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

[Bonnie Lucas]

Hello Mary,
I am a blind mom of a blind child. I went to the state school for the blind
during the 60's. It was a very good choice for me because my family lived in
a very rural place. When I was in high school, I went to my public school
and saw my itinerant 
Teacher once a month or so. I won't say I got the best education, but I
managed to go to college at the same time as my peers and am finishing a
third degree. My child, Aubrie, is in 10th grade and has been mainstreamed
most of her life. She spent a couple of years in a "blind" classroom where
she worked on Braille but not much else. Because she was only blind, and the
few other children had a number of other problems, she was not challenged in
the least. Thankfully, a wise TVI encouraged me to take her out of the
classroom and mainstream her. She has been in gifted programming and is now
taking an advanced placement class, chemistry and geometry. She is second
chair flutist in the high school band and overall doing quite well. I give
you all of this information because I would like to stress that the most
important thing, I think, is to have high expectations of your little one,
no matter where the placement. If you think he is as bright as most of the
children in his age category, then there is probably no reason he should not
be mainstreamed. On the other hand, if you feel he needs particular
attention that may not be available to him as a mainstreamed student, then
another placement might be better. I personally believe that the most
important thing is that he should be able to interact with successful blind
adults and older successful blind kids; That along with having high
expectations for him in the same way that you might have for a sighted child
with the same mental and physical capacities. I hope this makes sense and
please don't hesitate to contact me off line if you would like more
information. 
Best of wishes and enjoy that three-year-old. They are wonderful!
-----Original Message-----
From: Phouka [mailto:Phouka at kc.rr.com] 
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 5:53 PM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] Justifying a Specialized Environment for a
Visually-Impaired Child

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