[blindkid] walking home from school.

[Bonnie Lucas]

Personally, I wasn't given much opportunity, once I left the blind school,
to walk independently and I have to really force myself to get going on a
route. From personal experience, when I do a route over and over, the
feeling of independence is great and I really feel in charge of my life. 
Abbie will feel so confident if she can walk to school on her own. Aubrie
walks from high school and hat is a total cool thing for her. Hmm, it just
occurred to me that she could talk about her experiences at our state
convention because she has had a few!

-----Original Message-----
From: Arielle Silverman [mailto:arielle71 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 5:48 AM
To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] walking home from school.

I totally agree with Barbara. What kind of street will she need to cross to
get home?
The best way for her to improve her street-crossing skills is through
practice and the best way to get practice is to do the crossing every day!
Speaking from the other side of the coin, because I am blind, I wasn't
allowed to walk to or from the bus stop alone until I was 13--and the street
crossings I needed to do for this route were merely residential crossings. I
have always had trouble with street crossings and I believe if I had been
expected to learn and use those skills earlier, I would have been a much
better and safer traveler.
Arielle

On 5/15/12, Barbara Hammel <poetlori8 at msn.com> wrote:
> If Abby's cane skills are good, practice street crossings over the 
> summer, even if it's just the streets on the school route.  If, when 
> school starts,
>
> you feel comfortable that she could do it alone if need be, then let 
> them walk.  If you had this plan when she could see, there is no 
> reason why you can't do it even though she is now blind.
> The one thing in considering, here, is that you don't want her to 
> depend upon older sibling in case she has to go alone some time.
> The time will be right when she can do it safely.  I have confidence 
> that you'll know when that is.
> Barbara
>
>
>
>
> Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. -- Carl Sandburg 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Penny Duffy
> Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 12:30 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
> Subject: [blindkid] walking home from school.
>
> Hello everyone.
>
> I am considering have my kids walk home from school next year without 
> me.Did I really just say that.  We are walking distance from the school.
> They have walked the route often.  My kids who will be in 3rd grade 
> and 5th grade next year and would be walking home TOGETHER.  One of my
kids are
> blind and the other one is sighted.   I am really looking for some input.
> I can't see why my daughter's blindness is that much of an  issue.  
> Should i wait till Abby's O&M street crossing skills are better?  When 
> Abby was in kindergarten (and sighted) I always thought that I would 
> let the kids walk home when they were win 5th and 3rd grade.
>
> I think it would be great for both my kids than again the kids may 
> reject the idea and the rules that come with it.
>
> --Penny
> ----------
> My Blog - visionfora.blogspot.com
>
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