[nabs-l] Personal aides and other services in school

Katie Wang bunnykatie6 at gmail.com
Sun Sep 5 18:56:26 UTC 2010


Hi, Arielle,
  This is a very interesting topic. I moved to the United States from
Taiwan when I was in 8th grade so don't have much to say regarding the
educational experience of early school years in this country. The
special education system was rudimentary in Taiwan when I was growing
up;with the support of my family, I was able to acquire exceelent
braille skills but  had very limited cane travel and assistive
technology instruction. When I first came to the country, I began O&M
lessons twice a week immediately to learn basic cane techniques and
orientation in my school building, and i saw my TVI for a class period
each day to reinforce English braille and other blindness skills. An
aide was assigned to me during the first year to serve as a sighted
guide and verbally describe classroom activities, but after I was
introduced to a Braille Lite and became more independent, I no longer
needed this service.
  Throughout the remaining years of high school my TVI mostly served
as a braillist, and the aide only came into my classroom to read me a
test when it was not transcribed into braille on time. I continued to
have weekly O&M lessons, but I had a lot of trouble with getting
braille textbooks in a timely manner after I started taking ADvance
Placement classes. I also had limited technology training; I was given
a braille Note after my Braille Lite but did not learn JAWS until my
senior year. I was not introduced to a scanning program  until I
started working with state rehab to get technology equipment for
college.
  While my personal experience is a bit different from those of an
average American blind student, i do agree with others that while
braille, O&M, and technology instruction are essential, having a
personal aide is not  necessary for blind students without additional
disabilities. An aide may be helpful in early years of school when a
student is learning basic cane travel skills and how to deal with
visual aspects of the classroom, but blind students should be
encouraged to be as independent as possible early on. Learning how to
function without a personal aide will definitely prepare the students
well for college, as those services will most likely not be available
after high school graduation.
   Katie

