[blindkid] blindkid Digest, Vol 106, Issue 7

Julie Dabbieri julietnan at aol.com
Mon Feb 11 20:39:42 UTC 2013


Thank you so much for sharing your stories with me and for all the great advise! Our meeting is set up for next week so I am trying to get everything together. I have a few more questions for you guys. 
1. Is it reasonable to ask for my daughter to be started on a regular commenter keyboard like the other students or should she just stick with the Perkins brailler and introduction to braille lite?
2. what about asking for real objects to explore classroom lessons. For example, when the class is reading a book about trees. All the other kids are looking at pictures etc of all tree parts while it is just described to my daughter. Couldn't she hold a little plastic tree?
3. When a movie is shown, could she have someone describe what s going on?
4. If something is too loud, for example, a rainy day movie at recess, couldn't she be excused to read a book with her aide? She became uncomfortable recently when this happened and the aide wanted to take her out and read but the Gen ed teacher said, " she just has to learn to deal with it".
5. have any of your kids had problems with unnecessary movements or tic type behaviors? My daughter has started having some of these. I was wondering if we could have her take a fidget toy in class to hold in her hand? She used to hum and they wont let her do that in class, then she started biting on the pencils, then when they stopped that she started coughing and picking her nose, now we have a handle on that and she has started shrugging her shoulder,  knocking on her head, tapping her forehead with her palm and a finger exercise type movement that interferes with her braille skills. So, I am thinking every time we stop a small movement or fidget, she just replaces it with a different ad increasingly bigger movement. Any advise on this ?
her teacher seems to think she is just doing these things to get attention, but I don't think so, I think she needs to move for stimulation.
Thank you again for all your help! Julie





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To: blindkid <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thu, Feb 7, 2013 10:06 am
Subject: blindkid Digest, Vol 106, Issue 7


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oday's Topics:
   1. Re: IEP questions (Richard Holloway)
  2. Thanks for info! (Carol Castellano)
  3. Re: IEP development for 3rd-4th grader (Brandon and Sarah)
  4. Re: IEP questions (DrV)
  5. Re: IEP questions (Richard Holloway)
  6. Re: IEP questions (Penny Duffy)

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
ate: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 14:16:56 -0500
rom: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
o: "Blind Kid Mailing List,	\(for parents of blind children\)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
ubject: Re: [blindkid] IEP questions
essage-ID: <2B96497D-FCA4-4164-8779-25C3E45CD096 at gopbc.org>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
As previously discussed, you may or may not want to "call out" anyone for not 
ollowing the IEP, but in any case, I would have no hesitation to mention in a 
equest memo for an IEP that you have concerns that your current IEP is not 
eing followed. There's no point in pretending there is no  concern-- this is 
our child's education. The fact of the matter is, anyone involved will pretty 
uickly determine that if a child has only one primary teacher and the IEP isn't 
eing followed, that teacher is pretty likely a key person not following the 
EP. Your place may not be to officially point blame, but you have every right 
o point out shortcomings in your child's education and IEP process.
I agree that all the teachers should have been given (and should have read and 
ollowed) the IEP. Compliance isn't optional on their part. The teacher ought to 
now this and certainly the principle and administration should be well aware of 
his. If she really wasn't given the IEP, it might not be "her fault", except 
hat I suspect we're dealing with a child with an obvious special need, so I 
ould think it would go without saying, that the child almost certainly has an 
EP. Why would she not ask the administration?
In other words, I can see how a child with, say, mild autism, might not jump out 
o a teacher as a student for whom they should absolutely have an IEP. On the 
ther hand, a student who is in a wheelchair, for example, is very like to have 
n IEP, and a teacher would be quite likely ask about a "missing" IEP for such a 
hild. Same thing, I would suggest, for a blind child.
I don't know-- the more I think about it, the more I can't really grasp how any 
eacher would't ask about a blind student they were teaching-- "doesn't this 
hild have an IEP?" Does your child have some functional vision which they are 
rying to over-use?
In any case, we too always have at least two meetings with the "IEP Team" every 
ear. The big one is early in the CALENDAR year, for the following school year. 
he second one is a few weeks into school-- just as soon as "the dust settles" 
rom the start of the year. If things aren't going smoothly we have more as 
eeded. 
Have as many as you need to get things running smoothly. If things are going 
retty well, you may be able to solve the odd small issue with a unofficial 
eeting with just a person or two, or even a phone call or memo (emails work 
reat for us), but if quick unofficial attempts don't quickly resolve things? 
all an official IEP without hesitation.
I suspect that generally, (as in our case) after a while things will become more 
outine and you may require fewer extra meetings (beyond just the two a year) 
ut I would expect to have a couple of meeting every year. Use the regular 
arent conferences as well-- use them as informal IEP's to the degree that you 
an gauge when you need an official meeting, etc. We find that a casual rapport 
ith the teachers can be developed with many brief meetings at events and 
ctivities. After a while, this tends to head certain issues off before they 
ecome significant enough to require formal meetings.
I would underscore however, that we find that the extra "early IEP meeting" in 
he school year helps get everything organized and flowing for the entire school 
ear, so it can be pretty important. Yet, it cannot replace the winter/spring 
eeting because that's when they have to get prepped and organized to order 
ooks and other materials for the next school year...
Good luck!
Richard

