[nabs-l] is there any place for schools for the blind?

Sun Nov 2 23:30:56 UTC 2014

I think this is a fantastic discussion! I attended the Missouri School for the blind for one year, my senior year because of a sudden move. The rest of my life was spent in the public school system. I agree that it's much harder to make friends in a public school setting. Others don't know how to interact with us so they just don't. Even though this is hard growing up, it's good to get used to this since its life. I'm now in college and see the same behaviors of students. I also feel we Learn social interactions better in a public school environment. I still had some sighted friends and went out to do things with them. I was also disappointed in the academics at the school for the blind. For instance, the seniors were reading novels in English which should have been read in 8th or 9th grade. When I told my teacher I read these books, she seemed surprised. This is only one example. That's my experience but I do think these schools serve a purpose. I don't think it's for the general blind population though. I feel like these schools are excellent for students with multiple disabilities though and do not believe they should be shut down. I do however believe that those of us who can thrive in public school should stay in public school.
Alyssa 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 2, 2014, at 4:11 PM, Jorge Paez via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Sami and all:
> I have no doubt that they have done a lot in the field of education in the past.
> And I understand where you're coming from.
> Like I said, I was in that school for 3 years, before going to public
> elementary school and then doing the rest of my schooling through the
> public system.
> While I do not doubt that the benefits you mentioned exist, on the
> contrary I agree with you on those points, there are 2 main factors
> that raise a bit of a question for me.
> First of all, is the social issue.
> I do not doubt there was discrimination in this case, though it is
> done more out of ignorance then anything else on the part of the
> teacher.
> I know personally how frustrating that can be.
> On the other hand though, we do live in a sighted world, and, other
> then the school for the blind or NFB related events, rarely are we so
> many in one place, so although important in some ways I feel the
> school for the blind is in a way an environment which does not leave
> us prepared for the real world since there are many challenges, some
> of which Sami outlined, which we'll face later on and the earlier we
> learn to deal with them, the sooner we learn to advocate for ourselves
> and the stronger we'll become as an individual.
> I'll also just raise another issue on my own, and its the friendship issue.
> In public school, its a lot harder to make friends, specially in
> middle school/high school, because most of us, particularly those of
> us who are totals (meaning totally blind) can't run around and do
> everything else that our peers are up to.
> And yes, that can be frustrating at times, but again, its those social
> situations that we have to get used to since we'll be facing different
> variations on the same themes as we grow older.
> Now, to address Sami's point about his TVI.
> You're right.
> Your TVI should have known braille.
> I do agree with you there; that's a major problem.
> Unfortunately though, I think that by leaning more heavily on schools
> for the blind, we're leaving the status quo instead of trying to
> improve the situation.
> I'm not talking in individual cases.
> Maybe that was the best for Sami,
> but if a lot of parents did that, or tended to do that then the
> departments responsible for TVI qualifications are just going to keep
> on like they always have.
> Again, for the record, I'm not saying Sami's parents didn't make the
> right decision in his individual case, I'm just using the points Sami
> brought up and using them in a more globalized construct of issues
> that we face in the public school system.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On 11/2/14, Sami Osborne <ligne14 at verizon.net> wrote:
>> Hi Jorge and all,
>> 
>> I also attend NYISE and find shall to be a very good school.  I
>> know exactly what you're talking ab; a few years ago I actually
>> went to Albany to protest against the proposed budget cut to
>> close the schools for people with disabilities in New York.
>> 
>> In my opinion, going to a school for the blind can really help
>> your education a lot, as everybody there knows about your
>> blindness and truly believe that you can be successful in life.
>> I think they do a really good job of helping us with that.
>> 
>> Unlike other schools where they might focus mainly on the
>> blindness and not see the person behind the disability that you
>> truly are.
>> I know this from my personal experience.  I went to regular
>> public school for elementary school and the beginning of sixth
>> grade.  I think that elementary school was ok and the people
>> there understood about my blindness, but when I started middle
>> school, my TVI stopped working with me and I got a new one, but I
>> don't think she actually knows Braille, as she had to send a note
>> home with me every day to ask my mom to transcribe my schoolwork
>> and homework into Braille.  Not only did my mom get tired of
>> doing this, but I felt that she shouldn't have had to do this,
>> and that it was my TVI's job to get my materials in Braille, not
>> my mom's.
