[nabs-l] Training centers not the real world
justin williams
justin.williams2 at gmail.com
Tue Nov 12 08:25:54 UTC 2013
It is great to learn how to adapt, especially when you have a passion to do
something; great job Kaiti.
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 4:16 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Training centers not the real world
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
>>>
>>>
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>
>
>>--
>>"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
>
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--
Kaiti
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