-----------------------------
Message: 2
ate: Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:50:41 -0500
rom: Carol Castellano <carol_castellano at verizon.net>
o: blindkid at nfbnet.org
ubject: [blindkid] Thanks for info!
essage-ID: <323531.99913.bm at smtp101.vzn.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
To all of you who helped with my Toys R Us query--THANKS!!!
arol
Carol Castellano
resident, Parents of Blind Children-NJ
irector of Programs
ational Organization of Parents of Blind Children
73-377-0976
arol_castellano at verizon.net
ww.blindchildren.org
ww.nfb.org/parents-and-teachers  


-----------------------------
Message: 3
ate: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 14:04:26 -0700
rom: Brandon and Sarah <lanesims at gmail.com>
o: blindkid at nfbnet.org
ubject: Re: [blindkid] IEP development for 3rd-4th grader
essage-ID:
<CAFtNJBH3Zef5kwiVFKarZQcbY8AVTL_cieDqQ-6PW8Gc=uw9EA at mail.gmail.com>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I absolutely agree that having Carol's book, Making It Work, is
ssential. In fact, before my original post, I wandered around the
ouse looking for our copy. It turns out that Emilia's teacher had it
n loan. I have it back now and will study up on the IEP chapter.
As for the testing and grades as a source of guidance - that would be
reat if I believed the progress reports. I'm suspicious that the
esting has been a bit generous regarding her progress, so may not be
uch use in this case.
We do have a budding summer program that is 100mi away at the Idaho
chool for the Deaf and Blind. Idaho isn't big on funding education
last in the nation, Yay!), but the folks at the school have worked
ard to pull together a summer camp. Emilia has gone and will return
his summer. Thanks for the input.
randon
> Message: 3
 Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2013 12:38:02 -0500 (EST)
 From: SCDUFFLEY at aol.com
 To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
 Subject: Re: [blindkid] IEP development for 3rd-4th grader
 Message-ID: <4daf.696f350.3e3ffa7a at aol.com>
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

 It is important and VITAL to have Carol Castellanos book  "Making it Work".

  You will find a review of her book on the NFB  website.  It is the bible
 to education for the visually  impaired.
 _https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr19/fr05si11.htm_
 (https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr19/fr05si11.htm)


 Secondly, I googled the internet for information on IEP for  blind students

 and found good articles and a few examples.   Here are  a few links I
 found.
 _http://www.unco.edu/ncssd/bviIEP/index.shtml_
 (http://www.unco.edu/ncssd/bviIEP/index.shtml)
 _http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/ieps-parents-blind-or-visually-impaired-
 children#sample_
 (http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/ieps-parents-blind-or-visually-impaired-children#sample)


  I have been through the same thing.  ONE of  the biggest challenges was
 needing exposure to peer interactions and some  daily living skills that
 were
 very slow going.  I was able to convince my  team,  in a calm, objective
 way, that my son, who is now 11, needed time at  Perkins School for the
 blind
 (about 1.25 hrs away)  to develop these  exposures in their Outreach
 Program.
  They also offer a summer  program.  Do you have any services like that in
 your area or 100 mile  radius?

