[blparent] needing some input

Tue Jun 14 01:02:16 UTC 2011

Hi Jan,
My name is Debbie Grace and I am new to this mailing list.  I have two
granddaughters whom I have custody of.  I just wanted to thank you for all
of this info.  I was a little scared of how I would handle my daughters home
worrk. I have retinitis Pigmentosa and still have a little reading vision in
my left.  I do not read print well. I do have a readetr and I use Jaws.
Anyway thank you so much.  Debbie Grace  I am sure that I will find this
list very useful and I am so grateful for it. 

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of wisdom f
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2011 6:53 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] needing some input

On 6/11/11, Jan Wright <jan.wrightfamily5 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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
>
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