[nabs-l] Training centers not the real world

Mon Nov 11 17:18:55 UTC 2013

Tyler,
No its not an issue with training centers. If people cannot go to one due to 
circumstances, that does not invalidate the work the center does.
It just shows more options need to be available. I'd like to see more home 
based teaching where a teacher comes to your home to teach you privately 
using your own equipment and marking them if needed.

Rj, your friend should look at other options. Has she asked about receiving 
services from her vr agency?
They may contract with itenerant O&M and rehab teaching specialists who can 
help her at home.
Has she investigated community options such as a lighthouse? If she lives in 
NC, there is the Metrolina Association for the blind; if in GA, there are 
two day centers such as the Center for the visually impaired in Atlanta.
Those are just a few examples. TThere may be options. You just have to find 
them.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Littlefield, Tyler
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 12:03 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Training centers not the real world

Is this an issue with training centers? It has already been pointed out
that they are hard for people to just up and leave.
On 11/11/2013 11:56 AM, RJ Sandefur wrote:
> I agree with Joe! What about a blind adult who has just gone blind, and 
> she
> has a ten year old daughter? My friend is unable to attend a training 
> center
> due to her having a child. RJ
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joe" <jsoro620 at gmail.com>
> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2013 10:59 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Training centers not the real world
>
>
>> I can totally agree that interacting with fellow blind peers is a healthy
>> thing. I'm just not sure a training program has to be the way to achieve
>> that level of interaction. I never attended a training program, NFB or
>> otherwise, and far be it from me to tell anyone what they ought or ought
> not
>> to do. My advice for whatever it's worth is that if you want to go, do it
>> right after high school. It's harder to make it a priority the more
>> responsibilities you accumulate, and after you become gainfully employed,
>> forget about it. Me, I'm surprised the traditional training model still
>> exists. There ought to be some sort of a weekend option for working
>> professionals who would not mind learning woodwork and such. Not everyone
>> enrolls in a program with the intention of proving themselves at Square 
>> 1.
>>
>> Joe
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Valerie
> Gibson
>> Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2013 10:42 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Training centers not the real world
>>
>> That is an awesomee point.  Meeint people who are like you does fill a
> void
>> that sighted people don't have to overcome. I remember being about seven
> or
>> eight.  One morning when my mom came to wake me, I remember telling her
> that
>> I felt like an endangered species because no one was like me.  Those were
> my
>> words. Looking back on it, I can't imagine how my mom must have felt 
>> after
>> hearing those seemingly innocent words.
>>
>> On Nov 10, 2013, at 8:23 PM, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Valerie,
>>> Excellent points!
>>> I thought of the learning point you made after sending my email.
>>> Sighted kids learn so much by observation. They take it in and do not
>> realize they have learned.
>>> But blind kids need to be shown or told how to do things. So, we need
> more
>> training.
>>> I think your reason for schools for the blind makes a lot of sense.
>>>
>>> Another reason for training centers is opportunity to meet other blind
>> people.
>>> At centers you learn together, have parties together, and share stories
>> together.
>>> This social bonding with peers helps one adjust to blindness or adjust
> to
>> independence if you were blind your whole life.
>>> The social aspect of meeting people who have gone through what you are
>>> going through is very powerful. You actually have friends there who
>> identify with your feelings for once.
>>> Too often, blind people feel lonely or feel like no one understands
> them.
>> I know students in school who know few other blind people and none their
>> age.
>>> Sure we can have sighted friends, but having blind friends does help in
>> talking about common problems.
>>> So centers fill a social void. All this socialization will hopefully
> help
>> one's self esteem.
>>> Ashley
>>>
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Valerie Gibson
>>> Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2013 10:05 PM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Training centers not the real world
>>>
>>> Greetings,
>>>
>>> This could get ugly. haha.
>>>
>>> I think the reason being that people who can see are taught mostly
> through
>> modeling as children.  They watch how their parents act and react to
>> situations and they follow suit.  As blind children, we don't get such
>> visual feedback and our sighted peers either don't know how, or don't
> think
>> to tell us how, things are done.  They see the world visually, and unless
>> they can think non visually, they find it difficult to express such ways
> of
>> doing things like crossing a street.  To us, things such as crossing
> streets
>> or cooking seem like a "Duh" moment, but in order for to seem like that,
> we
>> must have had someone tell us how to do things non visually.
>>> I don't usually buy it when people, who have been blind their entire
>>> lives, say, "Oh i taught myself this or that".  Sometimes it may be
>>> true, but more often than not, scaffolding has ucurred.  Sorry, i'm
>>> working on a psych paper. it shows. :D
>>>
>>> For people who have been sighted and who have gone blind, hhow difficult
>> it must be for them to have to see the world differently.no pun intended.
>>> You mentioned autistic children.most autistic  children are treated
>> differently than their sighted peers or peers who are not autistic, 
>> unless
>> their autism is mild enough where they can get away with "normalcy".  I
>> could be wrong here. I only know a handful of autistic people.
>>> In the case of blind schools, I believe this starts with the parents
>> thinking that surely a blind school will be able to teach my child what i
>> cannot, and for some kids this may be true. Better send the child off to 
>> a
>> school where teachers specialize in disabled children than risk making a
>> mistake. I'm sure this last sentence is what parents must think.  It's a
>> valid concern, I think.
>>> Another reason may be that schools for the blind offer the child with a
>> more rounded life as far as extra coriculars.  It did for me, and I only
>> went my last two years of high school.  Sports are adapted so that blind
>> people can participate, unlike your typical PE class.  This isn't to say
>> that PE classes at public schools can't modify their curriculum, but many
>> aren't going to do it just for one student, or that's how it was when i
> was
>> in high school, but I'm sure things have changed in the past six years.
>>> Back to the training programs, many people have heard, "you can't do
> this.
>> you're blind" their entire lives. Training centers, such as the ones
>> sponsored by the NFB, do provide confidence building skills for the 
>> train.
>> This, i think, is the most important skill one can gain at a center.  For
>> those who have condifence, they may not need the center as much as 
>> others,
>> but who can say.
>>> I hope this helps, and if I am speaking that which is incorrect in
>>> anything that I have said, please feel free to correct me. :)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Nov 10, 2013, at 7:48 PM, RJ Sandefur <joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>> Why do we send blind people to training centers? Why do we send blind
>> people to "schools for the blind" We as blind people live in the real
>> world,Why do we do it? You don't see mom sending Johnny who has autism to
>> aschool for autistic kids!
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/valandkayla%40gma
>>>> il.com
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40eart
>>> hlink.net
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/valandkayla%40gmai
>>> l.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jsoro620%40gmail.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/joltingjacksandefur%40gm
> ail.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/tyler%40tysdomain.com

-- 
Take care,
Ty
http://tds-solutions.net
He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that 
dares not reason is a slave.

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
nabs-l:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40earthlink.net 