[Nfbf-l] ideas needed

[Sherri]

Hi Doreen,

The cane thing is difficult! Of course, back in the ancient times, we 
weren't given canes until we were in junior high school. I was dead set 
against using anything that made me "look" or seem different. And I am 
totally blind. The first time I used a cane with a bunch of sighted people 
around was in high school. I had been oriented to the school. Anyway, I 
tripped a kid. He fell splat on the floor. I felt horrible. I put my cane in 
my locker and that is where it stayed for 3 years. Fortunately, we didn't 
have too many stairs to contend with at school so I managed. I started 
seriously using my cane in college when I had to travel all over a campus 
and didn't have any choice. I then accepted that the cane was important and 
needed. I now either use it or my guide dog. Maybe you could set up some 
sort of rewards system for her. Maybe she could get some sort of reward for 
using her cane correctly out with you guys. You could communicate with her 
teachers and see if she is using it at school and set up a reward system for 
that as well.

As far as Braille, I think anyone who needs to use a CCTV to see words on a 
page ought to learn Braille. With all the note-taking devices, it is much 
less cumbersome to deal with as it was in the days when Braille books were 
in many volumes and I had to carry stacks of maybe 6 or 7 books to school. 
Could you interest her in the Braille Readers are Leaders contest or the one 
that Braille Institute in California does? Once she learns Braille, just as 
once she learns to rely on her travel skills and her cane, she will wonder 
how she ever got along without them.

I don't know if any of this will do any good. It's just my thoughts. Keep us 
posted.

Sherri


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doreen Franklin" <doreenproverbs3 at bellsouth.net>
To: "NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>; "Blindkid 
List" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>; <Blindhomeschooler at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 2:16 PM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] ideas needed


Hi to all ...

we are looking for some help with our 7-yr old, first grade daughter who is 
visually impaired. She needs a cane but refuses to use it with us. She will 
"use" it during her O&M instruction of 30-minutes, but I have no idea if she 
uses it, or uses it safely, during the rest of her time at school. Most 
times with us, she holds it off the ground, like a shephard's crook. She has 
also not accepted her visual disability and has told me "Mom, I can see." 
And the school has non-verbally told her that last year in kindergarten as 
well as this year -- she has a CCTV in class; she does not have Braille. She 
is being re-evaled this year and I have been told "best practice is to use 
her vision." I backed off to be more collaborative instead of being near the 
door to due process. It is killing me, but I want to be more collaborative.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you get around it? I can 
tell her about safety, but I know all she hears is "blah blah blah." She has 
said numerous times she HATES her cane, and I don't know how to get around 
it to make her see that she is safe with it and unsafe without it. She has 
gotten several bruises on her legs and her eye and all of those times have 
been because she has not used her cane. Again, she is hearing "blah blah 
blah." She did very well while at the national convention in July ... but 
within 2 weeks, she was not using her cane safely. There are no role models 
for her in school ...

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated ....

Thank you!!!!

Doreen
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