[Pibe-division] [AERNet] Eating with a Fork
Gail Katona Wagner
wagner_g at aps.edu
Thu Dec 18 19:07:03 UTC 2008
Interesting to read everyone's thoughts. As a TVI with 22 schools to
cover, my reality is that I do not have the time to teach ECC, even
though I know it's important. The reality is, there are not enough of us
to go around. The reality is, even if schools/districts want to hire
more teachers, there aren't enough of us to go around. How sad that an
11 year old can't eat with a fork. We see it all too often. How sad that
parents can't find someone to help. We really need to think of "taking a
village to raise a child" approach. As a TVI, I don't directly teach
these skills (I used to....) but we definitely need to talk to parents,
OTs, other staff, about the expectations and possibilities for our kids
and provide suggestions and encouragement. This is just one example of
why it is so important to help our parents connect with NOPBC and the
NFB to find mentors.
Gail
________________________________
From: pibe-division-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:pibe-division-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Andy & Sally
Thomas
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 10:54 AM
To: Professionals in Blindness Education Division List
Subject: Re: [Pibe-division] [AERNet] Eating with a Fork
As a parent, I can sympathize with the mom. I tried to get some
guidance on teaching my child to eat neatly starting at a very young
age. I could not find anyone who would offer any guidance. I agree
that it is the parent's responsibility to teach the child to eat neatly
but it would be nice to have some suggestions on how to make things work
smoothly like using a plate with high sides and the hand over hand
instruction. We have managed to muddle along on our own but it's just
another way that I feel like we were ignored by the powers that be.
Sally Thomas
----- Original Message -----
From: bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: LiveInSpirit at aol.com ; egibbs at brazosportisd.net ;
aernet at lists.aerbvi.org ; pibe-division at nfbnet.org
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 6:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Pibe-division] [AERNet] Eating with a Fork
Hi,
I totally agree. It may need to be the TVI's role to point out
the problem and point the child's parents to resources for help.
-----Original Message-----
From: LiveInSpirit at aol.com
Sent: Dec 17, 2008 7:09 PM
To: bookwormahb at earthlink.net, egibbs at brazosportisd.net,
aernet at lists.aerbvi.org, pibe-division at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [AERNet] Eating with a Fork
Well, it may not need to be that the TVI does the direct
teaching, but he/she may need to be the one that says, "Hey, this child
should be doing this" and get things rolling with mom or cafeteria staff
or whomever is going to actually address the deficit.
In a message dated 12/17/2008 4:15:07 P.M. Central
Standard Time, bookwormahb at earthlink.net writes:
Hi,
This is a trend then. When I was in elementary
school in 1990s it was the TVI's role to teach academic skills and some
associated skills like computers since you have to learn that to do your
notes and papers.
Then perhaps Emily should visit the home and
teach the child how to eat with a fork.
But still this is a stretch. You tvis must
think unless there is some underlying fine motor deficit or other
impairment that an 11 year old should know a basic skill by then. We
are talking about someone who is blind not mentally impaired. This is
about age appropriate expectations. You all can't do it all. If you
start teaching and act responsible for living skills there will be no
time for academics.
I have been on the list for a few years and have
not heard of a 11 year old not knowing how to eat? What is next? Are
people so backward that they let such a deficit slip until the child is
11? Surely cafeteria monitors or someone noticed this before now. When
I was in school we had a few cafeteria monitors.
Of course if you have time teach these things.
Go to the cafeteria and help your students. But Most of you won't have
time. You are stretched thin to teach academics as it is. Is eating
skills part of ECC and social integration? Of course it is. After all
student who eats like a baby or culturally inappropriate ways and
dresses badly will not fit in. These needs should be addressed.
