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

[Marianne Denning]

Carol, I like your points.  I am going to make an observation from the
perspective of a TVI.  Many parents don't, won't or can't teach their
children independent living skills.  I would love that to be the
responsibility of parents and, fortunately, I had a parent who did
that.  All too often parents don't think their children can or should
have those skills.  I have talked to some parents about it and they
just don't listen.  I am sure this is true of all parents, whether
their child is blind or not.
It is also very hard to work into the day of most of our students
because they are so busy with their classwork. I think it is
observations of many TVIs and represents their experiences.
On 5/14/15, 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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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053