[nabs-l] Training centers not the real world

Kaiti Shelton crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
Mon Nov 11 21:15:51 UTC 2013


Hi all,

I will admit upfront that I did not read this entire thread, as I am
trying to type a quick reply between classes, but here is what my
parents thought and what I believe as well.

I'm not in any way knocking training centers; I think they're great
for those who need or prefer to get the training they need in that
manner.  I think that choice is totally subjective to the individual
person.

However, in terms of schools for the blind, I have always been
thurroughly confused as to their purpose.  Like others I've talked to,
going to the school for the blind was a bad thing---a threat my mom
used to kick me into gear as a child.  If I didn't want to do my
homework, she'd threaten to send me to the Ohio State School for the
Blind, where people would make me do it, and I wouldn't get the choice
of doing it right after school or later before bed.  My mom also
wanted to instill the idea that I could be independent in me at a very
early age, so the idea of having someone else be so custodial over me
made me instantly do whatever it was that I didn't want to do at the
time.

In reality, my parents thought very briefly about sending me to the
state school when I was young, but a blind woman they consulted on the
matter said I was too bright for it.  I have the impression that most
schools for the blind provide sub-par academics, and while a much
larger portion of their student bodies have multiple disabilities in
addition to blindness, my parents did not want that to hold me back
from reaching my potential.  So, they enrolled me in my local
elementary school, and kept me in the public school system from
pre-school to graduation.  From what I've seen and heard this is the
case for an ever increasing number of blind students, who are capable
of doing the same work---even being labeled as gifted and going on to
be honors and AP students in high school.  Some of these kids do not
have the opportunities to do AP courses at schools for the blind, and
miss out on time and money-saving opportunities for college in the
process.

I disagree that going to a school for the blind hinders one's ability
to get involved in extracurriculars, even when you specifically talk
about sports.  My parents found non-profit organizations which hosted
sporting events for kids with disabilities and they worked out fine
for me.  Top Soccer was one I and a few friends of mine participated
in, and I did Special Olympics swimming when I was in middle school
too.  I think the advantage of doing sports through these
organizations rather than as a student at a school for the blind is
that you gain perspective on people with other disabilities; one of my
best friends in soccer was a boy who used a walker, and we became a
tag team on the field.  My job was to find the ball and get it down
field, then I would pass it to him and he'd take shots at the goal.
So, it was a nice way for us to learn that in spite of our
disabilities, we could still be successful, probably the design of our
parents.  I also getting really mad at a kid on the same team who was
the coach's son, because he would always push me down for what I
thought was no apparent reason.  It took me a while to understand that
he wasn't doing it to be mean or that he really couldn't help it, but
once I got it I was able to understand him and others like him better.
 Even after I stopped participating in sports specifically set up for
kids with disabilities to participate, I still found activities to do
at school.  I was a member of the Academic Quiz Team, the drama club
and in the cast of a Shakespeare play, and even did marching band
without assistance.  I don't think you should expect adaptations or
modifications to be provided for you like they are at the schools for
the blind, and doing these things while taking a trial and error
approach to finding ways to do them as well as sighted classmates, is
one of the best ways to learn how to do it with other things in the
future.  Example, in quiz team I got my study packets in braille, and
read books on subjects that other kids weren't as familiar on, like
Genetics, Music History, and Anatomy to make up for the other subjects
I didn't have as much access to.  This worked out really well in cases
when the category was, "Composers from the 1600s," or "Anatomy of the
eye."  In marching band I worked with my director to come up with a
way for me to read the field diagrams, which to my knowledge is a
totally original system based on what my needs were and the solutions
we came up with to work.

I also think it is the responsibility of the parents to do a lot of
the training for their child.  I know my parents did it for me, and
although I resisted at times I'm thankful for what they did to help me
learn to be independent.  On that same note, I disagree with the claim
that blind people cannot teach themselves how to do things, as I
believe there should come a point where mom and dad should step back,
and you should have the confidence in your abilities to try to learn
to do things yourself.  That is what I'm doing now with cooking, and I
love how I'm teaching myself.  Have I burned things?  Yes.  Have I had
to put meat back on the stove to cook it a little longer because I
misjudged how cooked it really was?  Yes, but it's through experience
that we learn, and sometimes doing things ourselves is in our own
favor.  In the cooking vein, I've asked my mom to teach me before, but
she's always been busy, or when we have cooked she usually has ended
up taking over.  She also has a fear of me getting burned, so when I
got to college and wanted to make a burger, I didn't let the fact that
my mother never taught me hold me back from getting what I wanted,
even if my first attempt was not perfect.  Different parents will
teach their blind children different things, and sometimes they have
one thing they don't do as well as others in that area.  When those
weak areas become apparent and one has the resources and capability to
teach themself to make up for it, I think they should because
ultimately it is their independence that is effected.

I do not regret my parents decision to put me in public school,
because in spite of the rough patches where I didn't have a textbook
for my last year of Spanish, or my parents were duking it out in an
IEP meeting, I developed self-advocacy, independence, and
communication skills which are serving me well in college an hour away
from my family.  Even in cooking I am becoming more self-sufficient,
and I'm not afraid to figure things out as I go, problem-solve, and
make them work.  That, I think, is a skill that is lacking at the
schools of the blind since the staff is much more custodial.  I could
be wrong there, but that's what I've seen from my state school at
least.