Perhaps an evaluation by a rehab teacher should occur. The RT can cover
eating skills and other living skills. I still contend that the parent
should facilitate this too. After all they are raising the child and
hopefully eating with their kid every night. Another professional will
see a child once a week. So since the parent is with the child more, it
only makes since for the parent to play a role too. Just because a
child is blind does not release the parent from doing their parenting
duty which is to raise their child. My parents covered some basic stuff
like opening cartoons and packages but a rt helped me learn later. Once
my parents saw it was possible they reinforced it. Just say to use
hands on and verbal instruction. Teaching such a skill is not rocket
science. Whatever happens I hope the child learns somehow.
Ashley
-----Original Message-----
From: LiveInSpirit at aol.com
Sent: Dec 16, 2008 10:04 PM
To: bookwormahb at earthlink.net,
egibbs at brazosportisd.net, aernet at lists.aerbvi.org,
pibe-division at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [AERNet] Eating with a Fork
While I certainly agree that an OT and/or parent
may be able to/should teach eating skills, surely this is also
reasonable for a teacher of the visually impaired to cover as part of
the expanded core curriculum. And as far as why an 11-year-old hasn't
been shown how to do this up to this point is likely because mom and dad
didn't read the foundations book and do not know that it is reasonable
to expect the child to do this and/or they just weren't sure how to
demonstrate a technique that works well. It truly could be innocent
ignorance rather than oversight/blow it off. But, bottom line, I
definitely think that there are times when teaching such skills are
absolutely the duty of the teacher, whether that means you teach the
student directly or the parent or maybe even an aide in the cafeteria.
Similarly, it is our job to cover other daily living skills such as
dressing, bathing, etc. Others at the school may not realize the kids
with visual impairments can do these things for themselves. Do some
observations in the cafeteria and you may be shocked to see that your
students, even your most advanced ones, may be struggling with eating
skills and need help in this area. Needs could range from not knowing
how to open condiment containers, being unable to salt food, pouring
salad dressing, spreading butter on bread, cutting meat, finding food on
eh plate without using the fingers, opening a milk carton, etc. These
are all things I think we should address with our students as certified,
trained vision teachers.
In a message dated 12/16/2008 8:48:09 P.M.
Central Standard Time, bookwormahb at earthlink.net writes:
Hi Emily,
It is not your responsibility as a TVI
to teach students to eat. However you probably should to further her
success. Tell the parent politely she should assist her child too.
Explain that all is needed is some hand over hand guidance. My
reaction is something sounds very very wrong.
Why is an eleven year old not eating
with a fork? Is she multiply impaired? Even cognitively delayed and
intelectually (retarded) impaired children eat with forks. Unless there
is a severe disability why is she not doing this? The parents have
failed terribily in waiting til a child is 11 to address eating. Shame,
Shame! Angel has a good point. Parents need to take more initative and
not baby their children unless they are babies.
That being said, I am surprised the OT
does not have a hand in teaching this too. This requires fine motor
coordination. I am assuming the 11 year old child was seeing the OT to
address motor deficits. Can you tell us more such as what the child's
goals were in OT?
I find it hard to believe the only
concern of the mom was the eating issue. If she had not been eating
correctly, I think there were likely other problems.
So although it is certainly the parent's
responsibility, this IMO falls into OT as well. I think I learned
eating skills at home and it was reinforced by teachers and staff at
school.
Ashley
-----Original Message-----
From: "Gibbs, Emily"
Sent: Dec 15, 2008 3:35 PM
To: aernet at lists.aerbvi.org,
Professionals in Blindness Education Division List
Subject: [AERNet] Eating with a Fork
I was just contacted by the OT in my
school district and she is apparently dismissing one of my blind
students from service. She had just discussed this with the parent and
the parent's only concern was the fact that this 11year old can not eat
with a fork. The OT wanted to know if I would be willing to do a home
visit in order to help them teach this student to eat with a fork at
home.
What would you do in this situation?
,Emily ,Gibbs
Emily L Gibbs M.Ed. NCLB
Teacher of Blind Students
586.489.6017
979.730.7155 x11594
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