[blindkid] inaccessible homework and a quick math question.

Fri Dec 16 01:12:08 UTC 2011

Bingo!
It's a roller coaster - that's for sure - has been, continues to be, & no
doubt will go on being - one without brakes...
The issues & players change, the scenery changes, but the ups & downs just
keep on coming; every year, every month, every week, sometimes every day.
Make the most of the ride, the scenery, & the folks you meet along the way
:-)
Eric V

On 12/15/11 4:36 PM, "Penny Duffy" <pennyduffy at gmail.com> wrote:

>So what you are saying Richard is it  pretty much never ends LOL.  We had
>a
>bumpy night of homework tonight but something that made it easier is it
>was
>brailled.  They are starting to realize that even though her reading level
>is still pretty low having the instructions brailled can be such an
>important lesson.
>
>On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 10:09 AM, Richard Holloway
><rholloway at gopbc.org>wrote:
>
>> Having guidelines in the IEP and staying on top of this are great ideas,
>> but it is probably never going to be a perfect system. Our regular TVI
>>had
>> a medical issue earlier this year and was out for several months. As
>>far as
>> I know, there was never a significant gap in services. Problem is, we
>>ended
>> up with two alternative TVI's plus a transcriber, plus our regular
>> paraprofessional, as well as our Regular Ed teacher and the classroom
>> Special Ed  teacher all trying to cover part of the gap. The net result
>>was
>> continual mistakes. Braille would come without print. Print wold come
>> without Braille. We would get only a web URL to a place where a screen
>> reader would not work and where we could not display Braille though we
>>knew
>> there were books at school with the same content. Sometimes, they'd just
>> forget to send anything, or it would show up days late. Funny though,
>>the
>> test dates stayed the same, and it isn't like the homework system was
>> perfect before our TVI was out sick.
>>
>> I think the big problem is a general lack of the concept of learning
>>for a
>> blind student. We kept hearing of things due that we're not written in
>> Kendra's agenda. ALL students are required to use agendas in her school.
>> Well, they finally told us Kendra was keeping her agenda in her BRAILLE
>> NOTE. Okay, well in the first place, nobody told us, and the written
>>agenda
>> was still being sent home with only partial info in it. So why would
>>they
>> send home mismatched info in two places?
>>
>> Beyond that, why would we suddenly look on the BrailleNote for this
>>after
>> two years? They never did this in first or second grade. Besides, when
>>we
>> HAVE checked since then, we often find that BOTH lists are incomplete.
>> Finally, this is a third grader. All parents of kids this age need to be
>> able to look in their kids' agendas to see what they are supposed to be
>> doing. What do they think will happen if a kid can read a Braille list
>>and
>> "accidentally" skip reporting some work thats's due whenever they like?
>>Are
>> WE supposed to struggle through reading this list in Braille on her
>> notetaker? Are we supposed to plug into a VGA monitor to check this
>>every
>> time when parents of sighted kids parents just open a notebook and read
>>the
>> list? We're doing these things in the car on the way to swim lessons or
>> yoga class, for goodness' sake.
>>
>> And it has been more than just dealing with the homework list. Letting
>> Kendra listen to content from a talking website when other kids can read
>> the content visually from the screen is just not the same for her and
>> teachers need to understand that. We tried without a way for Kendra to
>>read
>> this material for herself. She was getting 75's on tests. We got it for
>>her
>> in Braille and suddenly she was back to making 100's. That is no small
>>deal
>> for our child!
>>
>> I guess this is all a long way of saying that the critical part of the
>> process is getting the teachers to understand how important it really
>>is to
>> have all of this material at at home in all the right formats. Try to
>>let
>> them see how it all has a direct impact on getting homework and study
>> completed and on the quality of learning which is possible for our
>>kids. I
>> think at least for Kendra,that is our best hope for improvement in these
>> areas.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> On Dec 12, 2011, at 6:05 PM, Penny Duffy <pennyduffy at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > I am noticing more of Abby's assignments (she is in second grade) are
>> > coming home  in an inaccessible format.   I try and be understanding.
>>It
>> > seems to be a trend right now not a rare assignment forgotten about.
>>Her
>> > math is always braille but its her word work that seems to be the
>> program.
>> > It seems like I get them trained and things come home right and then
>>they
>> > kinda fall back into not doing it.  (she was sick for a week)  Is this
>> > going to be a problem that keeps coming up? We had a great IEP meeting
>> just
>> > less than two weeks ago.  They know I am going to help her with her
>> > homework and they seem to use that as a fall back. She actually has a
>> great
>> > TVI and a great classroom teacher it just seems like 'little' things
>>like
>> > this happen all the time.  I plan to calm down a bit and sending a
>>quick
>> > email reminding them that all her work is suppose to come home in
>> braille.
>> > I am just a wee bit frustrated.
>> >
>> > Also Abby is doing really well in math. She has a great mind for
>>numbers
>> (I
>> > wonder if she is my kid) I noticed in her last assessment that there
>>was
>> > some areas she wasn't really strong in an all of them involved a
>>visual
>> > element to it.  graphing, measuring.  They didn't include her answers
>> this
>> > time (usually its attached) This is a common area for a blind child to
>> > struggle in correct? I was told verbally she did great in the
>>assessment.
>> > So I was taken a back when those areas were labeled "developing"
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > --Penny
>> > ----------
>> > A lucky mother to two amazing children - visionfora.blogspot.com
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>>
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>
>
>
>-- 
>--Penny
>----------
>A lucky mother to two amazing children - visionfora.blogspot.com
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