[blindkid] ADA Question Re: Music camp? Another alternative!

[Richard Holloway]

I'd like to know that too, though my guess is that no matter the mandate, formal complaints are probably rare. 

Our daughter's school is over 50 years old. As far as we are aware, she is the first/only blind student there. (Long affiliated staff say she is the first, so probably that dates back 20 or 30 years, and 30 years ago, far fewer blind students were mainstreamed, at least around here.)

Braille signage should be on some compliance checklist, but what always comes up is there is seemingly no penalty for failure to comply. 

If you have 100 schools out of compliance in your district, and if you don't really want to bother putting signage in 100 schools, why not wait until someone complains, then put signs ONLY in the school they complained about?

Or in our case, go with a 5-year "temporary" solution. We were assured proper signs were requested from the county while we were still finishing kindergarten at a different school, but it could take months or maybe even a year. 5 years later?.... Nothing but dymo tape. 

I can't see any excuse for new buildings having improper signage, but in districts like ours, where probably 80% or 90% of our buildings are at least 40 or 50 years old? I don't think they are going to be moved to install these thousands of signs as they should. 

Should they still put up proper signs after we're through at our school? Sure. Are we going to take time to file some formal complaint? Not likely. We have bigger fish to try. 

One other thing we noticed: Looking at other area schools. We were pleased to see more permanent Braille signs in one optional school for us. Only closer inspection showed they had pressed some tiny white balls into the dark plastic sheets to form this Braille, presumably to make the Braille more visible? Well, most of the Braille dots fell out over the years. The signs would probably have gotten a pass from any sighted compliance inspector but the actual Braille was entirely useless random dots. 

If there's a code I can wave at someone and pound my fist over, I'll absolutely do it, but the missing leverage in so many of these laws is the lack of penalty. 

I'd love to hear I am wrong, but I have heard this a number of times from different sources and the laws I read tend to only say what must be done-- why no penalties? 

Here are some handy suggestions:
Comply or loose funding. 
Comply or be fined. 
Comply or be fired. 
Those are things which motivate....

Being in "big trouble" may (or may not!) have worked with our kids, but it doesn't seem to motivate our education facilities operators very well. 



Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 11, 2014, at 10:24 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Carol,
> 
> Thanks for the clarifications about ADA covering the camp. Going
> slightly off-topic here, but does ADA mandate Braille signs in school
> buildings? If so, why do the vast majority of school buildings I've
> frequented lack Braille signs?
> Arielle
> 
>> On 3/11/14, Carol Castellano <carol_castellano at verizon.net> wrote:
>> That is absolutely right.  At first parents fight for their child,
>> but they also must be training the child to stand up for him or
>> herself.  Self-advocacy is a critical skill and knowing our rights
>> and responsibilities is a part of it.  When parents speak about
>> blindness, laws, and civil rights our kids are listening and
>> learning.  We are teaching them the vocabulary and modeling attitudes
>> that they can then use to advocate for themselves.
>> 
>> Carol
>> 
>> Carol Castellano
>> Parents of Blind Children-NJ
>> Director of Programs
>> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>> 973-377-0976
>> carol_castellano at verizon.net
>> www.blindchildren.org
>> www.nfb.org/parents-and-teachers
>> 
>> At 07:27 PM 3/11/2014, you wrote:
>>> Carol, this is great information for parents and students.  Those of
>>> us who are blind adults advocate for ourselves regularly because of
>>> discrimination and I believe it is a critical skill students need to
>>> learn.  Parents are very important advocates for their children but as
>>> your sons anddaughters grow up they need to participate in and
>>> eventually take over advocacy.  The Americans With Disabilities Act is
>>> a very important law that covers us in and out of public schools.
>>> Please learn all you can about this law and help your children
>>> understand it.
>>> 
>>> On 3/11/14, Carol Castellano <carol_castellano at verizon.net> wrote: