[blindkid] Charter School

[Sarah Thomas]

I'd say your best bet is to talk with people at the school to get a feel for their reaction to blindness.  Despite the law, it can be very difficult to get get a good education for your child in an environment of fear or worse yet, pushback.  You can learn a lot by just calling and talking with them.  Since this is a choice you are making, be direct.  Ask how they would accommodate a blind student.  Some people immediately start thinking and have an open mind.  Some people shut down and are defensive.  Obviously the first group is easier to work with.  It is so great to work with people who have an open mind and really want the best for your child.  I hope you can find that!

Sally Thomas

On Feb 18, 2014, at 4:41 AM, oandemom . <traci.mwd at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the feedback.  We are in the Raleigh area, NC.  We are thinking
> the school's first year is ideal to get in and maybe at least get a say in
> how things are done service wise.  We will see!  We are thinking about
> homeschooling and the approach seems very similar, so I'm excited about the
> opportunity.
> 
> Traci
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 3:22 PM, mindy heppe <prmheppe at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
>> My 8th grader is in his third year of charter school after 6 years of
>> homeschooling. It is great--all we would have gotten IEP wise from our
>> local school and more--plus it is a small school where individuals are
>> respected, and even before his IEP was in place, he got every accomodation
>> he needed. He'd only been there about a month when a sub asked him, "do you
>> need glasses?" The whole class chorused, "It wouldn't help!"
>> That having been said--it depends entirely on the charter school in
>> question.
>> If you have a sudden urge to move to Schuylkill county PA, Yang would be
>> delighted to have another blind kid in Gillingham Charter School! :-)
>> Mindy
>> --------------------------------------------
>> On Mon, 2/17/14, oandemom . <traci.mwd at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Subject: [blindkid] Charter School
>> To: "Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)" <
>> blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>> Date: Monday, February 17, 2014, 12:36 PM
>> 
>> Hello all!  I was curious if
>> anyone had their child/children in a charter
>> school.  We have a new science charter school opening
>> in our area and went
>> to the information meeting and was really excited about
>> it.  I know they
>> are required to meet the requirements of the IEP, but I have
>> heard of other
>> charter schools, where they don't provide a braillists, one
>> doesn't even
>> get TVI services any longer, etc.  I don't know the
>> full stories behind
>> these issue's, but I was wondering if others had any
>> experiences and any
>> suggestions to share if we were accepted via the lottery,
>> which is the
>> first hurdle.
>> 
>> I know all the requirements for a VI child (except I have
>> two!) is a huge
>> expense for any school and I don't want their to be a sense
>> of resentment
>> that my children are costing them the most but the idea of a
>> 18 child
>> classroom, project  based and theme based instruction
>> is very exci
>> t
>> ing
>> 
>> and I can see a VI child excelling in this
>> environment.  I just want to go
>> in with both eye's open and know what I'm getting into!
>> 
>> Thanks much,
>> Traci (
>> mom to
>> Olivia & Evan, LCA)
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>> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Traci Wilkerson
> Cell - 919-971-6526
> 
> Thanks for supporting us again during our 2013 VisionWalk fundraiser to
> help find a cure for diseases causing blindness, like LCA, which affect
> Olivia & Evan.
> http://www.fightblindness.org/goto/4OliviaEvan
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