[blParent] Non-English-speaking blind parent needing assistance.

[Star Gazer]

Is the kid in in person or virtual school? If in person, the school should have reading specialists who’s sole purpose is to help kids who need it, this kid and his/her mom are not unique in the sense that they do have that resource. 

Make sure too that the mom isn’t being bullied by the staff at school, again reading specialists are there for a reason. 
At the risk of sounding like I’m contradicting myself, does the teacher know Mom is blind? 
My husband had a real good point, his quote to me was “at some point it will matter, but it will matter in ways nobody expects”. 
Two of the greatest hits from this year was I found a thing on reddit about a cat and how his humans had to work out a feeding chart because the cat kept hitting each person in the house up for food. 
I knew my first grader would be interested, I wanted to test her reading ability and I could have her read it cold, i.e. she wouldn’t have any preparation, I simply handed her my phone and said “you will like reading this”. 
She actually did well, she could even read the word “roommate” and this was the beginning of the year. 
I was real proud and sent the link to her teacher with the note “kid read this!”
The teacher was real happy then told me “You may want to know there are some bad words here, voiceover probably didn’t pick them up”. 
She was right, voiceover hadn’t picked them up. We laughed about it. 

I was also doing math with the same kid and we were doing fractions. I showed her how to write them in decimal then realized the teacher wanted fractions, and I didn’t have a clue how to actually write it. I asked the teacher and she showed her and also the class, but was real happy I’d asked. 

Point being, Mom can ask for the same resources that are there for all students. Our school sends stuff out in Spanish all the time, can the mom get Spanish resources? 
As for other blindness skills, what is she wanting to know? She doesn’t need to learn everything at once, and a lot of what matters depends on the type of kids she’s got. 

There are some good shows that teach letters, World Girl, Sesame Street Blippi all come to mind
Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Judy Jones via BlParent
Sent: Sunday, June 6, 2021 6:14 PM
To: blparent at nfbnet.org
Cc: Judy Jones
Subject: [blParent] Non-English-speaking blind parent needing assistance.

Hello, All,

 

I am assisting our independent living instructor on an as-needed basis, and she came to me for assistance regarding a new client, a mom from Mexico, only speaks Spanish, and has three kids, I believe ages five and under.

 

Her husband works very hard and is not at home much to be able to help out.

 

This lady has RP, in process of losing her sight, no blindness skills, and has concerns in raising her children.

 

The eldest, who is a kindergartener, is falling behind, as mom cannot help her with learning her letters.

 

The rehab teacher uses an interpreter when she makes visits, and mom also has a social worker who uses an interpreter.

 

I told the instructor I would reach out to this list for any assistance and Ideas.

 

We live in Skagit county in Washington state, and our agency for the blind nearest office is two counties away, about 83 miles.  My husband and I are the only two NFB members in the area.  Our affiliate does not yet have a blind parents group, although I believe there is some interest.

 

I have given the instructor referral to our state affiliate president for any ideas or resources she may know about.

 

The instructor has helped mom set up the Be My Eyes app on her phone in the Spanish language, so she has that resource at hand.  Mom knows she needs to eventually learn English, but has her hands full with young kids and new country.

 

I am hoping that someone who is a blind parent and Spanish speaker could be willing to hook up with the instructor and mom as a resource.

 

Thanks very much for any ideas.

 

Judy

🌄 (sunrise over mountains)

“embrace each day with His mercies and blessings.”

 

 

_______________________________________________
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%40gmail.com