 Speech and OT can be tricky areas and we built his goals on  testing
 results.  Do you have testing evidence or grades to help you for  any of
 your IEP
 areas?

 I am sure the other parents and professionals will have  some wonderful
 advice as well.

 It takes time, but it is well worth it.

 My best,

 Christine Duffley
 NH

 In a message dated 2/3/2013 9:37:10 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
 lanesims at gmail.com writes:

 Up until  now we have been passive participants in Emilia's IEP development
 and  meetings. I have never felt that the document was  particularly
 understandable or helpful in a practical way. I now realize  that this
 cannot continue and I have decided to be much more active in the  process
 of
 writing the document.

 I have looked at some online advice  and samples and still have a question
 about what to include/exclude from  the Goals/Benchmarks. The common core
 standards are clearly published on  the district website. It seems to me
 that if we expect her to have the same  expectations as her sighted peers
 with regard to learning the curriculum,  then we just need to state that
 clearly, rather than go through each  individual element of the curriculum.
 Then we just need to address areas of  weakness or blind specific
 accomodations, and the expanded core curriculum  (like reading speed,
 assistive tech, testing accomodations, O&M, etc).  I'm thinking something
 like this:

 Language: Emilia will have the  same expectations as her sighted peers for
 mastery of the  4th grade  common core standards.

 After this we could go on to a specific reading  goal and so on.

 The same would apply to math and so on.

 It seems  to me that if we refer specifically to the published expectations
 for her  sighted peers, then the same expectations in their entirety are
 applied to  Emilia. Am I missing something here?   Thanks.
 Brandon

------------------------------
Message: 4
ate: Wed, 06 Feb 2013 23:00:46 -0800
rom: DrV <icdx at earthlink.net>
o: "Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
ubject: Re: [blindkid] IEP questions
essage-ID: <CD3886C6.CF88%icdx at earthlink.net>
ontent-Type: text/plain;	charset="ISO-8859-1"
We have taken a similar approach.
e have a minimal of 2 IEP meeting for each of our boys; 1 within the
irst few weeks of school & 1 a few weeks before the end of the school
ear.
e also arrange for an additional informal meeting for 1?2-1 hour to  with
he gen ed teacher(s) the day before school starts every year with a
andout to provide a brief overview of our child, our philosophy, & to
nswer any questions - it has always been well received  - and a relief
or many who you can tell have been wrestling over how they will be able
o teach a blind child. This also sets a tone that we are able & willing
o be part of the process of "making it work." (great title for a book ;-)
he school tries to put off the beginning of the year IEP saying it is too
arly to get a feel for things, but the meeting is invariably perfect in
iming to address questions that the gen ed teacher has & to get all team
embers in the same room so they can all meet, connect & problem solve.
t the end-of-the-year meeting we try to get a sense of who will be
eaching the following year - or when we can expect to know over the
ummer. It gives the TVI a chance to find out what books need to be
rdered & what materials need to be brailled over the summer & we put in
he meeting notes that we request an early IEP the following year as well
s the pre-start of school meeting.
eyond that we meet as needed when issues come up - & then unfortunately
lmost always do.
 think it is important to document parental requests & concerns formally
n writing. For every IEP meeting we provide a parent handout with our
ontact info, general background, straight & weaknesses, etc with a
isting of our concerns & requests & we write in the handout that we want
he handout to be included as an official part of the IEP meeting
ocument. We add pictures (these are great pre&start of the meeting
cebreakers). We make sure the meeting notes include reference to our
andout stating it has been acknowledged & included. We also bring
omething for the IEP team to snack on.
here is a lot more access to teachers & other IEP members in elementary
chool. Much less so in Middle school & high school.
est wishes,
ric
On 2/6/13 11:16 AM, "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:
>As previously discussed, you may or may not want to "call out" anyone for
not following the IEP, but in any case, I would have no hesitation to
mention in a request memo for an IEP that you have concerns that your
current IEP is not being followed. There's no point in pretending there
is no  concern-- this is your child's education. The fact of the matter
is, anyone involved will pretty quickly determine that if a child has
only one primary teacher and the IEP isn't being followed, that teacher
is pretty likely a key person not following the IEP. Your place may not
be to officially point blame, but you have every right to point out
shortcomings in your child's education and IEP process.

