[blindkid] preschool options

Joy Orton ortonsmom at gmail.com
Mon May 24 19:42:25 UTC 2010


Hi Julie,
The first (and later) IEP meeting can be overwhelming. I would advise you to
get a notebook and designate it for IEP and other school-related meeting
notes. Take your own notes during the meeting. Then you can look back at
them later when you wonder, "Did we agree to that?" or "Did we ask about
that?"

If you can find a friend to go with you to the IEP, it can be great. Not
just any friend: You want someone who knows your child and has a positive
attitude about blindness and the capability of blind people. This could be a
friend from your local NFB chapter, or a representative from your state
school for the blind, or a caseworker from your state agency for the blind.

On preschool: Our daughter attended a regular preschool class rather than a
preschool program for children with disabilities. She came to the US from
China at age 4 and was learning English. Her "ESL" status qualified her for
public school preschool here in Texas. We have a great braillist in our
district, and our daughter's preschool materials were provided in braille
and tactual format from the beginning.

Our daughter had lots of pullout time with the teacher of the visually
impaired, the orientation and mobility teacher, and some other specialists.
I think she had physical therapy and occupational therapy also. Before first
grade, all of the physical delays they had noticed were caught up to what
her sighted classmates were doing developmentally.

She also spent two years in kindergarten to "front-load" the braille
instruction, and now, in third grade, she is above grade level in her
reading. I think she has been above grade level for a while, actually. I
remember that in first grade she was ahead of the reading standards they
tested her for.

We have great services for blind students, and I was pleased with the result
of public preschool in a class of "regular" kids. Hope this helps.

Joy Orton

Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 14:22:12 -0700
From: julietnan <julietnan at aol.com>
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] IEP
Message-ID: <0d4b92f9.f739.4e31.8e41.7de91e761797 at aol.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi,
My husband and I are gong to be attending out daughters first IEP meeting
next month. Our daughter will be 3 in July and will be starting preschool in
the fall. Since we are new to all this, I was wondering if I could ask for
advise, suggetions, things I need to know, things I need to ask, etc. Any
advise would be welcomed! How many of you had your children attend
mainstream preschool and how many had your child attend a special preschool
for VI kids. What are the pros and cons of both? Thank you so much,  I
really learn a lot from you guys!
Julie



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