[blindkid] new to the group

[Joy Orton]

Welcome, Maggie!

Since you are home schooling, you may really like "Modular Instruction for
Independent Travel for Students Who Are Blind..." by Willoughby and Monthei.
It is set up with lesson plans for orientation and mobility
training--including use of the long white cane. Our ten year old daughter
has two lessons per week, about 45 minutes to an hour per lesson, with the
orientation and mobility teacher at school. IMHO you don't need a master's
degree or special certificate to help your child learn to get around with
the cane. You as a mom can do it.

I encourage you to sign up for every braille resource you can find. We have
tons of books and have not spent tons of money on them. We have gotten books
from the state rehab department (division for blind services), Braille
Institute, and Seedlings. Braille Institute will send free books about 3 or
4 times per year, and you get a catalog to choose from. Seedlings books are
subsidised so that the price is comparable to the print edition. They have
some good titles in both print and braille, so you can help/learn together.

You can also get books from the National Library Service; they should have a
branch in your state. We also get books at the NFB national convention
braille book flea market each year. Look also at the Share Braille website
that NFB has.

You mentioned that you are taking a Hadley braille course; see if your son
can do the same.

Hope this helps!
Joy O.

From: Maggie Travers <blestproverbswoman at yahoo.com>
Subject: [blindkid] new to the group :)
I am new to the group and would appreciate any and all help and information
that I can get!
My 10 year old son recently lost his vision due to tumor surgery. They
expect him to recover his vision in 1-3 years, but we don't now to what
degree that will be. He was already legally blind in his left eye with
permanent visual field loss.
We are trying to equip him continually for where he is currently and to
allow him to be as independent as possible. We've made some modifications to
our apartments ( like motion detection lights) and have gotten him a white
cane that we are figuring out. I also homeschool him and my other two
kiddos. We do not want to involve the school system for personal reasons and
past experiences. I am currently enrolled in Hadley's Introduction to
Braille.
I know he would benefit from mobility training and a braille teacher. Our
resources are very limited. Any links, suggestions, etc would be much
appreciated!
Thank you so much!
Maggie Travers