[blindkid] Do blind kids need personal aides in school?

[Carol Castellano]

An aide in the early grades--K, 1st--can also assist the child in 
learning the routines of the classroom and school.  The key regarding 
direct assistance is for the aide to recede into the background asap!

Carol

At 10:39 PM 8/29/2010, you wrote:
>Hi Arielle,
>
>I think an aide is fine, and can be helpful, if the purpose is to 
>assist the TEACHER, by making sure materials and lessons are adapted 
>-- for example, locating braille books or arranging for books to be 
>brailled, creating a hands-on version of an activity, etc.  With my 
>daughter, we always insisted that the aide could help other 
>students, too. Ideally, the aide does not appear to be the blind 
>student's aide, but a classroom aide. As a practical matter, some 
>teachers have a better attitude about having a blind student in the 
>class if the teacher has this kind of assistance.  However, parents 
>have to monitor the situation (ie, find reasons to visit or 
>volunteer in the classroom if possible) to make sure the plan  is 
>being followed, and not hesitate to speak up if it isn't.
>
>-Barbara
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Arielle Silverman [nabs.president at gmail.com]
>Sent: 08/29/2010 05:15 PM CST
>To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
>Subject: [blindkid] Do blind kids need personal aides in school?
>
>
>
>Hi all,
>
>I'm on another listserv with primarily parents of blind children (it's
>a support list for families of people with Lebers congenital
>amaurosis, and not affiliated with NFB or any other consumer group).
>Anyway, a bunch of the parents on the list have kids who are just
>starting preschool or kindergarten, and they've been talking about
>school arrangements and services (how much Braille instruction time to
>get, etc.) Some of these parents are saying that their kids have an
>"aide", or a paraprofessional who doesn't actually teach skills like
>Braille, with them in the classroom for part or all of the school day.
>Some other parents are asking whether or not the aide is necessary and
>I'd like to offer some advice, but I'm not quite sure what to tell
>them. Is it typical for blind kids in public schools (with no
>additional disabilities) to have classroom aides? If so, what does the
>aide do, and do you feel the aide is beneficial?
>
>My intuition is that aides who don't actually teach alternative
>skills, but who simply act as the child's "eyes", are unnecessary and
>could promote superfluous dependence. But, I'm not a parent or a
>teacher, so perhaps the aide does serve a legitimate purpose that I'm
>not aware of?
>
>Thanks for your guidance on this matter.
>
>Arielle
>
>--
>Arielle Silverman
>President, National Association of Blind Students
>Phone:  602-502-2255
>Email:
>nabs.president at gmail.com
>Website:
>www.nabslink.org
>
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Carol Castellano
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nopbc.org