[blindkid] o&m issues

[Heather]

Wow, that is disgusting.  That poor kid.  I don't know what some of these 
"professionals" are thinking some times.  Yikes.  I plan to have our local O 
and M instructor take a look at Jeremy's navigation at some point, but as we 
are homeschooling for everything else, we are going to teach him most of his 
cane skills and such.  I know plenty to teach him how to read maps, judge 
trafic, use different cane techniques, etc.  I would have his sighted father 
help me make the maps, and provide back up when I am teaching him to cross 
streets of course, as I am a total, but I think we can handel most of it. 
What I find interesting is that I have never tried to teach seventeen month 
old Jeremy how to trail, or anything like that, but he does it anyway.  When 
he first started walking he would wale into things, but he would learn that, 
"Ok, the corner by the kitchen is hard to see because the room is bright and 
the wall is all the same bright white, including the small jut out, so I 
will run around, not using my hands to check for clearance, everywhere else, 
but when I approach that place my hands come up.  If he hits his face on the 
coffee table a few times, he starts putting out a hand as he approaches it 
in future.  If we are in a new place he will trail more than if we are at 
home.  It's just interesting to me how much kids figure out for themselves. 
Coming back to the fifth grader with out a cane or braille literacy.  When I 
was in second grade and my mom came in to observe me and found out that I 
was struggling to write huge letters on huge raised line paper to complete a 
creative writing assignment, she gave the TVI such a murderous look that the 
woman rushed over, and said to my mom
"Ok, I know, I know, we'll start Braille tomorrow."  She was my favorite TVI 
and she had just taken over for a woman who only took a passing interest in 
helping me to learn braille.  I had quite a bit of sight as a kid, but we 
knew that my condition was degenerative.  I am very greatful to this day 
that I was made to learn both print and braille, as having a basic print 
literacy is important for signs that are raised or embossed but lacking 
braille, or to leave a quick note for a sighted friend in a low tech 
situation.  For instance, as a voice major I had to go on full vocal rrest a 
few times, and i was not going to lug around a lap top and type on it every 
time I wanted to tell someone something.  So, I wrote notes to people by 
pressing hard with a pen onto a tablit of paper.  Sighted people are always 
surprised at how well I can write, if on a larger scale.  Totally blind 
children should at least learn basic print literacy, and even high partials 
who have even the smallest chance of losing their sight in the future should 
learn Braille.  It's about setting your kids up for success.  Ok, rambel 
over.  lol
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jessica Brown" <black22 at localnet.com>
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 7:04 AM
Subject: [blindkid] o&m issues


> Hello Everyone,
>
> I am responding to Doreen's post from October 20th. unfortunatly, I have 
> not had the time to read them every day so they pile up. Anyhow, Doreen 
> stated that her 5 year old who is partially sighted is not getting the 
> services she needs (most important O&M right now because of safety). My 
> daughter is 3 and totally blind. Her O&M told she would not be getting a 
> cane until she was in school. I immediatly went to the NFB and purchased a 
> cane. She takes it everywhere we go. She only receives O&M once a month 
> for 60 minutes due to the lame excuse of not having enough O&Ms in the 
> area. In fact we were lucky to get him at all. I have since come in 
> contact with a women that has been totally blind since birth and said she 
> is not certified but would like to help. However, we are not going to quit 
> fighting for the appropriate services for her.
>
> Meanwhile, at school there is a child in 5th grade that is legally blind 
> that has never received any braille instruction and is not receiving O&M 
> because he "doesn't need it". He was just recently diagnosed with epilapsy 
> and now the medicine is reducing his vision more! I find this infuriating! 
> Just because the school or a "professional" thinks our children do not 
> need a service does not mean that they won't someday. If their vision is 
> already low there should be no question whether they should have 
> instruction.
>
> Good luck Doreen, keep fighting for daughter and thank you Heather for the 
> advice of putting the cane the in the IEP. I will keep that in mind if I 
> run into problems with that.
>
> Jessica
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