[rehab] Special Education Shortages

[Dick Davis]

Hi,



One of the main concerns in special education today is the shortage of
orientation and mobility specialists and teachers of blind children.  The
shortage has been mentioned in professional communications and listservs,
and even mentioned by state departments of education,  but one obvious
solution seems not to have occurred to the people who have written about
the problem – recruiting, training, and hiring blind people.  There are
some real advantages blind professionals have, but two stand out:



1.       Blind people generally know a lot more about blindness than
sighted people.

2.       Blind people generally have more self-interest in seeing that
other blind people get good education and training.



Right now I think we are poised at the brink of a new era in special
education for the blind, one in which blind and sighted teachers can work
as partners for the benefit of blind students.  And Louisiana Tech can
provide the kind of education that will enable blind persons to enter
orientation and mobility, teaching blind children, or both.



So why don’t we have more blind people entering the field of work with the
blind, both special education and rehabilitation?  I think it is because
blindness professionals often have low expectations for blind people, which
is half the problem, and blind people have low expectations for blindness
professionals, which is the other half.  It’s a classic vicious cycle.



If we as blind and sighted members of the National Federation of the Blind
want better special education and rehabilitation services in this country,
we need to do something about it.  That means preparing intelligent,
capable blind (and sighted) people for careers in special education and
rehabilitation.



I know some of the attitudes about blindness at universities (a notable
exception being Louisiana Tech) aren’t the best.  But they aren’t going to
get any better if we don’t do anything to fix them.  And Dr. Bell’s program
should always be full, as should be NFB training centers, which can help
prepare capable blind people for those professions.



Please give the above some thought when you are considering career
choices.  We need more capable blind people in special ed and rehab -- now!



Dick Davis, chair

NFB Employment Committee