[blindkid] Incorporating the Expanded Core Curriculum into the lives of visually impaired children at home

[Steve Jacobson]

Rona,

Carol is one of our very active parents, and we're very lucky to have her working with us.  Could you be more 
specific as to what it is you are asking?  Whether it is right or wrong, I didn't give this much thought as my kids 
were going through school.  Maybe if you could provide some specific examples your question would be clearer, at 
least to me.

best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Fri, 15 May 2015 08:17:03 -0400, Roanna Bacchus via blindkid wrote:

>Hi Carol I expect to hear from your parents on this topic I really enjoyed reading your post

>Sent from my iPad

>> On May 14, 2015, at 2:58 PM, Carol Castellano via blindkid <blindkid at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Soapbox warning...
>> 
>> I have never liked this document very much and the NFB has for the most part ignored it.  I think if it had been 
written by NFB and NOPBC it would look very different than it does.  For example...
>>   * compensatory or functional academic skills, including communication modes--We would have put the focus on 
equal opportunity and alternative skills.  We would not have called them compensatory.  We would have taken it for 
granted that every child needs the chance to develop.  We would have said literacy, equal expectations, and 
Braille.
>>   * orientation and mobility--Not bad, though we would put more emphasis on independent movement and travel.
>>   * social interaction skills--We would not make the assumption that being blind necessarily means being 
socially incompetent unless specifically taught.
>>   * independent living skills--We would say this is the purview of the parents and doesn't belong in an IEP.  We 
would put our emphasis on empowering parents to do the job.
>>   * recreation and leisure skills--My objections would be a combination of social skills and IL skills above.
>>   * career education--Again, we would object to the idea that these things are only learned through VISUAL 
observation.  We would work toward inclusion of the blind student in all aspects of school training in this area.  
We would empower parents to handle the usual parental part of the task.
>>   * use of assistive technology--Not bad.
>>   * sensory efficiency skills--Not bad.
>>   * self-determination--Total agreement that self-determination is critically important, but we take it from the 
position that the blind person is a normal person who needs to learn the skills of blindness in order to compete 
equally in the world.  We would not have the word "limitations" in the first sentence.
>> In general, I think we tend to take things from the position that blindness is secondary to life.  It needs to 
be paid attention to and skills need to be learned, but we don't tend to view ourselves and our kids as "special."  
I think the other point of view begins with the "specialness" and then builds a big world around it.
>> 
>> Hope my soapbox speech was not too painful!
>> 
>> 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.nopbc.org
>> 
>> 
>> At 01:00 PM 5/14/2015, you wrote:
>>> Dear Blkid Members,
>>> 
>>> I am a volunteer for the Center for Distributed Learning at UCF.
>>> This week while I was there I had to practice my Jaws skills on the computer.  I decided to read about the 
Expanded Core Curriculum on the internet.  I have a question for all of you.
>>> How do you incorporate the areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum into the lives of your children?
>>> 
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