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

Sun Nov 2 23:33:50 UTC 2014

I agree.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alyssa via nabs-l" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
To: "Jorge Paez" <jorgeapaez1994 at gmail.com>; "National Association of Blind 
Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 2, 2014 4:30 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] is there any place for schools for the blind?

>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
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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/ligne14%40ver
>>> izon.net
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Jorge A. Paez
>>
>> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jorgeapaez11994
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/alyssahenson95%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/oliver.doug1%40gmail.com 