[Ohio-talk] Fw: Blind 10 yr old near Cleveland needs Braille

[Dr. JW Smith]

Let's talk about this some on Saturday but in the mean time if anybody has any other recommendations please don't hesitate to chime in here ok?

Read on.

jw

Dr. J. Webster Smith
President National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
P.O.BOX 458 Athens, Ohio, 45701-0458
Phone Number - 740-592-6326 
"Changing What it Means to be Blind"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Carol Akers 
To: Dr. JW Smith 
Cc: eduffy 
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 9:35 PM
Subject: Blind 10 yr old near Cleveland needs Braille


            
                  I recieved a call from Lori Kaplan who is the parent mentor for OSSB.  She also serves as a parent resource for the whole state.  She had a call from a mom in Maple Heights whose son is 10 and she wants him to learn Braille but the school is resistant.  His VI teacher feels he has vision and should continue to use the stand magnifiers for his reading.  Mom feels his vision will be decreasing and she wants to  be proactive by having him begin to learn braille now.   The notes Lori had said he had 20/100 in one eye and 20/60 in the other, but since his IEP he has had eye surgery in late December.  One of the diagnoses is Glaucoma, but I think there is more.  Lori was going to contact mom to see when he had an eval for media, etc and what it detailed.  

                  Lori contacted me since she had recently recieved my mailing and thot perhaps we could assist this mom and give her guidance.  Lori said she realizes that NFB is a proactive organization and promotes Braille use.  She also told mom that people who learn braille have better opportunities for employment in the future and wondered if we had any data to back that up for her.
                  I think this would be a good opportunity for the Ohio chapter to assist this family and show ourselves as a resource parent/child advocate and educator of the school system/VI teachers.  Our goodwill and participation or involvement will be a positive mark for the NFB.  
                  Hopefully increase our visibility and cooperation with OSSB and the rest of the state.  We aren't real visible like we were in the past when we sent people to IEP's and assisted parents in advocating for the kids.

                  Since Debbie Baker is retired and a teacher of blind students, I think this ia an opportunity I would like to share with her.  Perhaps she could work with this mom, student and VI teacher to come up with a solution that works.  If possible, perhaps if she is willing, she could go meet with this family in the Cleveland area.  What do you think?  I told Lori that we have our  board meeting this Sat and I would pick some brains on this topic and get back with her.
                  Carol Akers