[blindkid] blindkid Digest, Vol 119, Issue 5

Fri Mar 7 12:50:04 UTC 2014

Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp

Crystal, I understand your desire to set the camp straight and maybe that is the best course of action for Ben. Or maybe the best course of action is to find a more receptive camp. I would not want to send my son with an aid or a buddy because I think that might put too much question in his own mind as to his own ability to navigate autonomously. Worse yet, it might teach a blind child to accept this type of foolishness. That the school thought they should weigh-in, in the manner that they did, is also concerning. Ultimately, I believe my 13 year old blind son is mature enough to make this kind of decision for himself and I expect that your son is too. As long as we parents continue to maintain age-appropriate expectations for our children these experiences should provide long-term positive, although sometimes painful, lessons in self-determination, advocacy and independence. 
There is a Facebook group National Organization of Parents of Blind Children.  I looked and do not see you listed as a member. Parents throughout the nation and beyond, ask questions and share information.  You might get some suggestions there. The question of band and marching has previously been discussed within this group  I know that we have an NFB member who attends at Ohio School for the Blind and he is in the marching band. I believe that aids assist with the marching. Lastly, in case you do not know, Carla McQuillan (spelling) is in Oregon and owns/operates a Montessori school.  I wonder if she might have ideas or helpful connections.

Jennifer 

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Today's Topics:

   1. Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp (Crystal Schumacher)
   2. Re: Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp (Deborah Kent Stein)
   3. Re: Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp (Arielle Silverman)
   4. Re: Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp (Crystal Schumacher)
   5. Re: Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp (Bo Page)
My son Ben is 13 years old and is in 7th grade. He is blind with light perception. He attends middle school with seven hundred other students. He has an aide in 3 of his classes, Science, Math, & English. His GPA is 3.8. He is in his second year of band and plays the trumpet by ear. He has just recently started learning the Braille music code. He wants to attend a band camp, which is a private camp that we would pay for. If you are a special needs student, you must first get permission from the camp to register.

I called and talked to the camp and in the 40 years of existence they have never had a blind student attend. The camp does not offer or is unwilling to provide any additional support. I think the only support Ben would need is in navigating the camp, as it is very large. I have told them that Ben would do orientation and mobility training before the camp starts, as well as create a tactile map, use a Braille copy of the schedule, and a talking watch to get to places on time. They are unwilling to allow Ben to attend without an Aide. I was trying to avoid an Aide because it gets in the place of making friends and Ben wants to be as independent as possible. They said if he had a friend going, who would be his buddy, we may be able to avoid the Aide. He really doesn't have that kind of a friend, more acquaintances. One point of him going was to try and make a friend or connection. 

I am wondering if anyone out there has been in this situation. What did you do? Did you go as your child's Aide? Did you hire someone? Did you pay for another student to attend with your child? Did you give up? I have already sent a dozen emails and on top of it his school found out about his desire to go to band camp. They made it a topic during his IEP meeting and wanted input from his teachers as to weather he should be allowed to attend. But mind you, it is a private camp that I would be paying 100% of the tuition, and has nothing to do with public school. Frustrated in Oregon!

Crystal

Dear Crystal,

This story is very disturbing to me!  Back in the late Sixties my brother, 
who is also blind, applied to several music camps (including the famous 
Interlocken in Michigan) and was told that they categorically did not accept 
blind students.  I would like to think we've gotten beyond that level of 
discrimination in the past 45 years, but clearly we have a ways to go.  Our 
parents kept looking until they found a music camp that was very receptive; 
my brother had a great time and returned for several more summers.  You 
could try to fight this band camp and negotiate to get Ben accepted, but it 
may be a better bet to look for other options instead.   Somewhere there is 
a camp where he will actually be welcome from the outset, where he can make 
friends and learn music and have fun without the stress of feeling that 
people are constantly afraid he is going to cause them extra trouble.

Debbie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Crystal Schumacher
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 8:42 PM
To: blindkid ask
Subject: [blindkid] Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp

My son Ben is 13 years old and is in 7th grade. He is blind with light 
perception. He attends middle school with seven hundred other students. He 
has an aide in 3 of his classes, Science, Math, & English. His GPA is 3.8. 
He is in his second year of band and plays the trumpet by ear. He has just 
recently started learning the Braille music code. He wants to attend a band 
camp, which is a private camp that we would pay for. If you are a special 
needs student, you must first get permission from the camp to register.

