[blindkid] recess and social interaction

[Carol Castellano]

Hi Joy,

Others have provided excellent, meaningful answers.  I couldn't agree 
more regarding skills, confidence, being outgoing rather than 
passive, etc. in eventually helping this situation.

On a different level--kickball is a great game for a blind kid to 
play--easy to adapt and modify.  On spring and fall days in Serena's 
school the older kids (6th grade) organized games that the younger 
kids--including Serena--could participate in.  I wonder if one of the 
recess chaperones could facilitate something like this?

Carol

Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nopbc.org

At 03:51 PM 5/31/2010, you wrote:
>Dear Friends, (sorry, this is pretty long)
>
>Please help us with your ideas and experiences. Our daughter Ahbee is in
>third grade (for one more week), and is having trouble with recess. She
>often does not have anyone to play with or spend her recess with. She just
>walks around by herself for most of the time. Sometimes one  or more
>children will come to her and invite her to join them in what they are
>doing, but not always. She has sometimes asked her classmates in advance of
>recess to play with her. One girl said yes, but then did not play with her
>and said, "I couldn't find you."
>
>During recent conversations she has said this has been going on for two
>years, or specifically, "Since Jacey moved."
>Jacey is a girl from China who was adopted at age 5 by a family who lived
>near us. Ahbee (who was adopted at age 4 from China)  and Jacey spent
>kindergarten (half of one year and all of the repeated year) and first grade
>together, but then Jacey's family moved to another school district. They had
>in common that they had been adopted from China as young children, not
>infants, and that they repeated that kindergarten class. They were very good
>friends.
>
>Last year, in second grade, Ahbee was "not playing with anyone" at recess,
>and I learned about it from another mom whose child was apparently having
>some similar issues. We got the two together for one or two play dates. I
>also spoke with the classroom teacher and TVI about it, and I thought they
>were watching for problems.
>
>This year, I asked early in the school year, and I thought things were going
>better. We had some problems with gym class as well, and those have been
>addressed by assigning children to be Ahbee's helpers during gym. The
>helpers rotate or take turns. But apparently there is still a big issue with
>recess, and it is starting to cause enough pain that Ahbee is bringing it
>up.
>
>So, I have a couple of concerns or questions.
>First, how can Ahbee find people to play with at recess, and how can we
>facilitate that?
>Second, how can I make sure that the teachers are observing and letting me
>know how she is doing? I don't want this problem to continue for another
>year!
>
>Looking forward to your responses.
>Joy Orton
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