On 9/4/10, becky sabo <beckyasabo at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
> I had paraproes in some of my classes in high school to help me take notes.
> I did take my own notes too.  I was in a resource room once a day and during
> that time I would work on Braille.  I did not learn Braille intill high
> school.  I used large print books and materials because I could see enough
> than.  I used a cctv in some of my classes.  I used jaws in school for a
> typing class I took.  I got om twice a week.  I did not know of the nfb
> during my growing up years intill I graduated from high school.  I got some
> opporaties but I was held back in others.  Like they did not think I needed
> to learn math or take English classes.  I have struggled in college.  I had
> to use tutors and real classes.
> I hope I helped in a way.
> Becky
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Julie McGinnity
> Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 5:27 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Personal aides and other services in school
>
> Hi.  This is a really interesting topic.
>
> >From Kindergarten up through high school I had a TVI and a Para and a
> mobility instructor.  They did not hover over me.  They brailled and
> scanned things as needed, and they were always there if I needed help
> with anything, but they encouraged me to be independent.  Looking back
> on it, I think they would have agreed with the NFB philosophy.  My TVI
> started me with jaws and open book when I was in 6th grade, and I had
> been given a braille light when I was in 3rd grade.  I loved my TVIs
> and my paras.  They were always very close to me, and I think I could
> build a relationship with them because I respected them very much.  I
> had 1 hour of vision instruction(braille, technology, calling Freedom
> Scientific) everyday.  I'm not kidding about the last one.  Lol!  Then
> I had 2 hours or so of mobility every other week.  I wish I could have
> had more mobility looking back, but that was my IEP.  My para sat with
> me in math class everyday, and she was very useful.  She took notes
> for me, so she could take down the graphs and things.  Beyond that I
> never had my aids in class with me.  It was just never necessary.
> They offered to walk me to class my first week in high school, and I
> think I took advantage of that, but usually, I, like others have
> mentioned, let my friends describe things like movies and the board to
> me.  I never asked them to do this, but it became an automatic that
> they did.  I think this is really nice, and I believe that they would
> not have done this if I had had an adult helping me with everything.
> I agree that it makes the "Blind person" less approachable.  I met one
> of my really good friends because she offered to help me with a
> project in a gifted class that involved looking at things through some
> kind of microskope.  I can't remember if my aide was there or not at
> that point.
>
> After reading these few responses I think it really depends on the
> different needs of the student in question how much help they need.  I
> believe that students should not have their paras or whatever hanging
> around them all the time because it becomes much harder to build
> social skills.  It goes without saying that mobility instruction and
> braille learning should begin at an early age, but other than that, I
> think it depends on the level of the student.  That's why they make
> IEPs after all--for the individual.
>
> I also think it's important to let the blind student be as independent
> as soon as possible.  I think more goals involving greater
> independence should be worked into more IEPs.  I am by no means an
> educator, so if you think I'm crazy, it's ok.  I'm not sure I know
> what I'm talking about.  Lol!
>
>
>
> On 9/4/10, Jorge Paez <jorgeapaez at mac.com> wrote:
>> Since I spent my first few years in a school for the blind, I don't know
>> about 1/2nd grade.
>> When I started in 4th grade they, the DOE gave me a para who I've had
> until
>> now, entering 9th grade.
>> And although the para has been nice to me, I don't consider it a needed
>> service, as it sometimes blocks students from helping me and makes me a
>> little more isolated I think.
>> I wouldn't say that it has been completely without its use, specially in
>> doing quick diagrams, and helping my TBI when she was overloaded with
>> next-day or even give-in-half an hour work, but its not something I need
>> personally to survive inside the actual classroom, as all that info I can
>> obtain from my classmates.
>>
>> Actually what I've done is with my para, agreed that basically all they do
>> is drop me off at class, and get me whatever materials I need, if any.
>>
>> Usually I sit with my friends, so they read the board to me, and give me
>> descriptions whenever needed.
>>
>>
>> I had a teacher get mad at me because of it once, but I don't consider it
>> anything to get mad about--since my friends and I only talk about work,
> and
>> usually never make small talk unless we know we're close to or completely
>> done with the work, plus it gives me a little social skill in the class,
> and
>> not make me look like a hopeless kid who can't do without services from
> the
>> state.
>>
>> But now my parra knows and agrees with me too.
>>
>>
>> No complaint, just saying its not absolutely needed.
>>
>> Jorge
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jorge Paez
>>
>>
>> ---
>> President And CEO:
>> Paez Production Networks
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Please note:
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>> is directed to.
>> If you have received this message in error, please type "error" in the
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>>
>> On Sep 4, 2010, at 6:27 PM, Arielle Silverman wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> At this year's NFB convention, improving education of blind children
>>> was an especially prominent theme, and for good reason-we would all
>>> say that the ability for the blind to be fully participating members
>>> of society starts with a quality education. I am on a couple of
>>> listservs for parents of blind children (the NFB parents of blind
>>> children list as well as another one that's not affiliated with any
>>> organization), and discussions frequently come up about the myriad of
>>> special services that parents often have to fight school districts to
>>> get for their kids in public school. These special services range from
>>> Braille instruction and provision of Braille learning materials, to
>>> O&M, to technology instruction, to having a teacher's aide assigned to
>>> help the blind student with visual tasks, to auxiliary services like
>>> occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), speech, etc. When I
>>> take part in these discussions as someone who grew up blind, I always
>>> wonder which of these services are absolutely critical to helping
>>> blind students get a sound and effective education, and which of them
>>> may be nice, but not necessary. For example, I think it's clear that
>>> quality Braille instruction, cane travel teaching and tech instruction
>>> are top priorities, but what about the other services?
>>>
>>> I'm just curious to know what kinds of services those of you who grew
>>> up blind received, and if you think these services were adequate,
>>> inadequate, or superfluous. In particular, I'm curious whether you
>>> guys had classroom aides (or someone besides your TVI) help you with
>>> classroom activities or getting around and if you think this kind of
>>> help was appropriate. When I started elementary school (kindergarten
>>> in 1990), I had a classroom aide in kindergarten and first grade and
>>> then the aide was discontinued in second grade and thereafter. From
>>> what I remember (although I know memories from kindergarten can be
>>> notoriously inaccurate), the aide basically served as my sighted guide
>>> but didn't help me with classroom activities. In hindsight I wonder if
>>> not having the aide would have forced the O&M to teach me independent
>>> cane travel at an earlier age. But, more importantly, I didn't have
>>> someone in the classroom describing things to me except when the TVI
>>> was there, which I think was only one or two class periods per day in
>>> the beginning and eventually she basically served as a braillist. I'm
>>> therefore a little surprised to hear how common it is for blind kids
>>> in this generation to have classroom aides working with them, offering
>>> verbal descriptions of visual activities, etc. I feel like my own
>>> education was relatively good, in part, because I didn't have the
>>> luxury of getting so much information and I had to learn how to follow
>>> what was being taught using nonvisual techniques, as well as actively
>>> gathering information from others (like the teacher and fellow
>>> classmates), skills that are critical for success in college. But, I
>>> can also see the argument that having someone describe goings-on in
>>> the classroom to a young child might give them an advantage and help
>>> them gain a stronger understanding of visual concepts. What do you
>>> think?
>>>
>>> Arielle
>>>
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>
> --
> Julie McG
>  Lindbergh High School class of 2009, participating member in Opera
> Theater's Artist in Training Program, and proud graduate of Guiding
> Eyes for the Blind
>
> "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
> everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
> life."
> John 3:16
>
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