[blindkid] ideas needed

[Penny Duffy]

Doreen My daughter is 7 and is in second grade.. She didn't experiences her
vision loss till last year (between K and first grade)  and she really hated
using the cane at school.  She has some vision and sometimes she doesn't
'need' the cane all the time but i am very firm about her always using it
when she is with me when we go out and she now uses it at school.

A few days ago she went to an event where they had a live hawk.  The person
doing to the presentation saw her cane and explained thing extra and let her
touch the hawks talon.  Thats a good case for a cane for ID.  I don't make a
big deal about her blindness but she always has her cane.

It helped my daughter to see other children using canes.  That was a big
turning point for her. Just like i make my daughter wear shoes she brings
her cane. Does she always use it right? NO but she has it with her and
getting in the practice of using it is half the battle.

There is no easy answers.   Have the school be consistent about cane use..
She doesn't use it IN her classroom (she has a hook) and during recess (puts
it some where) all other times she has her cane with her and the people at
school remind her (she doesn't really need to be reminded now)

There is no easy fix Doreen and every child is different.  Good luck..
-- 
--Penny
----------
A lucky mother to two amazing children - visionfora.blogspot.com

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 2:16 PM, Doreen Franklin <
doreenproverbs3 at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Hi to all ...
>
> we are looking for some help with our 7-yr old, first grade daughter who is
> visually impaired. She needs a cane but refuses to use it with us. She will
> "use" it during her O&M instruction of 30-minutes, but I have no idea if she
> uses it, or uses it safely, during the rest of her time at school. Most
> times with us, she holds it off the ground, like a shephard's crook. She has
> also not accepted her visual disability and has told me "Mom, I can see."
> And the school has non-verbally told her that last year in kindergarten as
> well as this year -- she has a CCTV in class; she does not have Braille. She
> is being re-evaled this year and I have been told "best practice is to use
> her vision." I backed off to be more collaborative instead of being near the
> door to due process. It is killing me, but I want to be more collaborative.
>
> Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you get around it? I can
> tell her about safety, but I know all she hears is "blah blah blah." She has
> said numerous times she HATES her cane, and I don't know how to get around
> it to make her see that she is safe with it and unsafe without it. She has
> gotten several bruises on her legs and her eye and all of those times have
> been because she has not used her cane. Again, she is hearing "blah blah
> blah." She did very well while at the national convention in July ... but
> within 2 weeks, she was not using her cane safely. There are no role models
> for her in school ...
>
> Any and all suggestions would be appreciated ....
>
> Thank you!!!!
>
> Doreen
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