[blindkid] Winning braille?

[H. Field]

Dear Holly,
If all else had failed I would discuss it thoroughly with my child and 
have them agree to no longer be able to successfully use their vision 
to do schoolwork. In preparing my child for this I would have them 
meet with and talk to successful blind people who have some vision but 
who successfully use braille and audio technology to perform the tasks 
of daily living and working. I would have my child understand that we 
were fighting for him/her to have tools in their toolbox, to be 
educated in as many ways to function successfully as a blind person, 
during the years when education was supposed to be taking place. When 
he/she was an adult then they would be in the best position to decide 
which tool, braille, print, a cctv, a laptop with speech, a 
magnifyier, a human reader, a portable reader, or all or none was 
appropriate to get life lived to the full. When they were thoroughly 
on side then I would have them boycot the use of vision at school.

Their elementary or middle school grades might suffer for a few months 
but far better this than they fail in college and beyond because of 
lack of braille skills and literacy. If a child simply kept saying "I 
can't see well enough to do it...I can't read that...I can't do my 
homework because my eyes are too tired...I can't take notes because it 
hurts my back to lean over and I can't see it or read what I've 
written..." eventually when grades are falling and teachers can't 
force your child to work visually you would have the proof you need. I 
would take the amunition out of their antibraille guns. If they 
couldn't say "but your child is coping wonderfully with print," then 
braille would be the only alternative.

In short, particularly when a child has been managing and getting good 
grades, if the child simply refuses to succeed using print then, 
unless they deny them an education, braille would be the only answer.

Your question was, what would people do?That's what I would do.


----- 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: Monday, February 22, 2010 6:08 PM
Subject: [blindkid] Winning braille?


Everyone here knows how much of a struggle it can be to get kids 
braille in
school.  Especially if the child has some vision and technically can 
see
large print.
For those of you who've had to fight for it and won (or know someone), 
what
finally tipped the scale?

We all know how it's supposed to work but when they have on their side 
a
bright child who works hard and is able to get good grades despite 
lack of
accommodations, when they have reports by the "experts" who say "Nope, 
this
kid doesn't need braille"  has anyone been able to win this?

When educating doesn't work, when persistence doesn't work, when a 
pound of
letters hasn't worked, when you can quote IDEA & Ruby Riles in your 
sleep to
no avail?
When your state's blind services (whatever initials they go by) is in 
the
position many states are in so when they say 'He/she doesn't need it" 
you
have a hunch it's more "We don't have the staff/funding to provide it" 
or
"Be happy you kid has the vision he does" whatever the reason, for 
your
child they are dead set against it?

When you've brought in advocates, when you've spoken to the 
superintendent
and board of ed? When you finally do hire an attorney because nothing 
else
is working and that attorney isn't able to make any progress?  When 
you know
this is so very very important to your child's long term success but 
you've
already spent a few thousand and don't know if you can scrape up much 
more
to build a due process case?  What then?

Hypothetically of course :smile

Holly
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