[blindkid] Justifying a Specialized Environment for a Visually-Impaired Child

Fri Oct 14 19:20:05 UTC 2011

I agree with Richard..

Schools for the blind work great for some kids. Its important to remember
that schools for the blind can have issues too.

I dont think i would choose a school for the blind for my child even if the
school was in the same city.  I use our closest school for the blind (its an
hour and a half in the big city and not even in our state)   as a resource.
I The school 'near' my house specializes more for the those with more than
one disability (they have an amazing deaf blind program). Its really a great
school Abby has gone to programs at the school (weekend and summer) but i
don't feel it would be a good fit for Abby for her day to day education. Its
the Perkins School that I am talking about by the way. She is just blind
(with some vision) She is learning braille and getting o&m at her school.
 There is three blind elementary students in my district  and they have a
TVI on staff. Abby has really made a great friendship with a girl a few
years older.

I know there are different school and maybe the school for the blind would
work better for your child but just because they have school and blind in
their title doesn't mean they provide a great education.  Its also doesn't
mean that they don't.

If you don't agree about the IEP don't agree to it.  What are you concerns?
If there something about the program they are offering your child you don't
like?  Is the school for the blind preschool program better? See what they
have to offer and make sure your son's needs are met.

On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>wrote:

> Hi Mary and welcome!
>
> My wife and I have a 9-year-old daughter, Kendra, with no light perception.
> She has been in a typical, mainstream school environment from her third
> birthday forward (we had to wait to start her until the week she turned
> three). Kendra spent the first two years of her schooling in a private
> Montessori environment. After that, she has gone to public schools in our
> local district. Overall, we have been very pleased with her progress.
>
> While Kendra does attend after school classes at a local center for the
> blind one day a week, mainly to let her interact with other blind peers, she
> has spent the last 6 years (this being her 7th) in school with all sighted
> peers. Now in third grade, she is in the gifted program. She remains a
> "straight-A" student and functions at the top of her class, in some areas
> working well above grade level.
>
> Sometimes there are reasons to go with a school for the blind, but I would
> point out that our kids are going to end up in a world filled with sighted
> people all around them. I think you'll find that many of us here feel that
> unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise, it is a good idea to
> explore keeping your blind or visually impaired child in school in as
> typical a situation as possible, interacting with a great many sighted kids
> along the way.
>
> In our case, while Kendra does know other blind children, she has always
> been the only visually impaired child in her class at any given time.
> Especially since we do find other ways for her to interact with other blind
> children, we have not yet (now in third grade) had any serious issues which
> we feel relate to keeping her in a mainstream setting. The "key" for us has
> been all about building the right team to work with her at school and to get
> things adapted properly. With the right training and tools, Kendra will be
> able to do whatever she wants in life!
>
> Please feel free to ask any questions you might have of me on-list or off.
> (More detailed info may be better off-list just to keep down the amount of
> info that everyone filters through.) I can also direct you to a good bit
> more information about our particular journey if you like, as my wife and I
> have written a number of articles about our particular situation. May I go
> ahead and send you some links off-list?
>
> I know you're asking about articles to justify a specialized environment,
> but I would again suggest (particularly if blindness is the only issue
> involved) that you look at all options carefully and try not to start with
> an assumption that a specialized school is the required solution for your
> young man. For many children, there can be some pretty big social advantages
> of the mainstream environment as well. Save to say that there is much to
> consider.
>
> Good luck with your journey. It  may seem frightening at first, but things
> will all fall into place, especially with you getting an early start and
> gathering information about what may work best for you. I think the parents
> who have the greatest challenges and frustrations are the ones who sit an
> wait to see what happens. Getting involved and asking questions early-on
> will make a huge difference for you and your son!
>
> Richard Holloway, Vice President
> Georgia Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> www.gopbc.org
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 13, 2011, at 9:52 PM, Phouka wrote:
>
> > Hello!
> >
> >
> >
> > My name is Mary Strahan; among other things, I'm the mother of an
> absolutely
> > awesome little boy who's visually impaired.  Eddie will be 3 in January,
> so
> > we're just starting the transition process from early childhood services
> to
> > the local school district and learning all about IEPs.  I know it's
> really
> > important for him to learn the skills of blindness now to set him up for
> > success throughout his life, and I suspect he'll best learn those skills
> in
> > a specialized environment (i.e. a school specializing in the education of
> > blind/visually impaired children) rather than in the district's
> preschool.
> > I was wondering if any of you could direct me towards
> research/articles/etc.
> > justifying specialized environments for blind/visually impaired children?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Also, if you have suggestions about navigating the IEP process in
> general,
> > those would also be much appreciated.  We can use all the help we can get
> on
> > this journey.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thank you for your help!
> >
> > Mary
> >
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>
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-- 
--Penny
----------
A lucky mother to two amazing children - visionfora.blogspot.com