[blindkid] Home economics

[Anita Adkins]

Hello,

>From my perspective, the teacher should know:

how to be an active part of the IEP team
how to communicate with the TVI and others in the blindness field
To ask the TVI questions about areas he/she is not knowledgeable with
how to have high expectations for students (best done by focusing on the big 
goal and the necessary subskills for reaching that goal rather than focusing 
on what the student cannot do)
How to research effective strategies/tools for working with blind/low vision 
students

Then, the teacher should learn:
how to guide a blind/low vision student
how that student accesses information, which they should already know as a 
result of the IEP
How the student is expected to travel within the class and appropriate tools 
for doing so, such as the white cane
How to perform skills required for the class in a nonvisual way
how to work with technology in order to view student's work, such as how to 
connect a BrailleNote to a screen so the teacher can see the screen, etc.
How a student might see who has blindness or low vision by using a vision 
simulator kit to try some tasks using the students approximate visual acuity

In other words, the teacher, with no prior experience, may not know a lot, 
but the teacher should be actively pursuing knowledge about the topic and 
should be actively learning appropriate nonvisual skills and interacting 
with blindness professionals to gain information and also to gain help for 
him/herself in the classroom and also additional support for the student in 
the class and as a pullout with the TVI as deemed appropriate by the IEP 
team. And, the teacher should be instructing the students on how to perform 
the appropriate nonvisual skills and should be ensuring, along with the 
principal and other appropriate personnel, that the appropriate adaptive 
aids/appliances are available in the class, which should be documented on 
the IEP. If the teacher is making an effort and doing his/her best to learn 
and implement blindness skills, then I would be more patient with him/her. 
The TVI should know more, and thus, my expectations for the TVI are much 
higher than for a general education teacher who is just experiencing 
appropriate accomodations for blind/low vision students for the first time. 
Please know that these are just my opinions. BTW, I am a blind person, and I 
did not learn all of the home economics skills when I was a child, and so I 
strongly recommend that one advocates to the highest extent possible for the 
student to gain appropriate skills. Also, it would be beneficial to have the 
child attend blindness-specific summer camps that embrace a positive 
philosophy of blindness, such as the one at Blind Industries and Services of 
Maryland.

The TVI, on the other hand, should know how a blind/low vision student can 
be successful in the class, meaning he/she should have knowledge in 
blindness skills, knowledge in how to accommodate students in the class, 
knowledge of adaptive aids and appliances necessary for the class, knowledge 
in Braille screenreaders, and screen magnification devices, and most 
important, a positive philosophy about blindness.

some useful links:
article:
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE BLIND COOK
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr04/issue3/f040304.html

article:
Home Economics - Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
http://www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/home-economics.html

IEP's for Parents of Blind or Visually Impaired Children | WonderBaby.org
http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/ieps-parents-blind-or-visually-impaired-children

IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004
http://idea.ed.gov/

Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy
http://wrightslaw.com/

Know Your Rights
http://www.nfbmd.org/rights.html

Just FYI. Anita


-----Original Message----- 
From: Trudy Pickrel via blindkid
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2015 9:55 AM
To: bindkid
Subject: [blindkid] Home economics

What all does a regular Ed teach that has never taught a blind student in 
the Kitchen need to know.

Nervous mom. Not about home economic but that there may have been no prep to 
the teacher!

Trudy Pickrel
2nd Vice Pres. Md Parent Blind Children.
301-501-1818
Www.TLCbytheLake.com


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