I called and talked to the camp and in the 40 years of existence they have 
never had a blind student attend. The camp does not offer or is unwilling to 
provide any additional support. I think the only support Ben would need is 
in navigating the camp, as it is very large. I have told them that Ben would 
do orientation and mobility training before the camp starts, as well as 
create a tactile map, use a Braille copy of the schedule, and a talking 
watch to get to places on time. They are unwilling to allow Ben to attend 
without an Aide. I was trying to avoid an Aide because it gets in the place 
of making friends and Ben wants to be as independent as possible. They said 
if he had a friend going, who would be his buddy, we may be able to avoid 
the Aide. He really doesn't have that kind of a friend, more acquaintances. 
One point of him going was to try and make a friend or connection.

I am wondering if anyone out there has been in this situation. What did you 
do? Did you go as your child's Aide? Did you hire someone? Did you pay for 
another student to attend with your child? Did you give up? I have already 
sent a dozen emails and on top of it his school found out about his desire 
to go to band camp. They made it a topic during his IEP meeting and wanted 
input from his teachers as to weather he should be allowed to attend. But 
mind you, it is a private camp that I would be paying 100% of the tuition, 
and has nothing to do with public school. Frustrated in Oregon!

Crystal

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I agree. I don't know if ADA covers private camps like this, but if
their attitude is so negative already, I'm not sure I would trust them
to treat Ben well even if you successfully get him accepted. Unless
there's something else special about this camp, I'd say keep looking.
When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to attend Jewish camp with my sister
because my mother was the one who thought I would need an aide and she
told me an aide would be too expensive. Good for you to trust that
your son can participate on his own.

Arielle

On 3/6/14, Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net> wrote:
>
>
> Dear Crystal,
>
> This story is very disturbing to me!  Back in the late Sixties my brother,
> who is also blind, applied to several music camps (including the famous
> Interlocken in Michigan) and was told that they categorically did not accept
>
> blind students.  I would like to think we've gotten beyond that level of
> discrimination in the past 45 years, but clearly we have a ways to go.  Our
>
> parents kept looking until they found a music camp that was very receptive;
>
> my brother had a great time and returned for several more summers.  You
> could try to fight this band camp and negotiate to get Ben accepted, but it
>
> may be a better bet to look for other options instead.   Somewhere there is
>
> a camp where he will actually be welcome from the outset, where he can make
>
> friends and learn music and have fun without the stress of feeling that
> people are constantly afraid he is going to cause them extra trouble.
>
> Debbie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Crystal Schumacher
> Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 8:42 PM
> To: blindkid ask
> Subject: [blindkid] Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp
>
> My son Ben is 13 years old and is in 7th grade. He is blind with light
> perception. He attends middle school with seven hundred other students. He
> has an aide in 3 of his classes, Science, Math, & English. His GPA is 3.8.
> He is in his second year of band and plays the trumpet by ear. He has just
> recently started learning the Braille music code. He wants to attend a band
>
> camp, which is a private camp that we would pay for. If you are a special
> needs student, you must first get permission from the camp to register.
>
> I called and talked to the camp and in the 40 years of existence they have
> never had a blind student attend. The camp does not offer or is unwilling to
>
> provide any additional support. I think the only support Ben would need is
> in navigating the camp, as it is very large. I have told them that Ben would
>
> do orientation and mobility training before the camp starts, as well as
> create a tactile map, use a Braille copy of the schedule, and a talking
> watch to get to places on time. They are unwilling to allow Ben to attend
> without an Aide. I was trying to avoid an Aide because it gets in the place
>
> of making friends and Ben wants to be as independent as possible. They said
>
> if he had a friend going, who would be his buddy, we may be able to avoid
> the Aide. He really doesn't have that kind of a friend, more acquaintances.
>
> One point of him going was to try and make a friend or connection.
>
> I am wondering if anyone out there has been in this situation. What did you
>
> do? Did you go as your child's Aide? Did you hire someone? Did you pay for
> another student to attend with your child? Did you give up? I have already
> sent a dozen emails and on top of it his school found out about his desire
> to go to band camp. They made it a topic during his IEP meeting and wanted
> input from his teachers as to weather he should be allowed to attend. But
> mind you, it is a private camp that I would be paying 100% of the tuition,
> and has nothing to do with public school. Frustrated in Oregon!
>
> Crystal
>
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>
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>

Yes, I am feeling like this camp is more work than it is worth. It is not Ben that needs an aide, but the sighted camp, because they are afraid and uncomfortable with blindness. However, I feel that I need to send Ben, so they can see what a blind kid can do. If I don't send him, it will be another 40 years and nothing will change. If he does attend, they may learn something and decide that blind kids aren't so scary. I want to change what it means to be blind in Oregon and does Ben!

> Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2014 23:04:06 -0700
> From: arielle71 at gmail.com
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp
> 
> I agree. I don't know if ADA covers private camps like this, but if
> their attitude is so negative already, I'm not sure I would trust them
> to treat Ben well even if you successfully get him accepted. Unless
> there's something else special about this camp, I'd say keep looking.
> When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to attend Jewish camp with my sister
> because my mother was the one who thought I would need an aide and she
> told me an aide would be too expensive. Good for you to trust that
> your son can participate on his own.
> 
> Arielle
> 
> On 3/6/14, Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Dear Crystal,
> >
> > This story is very disturbing to me!  Back in the late Sixties my brother,
> > who is also blind, applied to several music camps (including the famous
> > Interlocken in Michigan) and was told that they categorically did not accept
> >
> > blind students.  I would like to think we've gotten beyond that level of
> > discrimination in the past 45 years, but clearly we have a ways to go.  Our
> >
> > parents kept looking until they found a music camp that was very receptive;
> >
> > my brother had a great time and returned for several more summers.  You
> > could try to fight this band camp and negotiate to get Ben accepted, but it
> >
> > may be a better bet to look for other options instead.   Somewhere there is
> >
> > a camp where he will actually be welcome from the outset, where he can make
> >
> > friends and learn music and have fun without the stress of feeling that
> > people are constantly afraid he is going to cause them extra trouble.
> >
> > Debbie
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Crystal Schumacher
> > Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 8:42 PM
> > To: blindkid ask
> > Subject: [blindkid] Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp
> >
> > My son Ben is 13 years old and is in 7th grade. He is blind with light
> > perception. He attends middle school with seven hundred other students. He
> > has an aide in 3 of his classes, Science, Math, & English. His GPA is 3.8.
> > He is in his second year of band and plays the trumpet by ear. He has just
> > recently started learning the Braille music code. He wants to attend a band
> >
> > camp, which is a private camp that we would pay for. If you are a special
> > needs student, you must first get permission from the camp to register.
> >
> > I called and talked to the camp and in the 40 years of existence they have
> > never had a blind student attend. The camp does not offer or is unwilling to
> >
> > provide any additional support. I think the only support Ben would need is
> > in navigating the camp, as it is very large. I have told them that Ben would
> >
> > do orientation and mobility training before the camp starts, as well as
> > create a tactile map, use a Braille copy of the schedule, and a talking
> > watch to get to places on time. They are unwilling to allow Ben to attend
> > without an Aide. I was trying to avoid an Aide because it gets in the place
> >
> > of making friends and Ben wants to be as independent as possible. They said
> >
> > if he had a friend going, who would be his buddy, we may be able to avoid
> > the Aide. He really doesn't have that kind of a friend, more acquaintances.
> >
> > One point of him going was to try and make a friend or connection.
> >
> > I am wondering if anyone out there has been in this situation. What did you
> >
> > do? Did you go as your child's Aide? Did you hire someone? Did you pay for
> > another student to attend with your child? Did you give up? I have already
> > sent a dozen emails and on top of it his school found out about his desire
> > to go to band camp. They made it a topic during his IEP meeting and wanted
> > input from his teachers as to weather he should be allowed to attend. But
> > mind you, it is a private camp that I would be paying 100% of the tuition,
> > and has nothing to do with public school. Frustrated in Oregon!
> >
> > Crystal
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > blindkid mailing list
> > blindkid at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> > blindkid:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/dkent5817%40att.net
> >
> >
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> 
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You are in a situation with your son that many blind children find themselves in. I don't think there is an easy answer.  Discrimination among the blind is alive an well, even in programs that NFB runs.  No one wants to spend the time or money for kids like ours who need extra help.  Money and budgets rule! Keep looking however, and I am sure you will find something, but unfortunately, it may be not be close to home.

