[blindkid] PE in middle school

Thu Mar 14 04:43:30 UTC 2013

She has had an APE teacher for 2 years now. My daughter is a bright kiddo,
but we know where she falls behind. She is in 5th grade but mainstreamed
into 3rd grade language arts and math. She has a memory like an elephant
but falls behind on comprehension. She can memorize 2+3=5. But if you ask
her to add 3+2, she can't tell you the answer right away. But yet she aces
every single 5th grade spelling test.
And her physical abilities is where we push hard on as well. Fine and gross
motor. She can't gain weight to gain the muscle, and she has other
underline issues as well. I would prefer her to just be pulled out of class
a few times a week with an APE teacher since she's most comfortable one on
one. I know PE is one of the periods in the 6 period classes at her soon to
be middle school. I'm just wondering if I can and can't fight for on her
IEP. Such as dressing. If I have been working on it here at home with her
for years, what's to make me think she can magically learn it in a timed
setting like dressing out at school? Plus she gets easily flustered. And
that leads to changes in her blood pressure that leads to one of her other
underlined issues. Its a vicious cycle she has.
I'm hoping I can have her dressing out be something as simple as accessing
her own lock, changing shoes, maybe into gym shorts and reporting to a
designated area.
I need as much help as I can knowing what we will face going into middle
school.
On Mar 13, 2013 9:15 PM, "Arielle Silverman" <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Julie and all,
> I guess I'd like to take this discussion in a bit of a different
> direction. I'm wondering if it would be possible to replace your
> daughter's PE requirement with some extra one-on-one time with someone
> who can help her work on some of these motor issues so she can master
> some of these independent living skills like dressing herself and
> using keys? (Perhaps an OT, PT, APE instructor or some combination)?
> To me, this seems much more critically important than whatever she
> might get out of being in a mainstreamed PE class--especially if she
> wants to start going to sleepover parties with her girlfriends, or
> letting herself into the house when you aren't at home. It seems once
> she has learned these skills she will be more ready for a traditional
> P.E. program.
> More generally, to everyone, I think there is some benefit in having
> blind kids do their P.E. requirements in a more individualized fashion
> rather than just having someone come into their regular P.E. class to
> help them. I'm usually an advocate of including blind students in the
> regular curriculum as much as possible, but based on my own
> experiences with regular and adapted P.E. I feel that P.E. needs to be
> handled a little differently. I'm curious if others have had
> experiences similar to mine.
> I was in regular P.E. throughout elementary school and sixth grade (in
> middle school) and what I remember was either being forced to sit on
> the bench, participating with a lot of help from my classmates, or
> having an APE teacher practically on top of me aiming throws for me,
> catching balls, etc. so I was basically a passive participant. Sports
> activities were never adapted, and at times my P.E. teachers were
> quite frank in stating that I wasn't expected to perform well. For
> example, in sixth grade I was required to dress out, but when we ran
> laps the kid who forgot his gym clothes at home was always the one
> assigned to be my running guide, because evidently the P.E. teachers
> didn't think that guiding me on the track was strenuous enough
> exercise to make someone dress out to do it. Anyway you get the idea.
> In seventh grade on, my PE requirements were waived due to alleged
> "safety concerns" and I was assigned one-on-one classes with an APE
> instructor instead. I hated this at first but it turned out to be
> great because my teacher was a female bodybuilder who assigned me to
> do weight training. I worked with her twice per week throughout the
> eighth, ninth, and tenth grades and she taught me how to use all the
> common weight machines and free-weights, and trained me to build up to
> some fairly competitive lifting routines. Initially I thought it was
> unfair to be separated from my peers and to have to come in before
> school for bench-press drills, but eventually I gained confidence in
> my body and my physical abilities because I was working with someone
> who challenged me and held me to high standards instead of just
> casting me aside to sit on the bench. In tenth grade the program
> changed from on-campus sessions to my walking from school to my local
> YMCA to complete the exercise routine (with supervision from the
> instructor at first, and then completely independent). It has been
> twelve years since that class ended for me, but I still know exactly
> how to use all the equipment, and though I have been erratic in my gym
> participation, I still enjoy lifting weights and still do some of the
> floor exercises that I learned. I also know a few other blind students
> who had similar individualized APE programs, some of which also
> involved stationary bike, elliptical or treadmill routines as well.