>> I also felt that in regular middle school, I was being
>> discriminated against my classmates and friends, as my teachers
>> would constantly tell me to do things I felt I shouldn't have to
>> do, such as raising my hand to ask the teacher what he or she
>> wrote on the board.  I thought that one in particular was
>> extremely pointless, as why couldn't my teachers such describe
>> orally what we were studying in the lesson.
>> Finally, my parents got smart and decided to send me to a school
>> for the blind.  So then I started going to the NYISE (which is
>> the school that Jorge talked about) when I was in 7th grade and
>> began to like it a lot.  I felt that at that school, the teachers
>> were very understanding and accomodating of my blindness, I got
>> really good grades, and met and made friends with people who are
>> blind like me.  Before I attended the Institute for Special
>> Education, I have only known sighted kids, and now, I know many
>> blind students who live in New York.
>> Without the Institute, I don't know how I would have done these
>> things and become so successful.
>> 
>> So, my overall opinion on this question is, yes, schools for the
>> blind are still necessary, as if you don't have a really positive
>> experience with regular public schools, going to a school for the
>> blind is probably your best choice.
>> 
>> I think that we should give credit to schools for the blind (even
>> if you don't attend one) for all their hard work, effort and
>> comitment into helping us (the blind) strive for success and
>> independence.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Sami.
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Jorge Paez via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:38:22 -0800
>> Subject: [nabs-l] is there any place for schools for the blind?
>> 
>> Hi everyone.
>> So, today I was thinking about a rather interesting question
>> which
>> came to my mind, and which I've thought about numerous times
>> before,
>> that being, the place for schools for the blind in today's
>> society.
>> A few years ago, there was a huge news story that broke in New
>> York
>> about protesters going to Lavel and NYISE (New York Institute for
>> Special Ed) to speak out in support of the 2 schools, which then
>> Governor Quomo I believe it was wanted to cut from the state
>> budget
>> and close.
>> And that left me wondering,
>> as someone who spent most of his elementary years at the NYISE,
>> and
>> the rest of my term in regular public school, finishing 4th and
>> 5th
>> grade at a local school and going on to do my entire
>> post-secondary
>> education in public schools, what exactly did I think?
>> And to be honest, I don't quite have an answer myself.
>> I started 4th grade with the Braille Lite and APH's Braille &
>> Speak,
>> so obviously this is quite a while back.
>> But I remember in those early years I was shocked at all this
>> tech
>> that I just was not allowed to use in the school for the blind.
>> Yet the lite had its problems, as anyone who's used one probably
>> knows.  For one thing, mine kept crashing every 4 to 7 weeks on a
>> constant schedule and promptly deleting my entire file system.
>> Not
>> good, to say the least.
>> But technology has obviously progressed a lot since then, wih the
>> Braille Note Apex being extremely stable and solid.  I've never
>> had a
>> Braille Note crash, at least never as badly as what used to
>> happen
>> with the braille lites.
>> And now with the advance of technology some argue, and I share
>> this
>> point, that within a few years all we'll really need are braille
>> displays.
>> I mean we have JAWS, System Access, Window Eyes, NVDA, Dolfin,
>> and
>> Super Nova for Windows--Winow Eyes and NVDA are both now free,
>> System
>> Access now extremely affordable, for about $250 with a package
>> that
>> gives you way more then just a screenreader, and most if not all
>> have
>> braille display support built in.
>> And with VoiceOver on the Mac and accessible versions of other
>> platforms such as Linux there is no system that is not
>> accessible, and
>> if there is such a system, there are now ways which are widely
>> known
>> to make them accessible.
>> Granted we still have the applications within those systems
>> (Google
>> apps for example) which can still present challenges but that's
>> just a
>> piece of what has become a mostly accessible digital ecosystem.
>> So, where do you think, if anywhere, do schools for the blind
>> fit?
>> Note that this isn't a chriticism of schools for the blind--I
>> studied
>> at one, like I said, and they did have their advantages at the
>> time
>> and perhaps still have in certain circumstances,
>> but given that they were chiefly in existence to provide an
>> education
>> to the blind, an education that is now for the most part
>> accessible to
>> us outside of those limits, do we need schools for the blind
>> anymore?
>> I myself don't have a position one way or another, so I'm very
>> interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Jorge A.  Paez
>> 
>> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jorgeapaez11994
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Jorge A. Paez
> 
> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jorgeapaez11994
> 
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