[blparent] needing some input

[Jan Wright]

Hi Felicia,
It seems that you have two issues: 1: your accessibility
and
2. your daughter's.
for your accessibility issues:
A. meet with the teacher or teachers before the school year starts. Have the principal in that meeting also. Tell them that for your daughter's success, you need everything in a format that you can read. If your computer is unreliable, (I remember you mentioned the 40minute mode and I know how difficult that can be), ask for an email and a cassette of weekly newsletter, special events, etc.  don't forget  to ask them to go over your child's papers in that letter. The teacher can tell you how your child is doing and what she  needs to work on. If her spelling test has come back and she missed the word "Antidisestablishmentarianisms" you can help her practice spelling that word for next week.     Hopefully the school  should be able to do both an email and a cassette. Remember to ask for the email to be in an accessible format. there is nothing worse than getting an inaccessible image!! Teachers/staff might give you the suggestion that they can just call you and read the newsletter over the phone. this is not adequate for a few reasons. first, schedules always seem to clash. Second, you will have to write down the parts of the letter that you want to remember which will take extra time. And, thirdly, the teacher might be rushed and you might not get "everything" read. Ask for something more reliable than a helpful Aid or parent giving you the information verbally. then, it is good to be organized. you might say: "I know you have  homework to practice on your letter "P" tonight." that lets your child know that you know what is going on.
B. remain visible. If possible, schedule days to go into the classroom. The more the teacher sees you in a positive light, the more likely she/he might be willing to help you with areas that you have problems with. If, this week, they are studying the letter "f" and you play the flute or your daughter's favorite food is falafel or you have a bunny named Fluffy at home; seize the moment to go in and help your daughter share this information. While "C" might be a good moment to talk about your "cane," resist the urge to make everything about your blindness. Being the daughter of a blind parent -- or being blind yourself, might make you a bit different, but it is not your entire being. when school staff sees that you have other areas to contribute besides  
C. those magnetic letters and those large stinsel letters might help your daughter understand the shape, but you really can't help her write them or critique whether she is doing them correctly. These magnetic letters can help her recognize her letters and you both can be creative and play rhyming/spelling games.   But, you can talk to the teacher and get some tips to remind her of when she is  writing. "Remember, that J goes below the line." You can also show her on the keyboard and remind her how it is suppose to look. Although I don't think keyboards do Denilian letters, I am sure you could find a font for them. When my children were small, I did not have that option. But, I'll be going through it in about six years.(smile)  You can also find computer games at home: ... ... I think that "Talking Teacher" (but that was quite a long time ago) had some free letter games. they spoke the letter and the child clicked the mouse. I could not see if the child clicked the correct letter, but I could sit and listen as the letters were spoken and hear the feedback of "right" and "wrong" and I could give my comments. You can also encourage your daughter to "copy" this helps her with her letters. Just making the letters and practice will help greatly. Have her copy the name of her favorite cereal and then read to you the letters. There are braille/print books also that can help.       
 D. most of the spanish will probably be conversational Spanish, so you should be ok there. Yes, there will be pictures with spanish words, But, you could make a print/braille flashcard set for your daughter. 
E. There probably won't be graphs and things until your daughter gets older. The great thing about Math is that you can always make the concept "hands on"  for illustrations. Actually, there are some math resources for blind children that can easily be adapted for blind parents teaching sighted children. 
And, that is where I'll end because these resources could also teach your blind child. 
Oh, The printing house for the blind (APH) has some products that are good, but I think you have to make sure that you order a braille instructional booklet because most of the instruction books come in print. they are obviously geared to The sighted parent of the blind child. For the stories that she will read: you might be able to find those books in either braille or on cassette. I know that braille is the better option, but sometimes it is just not available. I don't know if the school can ask the publisher to give you an E:text copy. The good part is: usually, the children are suppose to read the story each night and maybe have a test on Friday. that means that you might be able to memorize it by the third night.
Sorry so long.
Please send more of your questions.
I hope that this has helped.
Jan