I agree that all the teachers should have been given (and should have
read and followed) the IEP. Compliance isn't optional on their part. The
teacher ought to know this and certainly the principle and administration
should be well aware of this. If she really wasn't given the IEP, it
might not be "her fault", except that I suspect we're dealing with a
child with an obvious special need, so I would think it would go without
saying, that the child almost certainly has an IEP. Why would she not ask
the administration?

In other words, I can see how a child with, say, mild autism, might not
jump out to a teacher as a student for whom they should absolutely have
an IEP. On the other hand, a student who is in a wheelchair, for example,
is very like to have an IEP, and a teacher would be quite likely ask
about a "missing" IEP for such a child. Same thing, I would suggest, for
a blind child.

I don't know-- the more I think about it, the more I can't really grasp
how any teacher would't ask about a blind student they were teaching--
"doesn't this child have an IEP?" Does your child have some functional
vision which they are trying to over-use?

In any case, we too always have at least two meetings with the "IEP Team"
every year. The big one is early in the CALENDAR year, for the following
school year. The second one is a few weeks into school-- just as soon as
"the dust settles" from the start of the year. If things aren't going
smoothly we have more as needed.

Have as many as you need to get things running smoothly. If things are
going pretty well, you may be able to solve the odd small issue with a
unofficial meeting with just a person or two, or even a phone call or
memo (emails work great for us), but if quick unofficial attempts don't
quickly resolve things? Call an official IEP without hesitation.

I suspect that generally, (as in our case) after a while things will
become more routine and you may require fewer extra meetings (beyond just
the two a year) but I would expect to have a couple of meeting every
year. Use the regular parent conferences as well-- use them as informal
IEP's to the degree that you can gauge when you need an official meeting,
etc. We find that a casual rapport with the teachers can be developed
with many brief meetings at events and activities. After a while, this
tends to head certain issues off before they become significant enough to
require formal meetings.

I would underscore however, that we find that the extra "early IEP
meeting" in the school year helps get everything organized and flowing
for the entire school year, so it can be pretty important. Yet, it cannot
replace the winter/spring meeting because that's when they have to get
prepped and organized to order books and other materials for the next
school year...

Good luck!

Richard
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------------------------------
Message: 5
ate: Thu, 7 Feb 2013 02:37:45 -0500
rom: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
o: "Blind Kid Mailing List,	(for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
ubject: Re: [blindkid] IEP questions
essage-ID: <F9B5C34B-3679-419D-B0E5-3CC0CF416E98 at gopbc.org>
ontent-Type: text/plain;	charset=utf-8
Eric's post makes me aware of the different timetables in different school 
ystems. Here in Georgia, we have been cautioned that if next year's braille 
ooks aren't on order by something like February or at least March, many may not 
rrive for the start of school. No idea what could possibly take so long, but I 
ould seek guidance from a TVI or other educated source about that particular 
spect of your school system's book acquisition process and build that into your 
lan. 
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 7, 2013, at 2:00 AM, DrV <icdx at earthlink.net> wrote:
> We have taken a similar approach.
 We have a minimal of 2 IEP meeting for each of our boys; 1 within the
 first few weeks of school & 1 a few weeks before the end of the school
 year.
 We also arrange for an additional informal meeting for 1?2-1 hour to  with
 the gen ed teacher(s) the day before school starts every year with a
 handout to provide a brief overview of our child, our philosophy, & to
 answer any questions - it has always been well received  - and a relief
 for many who you can tell have been wrestling over how they will be able
 to teach a blind child. This also sets a tone that we are able & willing
 to be part of the process of "making it work." (great title for a book ;-)
 The school tries to put off the beginning of the year IEP saying it is too
 early to get a feel for things, but the meeting is invariably perfect in
 timing to address questions that the gen ed teacher has & to get all team
 members in the same room so they can all meet, connect & problem solve.
 At the end-of-the-year meeting we try to get a sense of who will be
 teaching the following year - or when we can expect to know over the
 summer. It gives the TVI a chance to find out what books need to be
 ordered & what materials need to be brailled over the summer & we put in
 the meeting notes that we request an early IEP the following year as well
 as the pre-start of school meeting.
 Beyond that we meet as needed when issues come up - & then unfortunately
 almost always do.
 I think it is important to document parental requests & concerns formally
 in writing. For every IEP meeting we provide a parent handout with our
 contact info, general background, straight & weaknesses, etc with a
 listing of our concerns & requests & we write in the handout that we want
 the handout to be included as an official part of the IEP meeting
 document. We add pictures (these are great pre&start of the meeting
 icebreakers). We make sure the meeting notes include reference to our
 handout stating it has been acknowledged & included. We also bring
 something for the IEP team to snack on.
 There is a lot more access to teachers & other IEP members in elementary
 school. Much less so in Middle school & high school.
 Best wishes,
 Eric
 