Just my thoughts.
On 11/11/13, Misty Dawn Bradley <mistydbradley at gmail.com> wrote:
> RJ,
> Your friend may also be able to speak to the director of whichever center
> she would like to attend, and arrangements may be able to be made for her to
>
> bring her child with her. This probably would not work in a dormitory
> setting, but since the NFB centers use apartments instead of dormitories,
> sometimes, it can be worked out for a parent to bring their child to stay
> with them in the apartment while they attend the center. Your friend may
> have to work out child care or after school care for the child while she is
>
> attending center classes during the day, but the director of the center may
>
> be able to refer her to resources she can use for that or work with her on
> that aspect so she will be able to finish her training successfully.
> I am currently going through this myself, as I am a single mother, but the
> director has been willing to allow me to bring my child and also help me
> work out the child care situation so that I will have the opportunity to
> attend the center and get the training I need. I am planning to attend next
>
> year, so I am not there yet, but the director has been very open to me
> bringing my child and has assured me that we will work everything out so I
> can attend. I am just in the process of getting VR in my state to allow me
> to go. The one I am trying to attend is the Colorado Center, but your friend
>
> may be able to discuss her situation with any of the directors of any of the
>
> centers she would like to attend, and they will probably work with her on
> it.
> Thanks,
> Misty
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Jacobson
> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 12:44 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Training centers not the real world
>
> RJ,
>
> It is really hard to know what is going to work in an individual case such
> as that of your friend.  In general,
> though, one really has to weigh what learning certain skills well might mean
>
> for bringing up a child in the long
> run.  I believe, for example, that it is pretty hard to become a confident
> independent traveler without putting in
> some serious time learning and experiencing.  If one is not a confident
> traveler, for example, one is going to
> find it more difficult to get one's child where that child needs to be, or
> to be there for that child.  Your
> friend may not have had any options in terms of family who could take care
> of the child, and there could be other
> considerations, but to simply state that one can't leave one's child to take
>
> training seems very short-sighted to
> me, and I am a parent so I am not unfamiliar with the dilema.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> On Mon, 11 Nov 2013 12:05:28 -0500, RJ Sandefur wrote:
>
>>Men, Thank you for that point. My friend Rohanda went blind four years
>> ago.
>>Her daughter is Ten years old. Our ehab agency wanted to send her to a
>>training center. She doesn't want to leave her child. RJ
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "minh ha" <minh.ha927 at gmail.com>
>>To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>><nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 12:33 AM
>>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Training centers not the real world
>
>
>>All the proponents of training centers, NFB or otherwise keep saying
>>how going to one will give blind individuals the skills they need to
>>gain employment or to be successful. I'm just wondering how these
>>success stories are measured? Do the majority of graduates gain
>>employment afterwards because of their new found independence skills
>>and are these numbers higher than those that do not attend training
>>centers? Maybe it's different for me because I had vision for the
>>first few years of my life, but all the skills that I've acquired over
>>the years, I learned from my family and friends. I remember growing
>>up, cooking was one of the activities that my best friend and I
>>experimented together; she didn't know cooking skills either so we
>>played around in the kitchen and taught ourselves how to use a stove,
>>etc. I think we place too much responsibility on others--if I want to
>>learn something, I teach myself or I ask someone who knows it to teach
>>me. Furthermore, I can't see myself taking 6-9 months to essentially
>>remove myself from society to focus on blindness skills so I can gain
>>employment. I have had many internships and opportunities in college
>>because I actually go out there and network and present myself to
>>potential employers. My point is experience is the best teacher--I can
>>learn all the independence skills I need at a center, but it's not
>>going to do me any good without the experience.
>
>>Minh
>
>>On 11/10/13, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>  good points thus far, and great discussion.
>>>   The idea of schools for the blind (at least as I understand them) is
>>that
>>> students in these  schools may get  the proper instruction in skills
>>> that
>>> would allow them to be  as successful in the classroom as their
>>classmates.
>>> They may also benefit from gaining access to sports that are adapted for
>>the
>>> blind where in the public school setting these things are not always
>>readily
>>> available .
>>>   In the training center environment, you are learning skills that will
>>help
>>> you   become confident and competent enough to  compete and  succeed  in
>>the
>>> world.  in our NFB training centers, we learn the skills  that enable us
>>to
>>>   be successful and  gain the attitude and belief  that not only can we
>>> lead  productive  successful, and meaningful lives,  but that  this
>>> should
>>> be the exact expectation we should have for ourselves.
>>>  So, while the implication one might get is that such learning
>>environments
>>> shelter  people  from the  real world , it is my view that generally
>>> speaking they can serve to help you be prepared  for that  real world
>>> in
>>a
>>> way that matriculating through mainstream schooling might leave  you
>>> otherwise ill equipped to do.
>>>    Darian
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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/minh.ha927%40gmail.com
>>>
>
>
>>--
>>"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
>>recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
>>but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
>>their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>
>>_______________________________________________
>>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/steve.jacobson%40visi.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/mistydbradley%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/crazy4clarinet104%40gmail.com
>


-- 
Kaiti




More information about the NABS-L mailing list