[nabs-l] Schools For The Blind vs Public Schools

[jessica hodges]

I believe schools for the blind can have some benefits. If you go there 
as a residential student, depending on the school, and the quality of 
education, you can get a lot of skills that can serve you very well in 
life after graduation, if you keep practicing them. However, I believe 
that a student should also have some public school exposure, to teach 
self advicasy, as well as how to cope when things when all materials and 
experiences are not accessible, and optimized for blindness. The issue 
that I find with blind schools is that they basically hand the students 
the world on a silver platter. They don't have to fight for anything, 
make due with anything that isn't perfectly accessible, and so have no 
exposure in how to deal with things in the "real world," outside the 
sphere of the blind school. I went to a blind school from my third to 
sixth grade year, and was home schooled through seventh grade, so I 
struggled integrating back into the school system, particularly in math, 
trying to adapt to a visually taught class and things. I also didn't 
stay at the school, so I did not learn half of the skills that I could 
have.
      In conclusion, I believe it is good to give students experience in 
both public, and blind school settings.
Hope this helps.
Jessica

On 2/6/2016 4:42 PM, Roanna Bacchus via nabs-l wrote:
> Good evening Students,
>
> I have a question for all of you.  What are the advantages and 
> disadvantages of attending a residential school for the blind vs a 
> public school? I could not handle being away from my family during the 
> week.  As a toddler I attended the Early Intervention program at the 
> Perkins School For The Blind.  I'd like to hear your thoughts on this 
> topic.
>
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