Mother of blind 21 year old

>________________________________
> From: Crystal Schumacher <crystal_schu at hotmail.com>
>To: blindkid ask <blindkid at nfbnet.org> 
>Sent: Friday, March 7, 2014 2:34 AM
>Subject: Re: [blindkid] Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp
> 
>
>Yes, I am feeling like this camp is more work than it is worth. It is not Ben that needs an aide, but the sighted camp, because they are afraid and uncomfortable with blindness. However, I feel that I need to send Ben, so they can see what a blind kid can do. If I don't send him, it will be another 40 years and nothing will change. If he does attend, they may learn something and decide that blind kids aren't so scary. I want to change what it means to be blind in Oregon and does Ben!
>
>
>> Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2014 23:04:06 -0700
>> From: arielle71 at gmail.com
>> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp
>> 
>> I agree. I don't know if ADA covers private camps like this, but if
>> their attitude is so negative already, I'm not sure I would trust them
>> to treat Ben well even if you successfully get him accepted. Unless
>> there's something else special about this camp, I'd say keep looking.
>> When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to attend Jewish camp with my sister
>> because my mother was the one who thought I would need an aide and she
>> told me an aide would be too expensive. Good for you to trust that
>> your son can participate on his own.
>> 
>> Arielle
>> 
>> On 3/6/14, Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > Dear Crystal,
>> >
>> > This story is very disturbing to me!  Back in the late Sixties my brother,
>> > who is also blind, applied to several music camps (including the famous
>> > Interlocken in Michigan) and was told that they categorically did not accept
>> >
>> > blind students.  I would like to think we've gotten beyond that level of
>> > discrimination in the past 45 years, but clearly we have a ways to go.  Our
>> >
>> > parents kept looking until they found a music camp that was very receptive;
>> >
>> > my brother had a great time and returned for several more summers.  You
>> > could try to fight this band camp and negotiate to get Ben accepted, but it
>> >
>> > may be a better bet to look for other options instead.   Somewhere there is
>> >
>> > a camp where he will actually be welcome from the outset, where he can make
>> >
>> > friends and learn music and have fun without the stress of feeling that
>> > people are constantly afraid he is going to cause them extra trouble.
>> >
>> > Debbie
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Crystal Schumacher
>> > Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 8:42 PM
>> > To: blindkid ask
>> > Subject: [blindkid] Blind Student & The Sighted Band Camp
>> >
>> > My son Ben is 13 years old and is in 7th grade. He is blind with light
>> > perception. He attends middle school with seven hundred other students. He
>> > has an aide in 3 of his classes, Science, Math, & English. His GPA is 3.8.
>> > He is in his second year of band and plays the trumpet by ear. He has just
>> > recently started learning the Braille music code. He wants to attend a band
>> >
>> > camp, which is a private camp that we would pay for. If you are a special
>> > needs student, you must first get permission from the camp to register.
>> >
>> > I called and talked to the camp and in the 40 years of existence they have
>> > never had a blind student attend. The camp does not offer or is unwilling to
>> >
>> > provide any additional support. I think the only support Ben would need is
>> > in navigating the camp, as it is very large. I have told them that Ben would
>> >
>> > do orientation and mobility training before the camp starts, as well as
>> > create a tactile map, use a Braille copy of the schedule, and a talking
>> > watch to get to places on time. They are unwilling to allow Ben to attend
>> > without an Aide. I was trying to avoid an Aide because it gets in the place
>> >
>> > of making friends and Ben wants to be as independent as possible. They said
>> >
>> > if he had a friend going, who would be his buddy, we may be able to avoid
>> > the Aide. He really doesn't have that kind of a friend, more acquaintances.
>> >
>> > One point of him going was to try and make a friend or connection.
>> >
>> > I am wondering if anyone out there has been in this situation. What did you
>> >
>> > do? Did you go as your child's Aide? Did you hire someone? Did you pay for
>> > another student to attend with your child? Did you give up? I have already
>> > sent a dozen emails and on top of it his school found out about his desire
>> > to go to band camp. They made it a topic during his IEP meeting and wanted
>> > input from his teachers as to weather he should be allowed to attend. But
>> > mind you, it is a private camp that I would be paying 100% of the tuition,
>> > and has nothing to do with public school. Frustrated in Oregon!
>> >
>> > Crystal
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > blindkid mailing list
>> > blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> > blindkid:
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/dkent5817%40att.net
>> >
>> >
>> > ---
>> > This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
>> > protection is active.
>> > http://www.avast.com
>> >
>> >
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>> > blindkid mailing list
>> > blindkid at nfbnet.org
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>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> > blindkid:
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>> >
>> 
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>
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