[blparent] email from school

Thu Feb 19 18:07:07 UTC 2015

Diana,

It is never easy to hear opinions that may differ from yours, but on the other hand, I've asked several times for 
specifics of what you were told about getting textbooks, and unless I have missed your responses, I have not 
received any answers.  In fact, some of the information I remember getting seemed to conflict, unless I 
misunderstood.

Are you a member of BookShare already?  If you are a member, were you told that they have the textbooks you need 
but that you could not get the textbooks from BookShare because you were not a student or teacher?  If you are not 
a member of BookShare, have you spoken to them directly regarding these textbooks?  It is important that we 
understand if disabled parents are not able to get textbooks that are available in accessible format so we can 
consider ways of fixing that.  

If you can establish that BookShare could get the textbooks you need, your school might be able to help you get 
permission from the publishers if that is needed.  Time is passing, though, so we really need to understand what 
you have tried and what you have been told.  You can't depend upon information that you may have gotten from people 
who don't really know what is possible, and in this case, I don't think you can assume that the law will 
necessarily help you.  Even if it could help, legal action wouldn't be quick enough.  

It really is important to realize that the people with whom you are dealing are not likely at all knowledgeable of 
how you might access material.  This isn't an opinion, it is fact.  They may also not see it as their 
responsibility to help a parent deal with this, although that doesn't mean they might not be willing to help if 
approached carefully.  I know that Deborah Kent Stein has offered to talk through some of this with you, and others 
of us are certainly interested in your situation and may be able to offer suggestions.  We need to know specifics 
to help, and you should try to understand that those urging you to be careful when communicating with your school 
are only saying that because we care about you and your child.  Sometimes the world is more complicated than a 
simple right or wrong.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Thu, 19 Feb 2015 11:33:08 -0600, Dianna via blparent wrote:

>You all are entitled to your opinions, but if you do not take seats when
>they are offered here in Chicago you lose them and it is a hy bred school
>not home schooling.  She does both work at home and at school.  When you are
>blind sometimes it does not matter what you do your ducks won't be where
>they should be for people to believe in your abilities so I am going to do
>what I want and feel is right for my child.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Star Gazer
>via blparent
>Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2015 7:30 AM
>To: 'Judy Jones'; 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
>Subject: Re: [blparent] email from school

>Yes. 
>It sounds like you didn't have your ducks in a row when you decided to
>homeschool. Remember how some of us advised you to do this before starting
>out? Now you know why. 
>My suggestion would be to put your daughter back in school, get things all
>set up to homeschool and then do that if you still think you need to. 
>Realize that the school you've chosen doesn't know you from a hole in the
>wall, so has no clue how you will do things or what your intentions are. 
>You don't sound adversial in your note to the school, you sound downright
>hostile. There is a huge difference. 

>-----Original Message-----
>From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Judy Jones
>via blparent
>Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 7:56 AM
>To: Dianna; Blind Parents Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [blparent] email from school

>The assumption here seems to be you cannot get at the printed word, or at
>least, the admin not understanding how you would access the print.  This is
>very common in the sighted world, unless someone has been exposed to the
>idea of  screen-reading software, and very understandable.

>It sounds like a case of not knowing, very understandable.  I found that
>with my girls, once sighted teachers and administrators understood how I
>planned to access the printed word, there were no more problems.  We
>experienced private and public schools, as well as homeschooling.

>Now, the un-knowing could turn into ignorance if the admin refuses to accept
>your alternatives to learning.  My question would be, how they would
>accommodate a disabled student at their school.

>When I think back on it, the textbooks I used with my girls in our home
>schooling years were part of that school's curriculum and were online, but
>that requirement for me as the teaching parent was a factor in helping us
>choose that school..

>Judy

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dianna via blparent
>Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 11:18 PM
>To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
>Subject: [blparent] email from school

>Here is what the head of school had to say.  She makes her school look bad
>and my theory is if they can't believe in the learning coaches then how can
>they teach their students to believe in themselves even if they have a
>disability.  They decided to work with me on some level anyway since one of
>the admin staff stood up for me and said he believed in me and my abilities.
>I am very determined to make it work for my child and I.  We may decide
>something different in a few years, but right now she needs this.

>Diana-

>This program requires a parent to read and do the work with the child.
>Children cannot just work through the program on their own. It requires the
>parent to work through each lesson with the child  daily and it takes the
>child and parent 5 hours a day on average working together to complete the
>work.

>I will have Ms. Tucker follow up with you tomorrow to discuss in detail how
>this works.

>Here is my reply.

>I understand all of this I am not stupid.  I have no intentions of my child
>doing her work alone.  That would defeat the whole point of wanting to
>school her this way.  It would make no since either.   I use a screen reader
>program to read my screen.  She just happens to know how to use a mouse
>already which makes us get to places faster and she will be able to log in
>one  computer while I read on the other since she needs a screen and I do
>not.  I close my screen half the time.  I can hear as well.  I heard the
>requirements and expectations in orientation.  I also signed them.  My
>signature counts for something and I uphold what I sign.  I also can read
>books if I have them brailed as well as scanned print with a scanning
>program on my computer as well as my iPhone.  This will give me a reason to
>totally learn my iPhone scanning program that I have.

>From: Biasbas, Amy [mailto:agbiasbas at k12.com]

>_______________________________________________
>blparent mailing list
>blparent at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>blparent:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/jtj1%40cableone.net 

>_______________________________________________
>blparent mailing list
>blparent at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>blparent:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/pickrellrebecca%40gmai
>l.com

>_______________________________________________
>blparent mailing list
>blparent at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>blparent:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/dianna24%40earthlink.n
>et

>_______________________________________________
>blparent mailing list
>blparent at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blparent:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobson%40visi.com