[humanser] Question about Process of Disclosure of Blindness with minors

[Kaiti Shelton]

I had similar concerns with my cane yesterday. I got a new one I like much
better recently, but I was afraid that the metal detector would become a
light saber or something since the Iowa cane handles are green. My students
notice everything. 😀

On Wednesday, March 2, 2016, justin williams via humanser <
humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Interesting note you made about kids, and senior citizens.
> Huge space in the middle though.
> Justin
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>] On
> Behalf Of Ericka via
> humanser
> Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2016 5:04 PM
> To: Human Services Division Mailing List <humanser at nfbnet.org
> <javascript:;>>
> Cc: Ericka <dotwriter1 at gmail.com <javascript:;>>
> Subject: Re: [humanser] Question about Process of Disclosure of Blindness
> with minors
>
> I like your stories Carmela. I work with seniors and kids and your way
> works
> very well. Afterwhile they kind of forget and just treat you like a human
> being. For some reason kids and senior citizens understand and
> employers/other adults seem to have a harder time getting it. Haven't quite
> figured out why! I volunteer at a nearby school and I remember when I first
> started. I gave the talk about blindness and my cane. The next week I had a
> different cane with me and one of the school kids said to another "I wonder
> why she has a different cane today? ". Mind you these were kindergartners!
> It was so funny that they cared that much.
>
> Ericka Short
> "What is right is not always popular; what is popular is not always right."
>
>  from my iPhone
>
> > On Mar 2, 2016, at 9:50 AM, Kaiti Shelton via humanser
> <humanser at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> >  Hi, Sarah,
> >
> > My situation is slightly different, but in the past I have brought up
> > blindness as a practical matter with adults and others in the room in
> > the first few sessions.  I would say things like, "You'll have to tell
> > me what you're pointing at because I can't see it," etc so that the
> > client knew what they would need to do to communicate with me.  This
> > was also helpful because then if they forgot the adults could remind
> > them and fill in the gap.  E.G, the special educator I am working with
> > now could say, "E, remember to say you have a comment when you have
> > your hand up."
> >
> > Other aspects of blindness I let come organically.  The other day one
> > of my students saw my cane propped in the corner and wanted to know if
> > it was a metal detector.  I explained how it works, passed it around
> > so they could all see it up close, and then put it back and continued
> > with the session.  Reinforcing it is sometimes necessary for me
> > because with Autism and other cognitive disabilities the clients don't
> > always understand it right away, such as this student who after seeing
> > it said he wanted to find money with it.  I just responded that I did
> > too.  My student last semester, who has Down Syndrome, would sometimes
> > joke with me to test how much I could see.  This wasn't in a mean or
> > rude way, but my supervisor thinks he was trying to figure out how
> > much vision I actually had.  He had quite a hilarious time discovering
> > what the cane was as well.  >
> >> Carmella Broome EdS LPC LMFT
> >>
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-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton-Music Therapy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division
2015-2016

"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"