 On 2/6/13 11:16 AM, "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:
 
> As previously discussed, you may or may not want to "call out" anyone for

------------------------------
Message: 6
ate: Thu, 7 Feb 2013 03:47:14 -0500
rom: Penny Duffy <pennyduffy at gmail.com>
o: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,	(for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
ubject: Re: [blindkid] IEP questions
essage-ID:
<CABb_=QcuAe1fEp-6sYZe6XrjsF2Vou+6yvGAwLwDCu3rdRjQNg at mail.gmail.com>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I know my daughter's TVI orders her braille books in the spring. I like to
ollow up her tvi and make sure she orders all the books. For some odd
eason the tvi isn't told about all the books.
Oh on the topic of meetings we have each year. We have a transition meeting
t the end of the year that included the new and old teacher.  We also
ometimes have an extented school year meeting.   Abby's main IEP meeting
s every early December.  I also have had informal meetings with my
aughters TVI (she is great)
-Penny
n Feb 7, 2013 2:38 AM, "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:
> Eric's post makes me aware of the different timetables in different school
 systems. Here in Georgia, we have been cautioned that if next year's
 braille books aren't on order by something like February or at least March,
 many may not arrive for the start of school. No idea what could possibly
 take so long, but I would seek guidance from a TVI or other educated source
 about that particular aspect of your school system's book acquisition
 process and build that into your plan.

 Sent from my iPhone

 On Feb 7, 2013, at 2:00 AM, DrV <icdx at earthlink.net> wrote:

 > We have taken a similar approach.
 > We have a minimal of 2 IEP meeting for each of our boys; 1 within the
 > first few weeks of school & 1 a few weeks before the end of the school
 > year.
 > We also arrange for an additional informal meeting for 1?2-1 hour to
  with
 > the gen ed teacher(s) the day before school starts every year with a
 > handout to provide a brief overview of our child, our philosophy, & to
 > answer any questions - it has always been well received  - and a relief
 > for many who you can tell have been wrestling over how they will be able
 > to teach a blind child. This also sets a tone that we are able & willing
 > to be part of the process of "making it work." (great title for a book
 ;-)
 > The school tries to put off the beginning of the year IEP saying it is
 too
 > early to get a feel for things, but the meeting is invariably perfect in
 > timing to address questions that the gen ed teacher has & to get all team
 > members in the same room so they can all meet, connect & problem solve.
 > At the end-of-the-year meeting we try to get a sense of who will be
 > teaching the following year - or when we can expect to know over the
 > summer. It gives the TVI a chance to find out what books need to be
 > ordered & what materials need to be brailled over the summer & we put in
 > the meeting notes that we request an early IEP the following year as well
 > as the pre-start of school meeting.
 > Beyond that we meet as needed when issues come up - & then unfortunately
 > almost always do.
 > I think it is important to document parental requests & concerns formally
 > in writing. For every IEP meeting we provide a parent handout with our
 > contact info, general background, straight & weaknesses, etc with a
 > listing of our concerns & requests & we write in the handout that we want
 > the handout to be included as an official part of the IEP meeting
 > document. We add pictures (these are great pre&start of the meeting
 > icebreakers). We make sure the meeting notes include reference to our
 > handout stating it has been acknowledged & included. We also bring
 > something for the IEP team to snack on.
 > There is a lot more access to teachers & other IEP members in elementary
 > school. Much less so in Middle school & high school.
 > Best wishes,
 > Eric
 >
 > On 2/6/13 11:16 AM, "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:
 >
 >> As previously discussed, you may or may not want to "call out" anyone
 for

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