[rehab] Special Education Shortages

[adrijana prokopenko]

I agree with this, but most sighted people wouldn't give us the credit
for this and would think that no one would find it safe to travel with
a blind instructor, just as they would find it unsafe to go to a blind
doctor or dentist.

On 1/8/16, Dick Davis via rehab <rehab at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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
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