[blindkid] 1st grader can't see the board

[Carol Castellano]

Hi Leah,

It sounds as if you are looking for ways to make things accessible 
for him.  Are you also looking for ways to make the school do what 
needs to be done?  Are any of these access issues addressed in his IEP?

Your son sounds as if he'll be a dual media learner--using braille to 
read and making use of his vision to look at pictures, etc.  Is there 
a plan in place for both the teaching and the USE of braille in the 
classroom and at home?

Carol

Carol Castellano
President, Parents of Blind Children-NJ
Director of Programs
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.blindchildren.org
www.nopbc.org

At 10:37 AM 8/31/2012, you wrote:
>My son hasoptic nerve and eye muscle impairment, mild CP, and brain
>differences. Far vision 20/100 and 20/200. Near vision tests as good as
>20/40 with a single letter - as we know here, reading is very different
>than looking at a single black letter on a white screen!
>
>In kindergarten it was a constant issue to get access to materials for him.
>We asked for a desk copy of everything posted on the walls, and desk copies
>of the picture books the teacher would read to the class each day, and it
>never happened over two years of asking. They would sometimes move him
>closer, but that also blocked access with his not having an upper field.
>
>Now he is in first grade, at a school that has been fabulous with his cp
>and brain issues, but they do not seem to get that he cannot see the
>materials. In May we agreed to reconvene in Sept for a technology ARD to
>work on this. The TVI made a suggestion about an older piece of equipment
>that stands over his desk and by her admission is huge and heavy. It
>sounds, sorry to be negative, awful. What I would like to be able to do is:
>
>1. Have the overhead projector directly link to an iPad on his desk that
>shows the same view.
>2. Have a way to transmit the image on the bulletin board (it's paper that
>the teacher writes on with marker; her room has no whiteboard) to an iPad
>on his desk.
>
>That would seem SO easy, but no one on the ARD committee had any idea how
>to make something like that happen. If I can come in with some options for
>magnification and transmission, I think they will happily adapt them. It's
>just that when they don't know what to do, they look helplessly at the TVI,
>and if she doesn't know what to do then we're sunk.
>
>He does have some Braille instruction but no Braille at all in the
>classroom...that is a whole other post though.
>
>When he got to class today, the teacher was writing on the board in a light
>color, and it looked like nothing was set up for him, beyond him being
>seated moderately close to the board.
>
>This child needs physical access to instructional materials at the same
>time as his classmates, not two years, a month, or a week after the fact.
>In this case, I would be happy to provide the iPad, cables, conversion
>boxes, etc.
>
>Leah
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