[blindkid] Do blind kids need personal aides in school?

[Doreen Frappier]

Arielle,
I feel that a personal aide is a step for blind and visually impaired child to 
enter the sighted school world. It is not usually possible for the teacher to 
take time out to explain every detail to the blind/vi student. The aide serves 
this purpose. This person's job should be to take the time to assist with the 
activities that other children are engaging in, but not to do the work for the 
children or tell them the answers. I monitored this closely as a parent. If a 
blind/vi child is put into a sighted world with out someone to explain the 
goings on, there is so much they miss out on. They may get through OK, but I 
feel it is so important, at first, for young ones to understand what is going 
on, for the aide to be their eyes. In some areas, it is not possible for the VI 
to be with the child as often as needed, and this is where the aide is 
important. My visually impaired twins had one aide between the two of them up 
until 5th grade. When they moved up to middle school, we started to wean them 
off of having aides, and started using them for clerical duties for the 
children. We discontinued the aide in 9th grade. I really feel that with out the 
aide in elementary school, they would have fallen behind their peers. They have 
been on the A honor roll for their entire school career. I feel that I made the 
right decision by having an aide.

Doreen Frappier





________________________________
From: Arielle Silverman <nabs.president at gmail.com>
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Sent: Sun, August 29, 2010 6:15:55 PM
Subject: [blindkid] Do blind kids need personal aides in school?

Hi all,

I'm on another listserv with primarily parents of blind children (it's
a support list for families of people with Lebers congenital
amaurosis, and not affiliated with NFB or any other consumer group).
Anyway, a bunch of the parents on the list have kids who are just
starting preschool or kindergarten, and they've been talking about
school arrangements and services (how much Braille instruction time to
get, etc.) Some of these parents are saying that their kids have an
"aide", or a paraprofessional who doesn't actually teach skills like
Braille, with them in the classroom for part or all of the school day.
Some other parents are asking whether or not the aide is necessary and
I'd like to offer some advice, but I'm not quite sure what to tell
them. Is it typical for blind kids in public schools (with no
additional disabilities) to have classroom aides? If so, what does the
aide do, and do you feel the aide is beneficial?

My intuition is that aides who don't actually teach alternative
skills, but who simply act as the child's "eyes", are unnecessary and
could promote superfluous dependence. But, I'm not a parent or a
teacher, so perhaps the aide does serve a legitimate purpose that I'm
not aware of?

Thanks for your guidance on this matter.

Arielle

-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org

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