[Pibe-division] Frustrated Blind Field

[Dr. Denise M. Robinson]

Frustrated Blind Field 
I receive many emails off the blog site so no one knows their fear or 
frustration. Paras and teachers do not know how to let the district and 
the families they are working with know how frustrated they are with 
what is going on with blind children. They feel hopeless and trapped and sad for the child. Not everyone, but a good portion.

I have paras who know their students are dependent on them and that they
 do a bulk of the work, but they are waiting for direction from the 
teacher of the blind (TVI). They fear for their jobs if the students 
they are working with do not show a good grade..... they are waiting for
 that help and direction.

The teacher of the blind is overloaded with a huge caseload that she can
 only see children a miniscule amount of time each week, more to put out
 fires than really teach. Not to mention she has no time to help the 
para and no time to gain further skills to help herself and in turn help
 the student.

We have districts with the directors, that IF they know, they are trying
 to look for more personnel to hire but cannot find qualified people. 
But many directors do not know. Many teachers of the blind and paras 
suffer in silence over the condition and are not sure where to turn.

As a collective community of people that want to help make a difference,
 we need to start really thinking outside the box...and way outside. I 
see this condition getting worse in many areas, especially now that I am
 communicating and teaching all over this county and in different parts 
of the world. People are looking for direction.

Virtual teaching is a "think outside the box" area that is blooming in 
its possibilities. If anyone is interested in a virtual lesson, email me
 and I will get you going. I have been teaching this way for over a 1.5 
years with great success. Teachers can access more students in one day 
than if they are trying to drive to every school.

Another aspect of virtual instruction is if our community all gets on 
texting, chat, video conferencing, everyone is always 1 second away from
 an answer or the help they need. Get more information on virtual 
instruction at blindgeteducated.blogspot.com or email me personally. 
 
       Denise 
 
Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D. 
Teacher of the Blind & Visually Impaired
TechVision-Independent Contractor
Specialist in blind programming/teaching/training
509-674-1853     deniserob at gmail.com
 
http://blindgeteducated.blogspot.com/
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