> I am pretty sure that the real purpose of required physical education
> (for all kids) is to instill good exercise habits and to motivate kids
> to become and remain physically active. I question how well that can
> happen for a blind student in a mainstreamed class where the blind
> student is always at a disadvantage, the last to be chosen for every
> team, etc. If others have found ways to make mainstreamed P.E. truly
> accessible, I would be very curious to hear how that was done.
> However, I suspect that it is quite difficult for regular P.E.
> teachers to make their classes fully accessible to a blind student
> because many of the modifications, like using beeping balls, have an
> effect on how the whole class is run. It's great if you have a P.E.
> arrangement where your child is fully included and where he/she can
> excel. If that's not happening, though, I think the option of setting
> up an individualized adapted P.E. program is one worth considering so
> that your child can achieve excellence in the class and learn some
> practical, good exercise habits. Of course, this is only going to work
> if the adapted P.E. teacher at the school is a quality teacher,
> someone with an open mind and someone who believes in blind people. I
> also think that sports groups for the blind, and mainstreamed
> community sports leagues where the leaders believe in blind people,
> are alternative ways to achieve these goals if the P.E. programs at
> school are not worthwhile.
>
> What are your thoughts on this?
> Arielle
>
> On 3/13/13, Julie Yanez <jyanez112 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Thank you. I'll look into it all.
> > On Mar 13, 2013 10:14 AM, "Bernadette Jacobs" <bernienfb75 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Good Afternoon Julie!
> >>
> >> Don't lose heart Darling!  Firstly, RE: the combination lock, there
> >> actually is, (believe it or not), such a thing as Braille Combination
> >> Locks.  And they are very easy to work. You can check with Ellen
> >> Ringlein over at NFB: 410-659-9314 in the independence market.  You
> >> might also check with the folks over at BISM: 410-7372600 and ask to
> >> speak with Andy McIver.  Or there's Independent Living Aids.  I don't
> >> remember the number offhand.  You can always "goodsearch" it.
> >>
> >> As for the dressing part, I'm not the expert in that department.  But,
> >> hopefully, before long, somebody will have some ideas for you there as
> >> well.
> >>
> >> On 3/12/13, Julie Yanez <jyanez112 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Hi all,
> >> > My daughter will be going into middle school next year and physical
> >> > education will be one of the courses. I have a few concerns that I
> know
> >> > will be brought up in our next IEP in a few weeks.
> >> > 1. Will she be required to dress into PE clothes?
> >> > Right now she has lots of difficulty dressing herself. Pants, socks
> and
> >> > shoes are easy. Its the upper half she can't accomplish yet. She
> >> > doesn't
> >> > have the muscle structure to do certain things and still had
> difficulty
> >> > with muscle isolation. Her Dr thinks it's just part of being extremely
> >> > premee and her being underweight.
> >> > I am also NOT ok with someone assisting her to dress out. She will be
> >> > in
> >> > APE. Is not dressing out a reasonable request for her APE in her IEP?
> >> >
> >> > If she is required to change in some way such as just shoes, what type
> >> > of
> >> > lock might be easiest to start off with?  I don't know how to modify a
> >> > combination lock for her, and like I said, she hasn't been able to
> >> isolate
> >> > fingers well. So getting a key in a lock is very very difficult for
> >> > her.
> >> We
> >> > have tried for so long already.
> >> >
> >> > What are some things I need to know before we start PE in middle
> school
> >> so
> >> > I can bring up to her IEP team?
> >> >
> >> > Thank you all in advance. I need to get this all figured out before
> the
> >> > meeting and before the year starts and we find things out the hard
> way.
> >> > ~Julie.
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