with special needs must have a written request for
accommodations. (She
had a copy with her. It's dated December, 1998) It states that the
request
must be made in writing, it must include "the child's name, parent's
names,
the sport, diagnosis and its affect on the child's ability to
participate in
the sport, as well as the type of accommodation requested" and must be
submitted to the Board, and that "No request for accommodation will be
considered if these procedures are not followed." In other words, my
calling
the coach to discuss Brian ahead of time was woefully insufficient.
The
policy also states: "Reasonable accommodations are actions, which can
be
taken that will not place undue hardship on the association and its
members.
No accommodation will be granted which will expose any participant to
an
undue risk of harm." As far as I could determine, this policy has not
been
updated since 1998. (I should add that I'm pretty certain that the
Commissioner involved herself when the coach contacted her to ask
about
whether there was any other signal they could use other than the gun.
This
was a suggestion the coach made to me in our conversation, not the
other way
around, and I specifically said this probably wasn't fair to ask for
and
something I wouldn't expect. I think she was bending over backwards to
accommodate us, and asked the Commissioner about it on our behalf...
hence
the visit to practice tonight.)
The Commissioner mentioned that "special needs" are her "area" but
when I
asked for specifics, she said she is an elementary school
paraprofessional
working with kids who have autism, ADHD, EBD and the like but has
never
worked with a blind or low vision child before. I tried to take this
as an
opportunity to educate, but it was not easy. She was the most ignorant
and
resistant person I've come into contact with to date. In the course of
our
conversation, she stressed that her coaches are all volunteers and
that it
was very unfair to think that they should accommodate Brian in any
way. She
added that many of them would probably quit if a child like Brian were
to
enroll on their team. She admitted, however, that Brian's coach didn't
complain about anything I had told her about Brian and did not seem
unduly
concerned. I told her that it was never my intention to drop and go,
and
that I would be doing much of the accomodating myself. (I had said
this to
the coach in our earlier conversation.) Toward the end of our
conversation,
she added that she is also very concerned about how other parents will
feel
when they see Brian in Track. Then she said, "You know what I mean,
I'm
sure." I said, "Actually, I really haven't met anyone who has been
concerned
about Brian in that way." She seemed very fixated on the idea that
Brian's
presence creates some kind of grave danger for everyone involved.
I am wondering specifically if ADA or IDEA address what in my opinion
is a
draconian policy, and whether this organization falls under the
umbrella of
either. It's a community sports organization which as far as I can
tell,
doesn't receive any funding from the school district, but does use the
public school facilities. I'm not thinking about bringing legal
action, but
I like to know what the law provides, more as an opportunity to
educate, not
to bully.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts. God bless! --Carolynn Barnes
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