[blindkid] School placement question

Fri Dec 12 15:35:51 UTC 2008

Dear Stephanie,
Joe has made some very good points. It is true that in some cases it is the
best for the child to send them to a placement that has everything there and
often that also includes inclusion in the mainstream at the school with the
resources. Getting all the services and having teachers (and even peers) who
are "used to" blind children can also go a long way towards a positive
experience.

But I do want to add that the level of doing this well is wildly variable
and more often than not the "resource room" is not all they claim. I highly
recommend you spend a day visiting this placement option as well. I and some
I recommended worked very closely with Karen and Steve on the IEP and
placement for their child. One of the professionals I brought on board
raised some good questions to ask specifically when visiting. I will send on
to you. Maybe Karen can share more off-list too.

The director of the program Karen researched of course made great claims
about it, but when Karen visited she found it was not near what they had
claimed. The most important point is that this needs to be an individualized
decision and much goes into it. You need to build an open minded pro and con
list based on Kendra's true needs and what they have available and what can
be required. Remember too that getting it on paper is the least of
things--if you get something on paper they resist or don't believe in, the
implementation of it becomes a real monitoring and continued advocacy
issue--often daily.

Carrie Gilmer, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
A Division of the National Federation of the Blind
NFB National Center: 410-659-9314
Home Phone: 763-784-8590
carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
www.nfb.org/nopbc

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Dr. Joseph Taboada
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 8:54 AM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'
Subject: Re: [blindkid] School placement question

Stephanie,

While I think it is obvious that the law leans toward inclusion in
neighborhood schools where ever possible I am not sure that that usually
results in the best situation for the child.  School systems that are small
and not well equipped to deal with a blind child's educational needs are
ironically perhaps best able to meet the needs in the neighborhood school
because they don't have the resources or caseload to have developed a
focused program.  However, if a school system has worked to develop a
program to meet the needs of a small but ongoing population of blind
children it will usually be concentrated in one school and I believe is not
able to be duplicated in the local classroom with equal effectiveness.  We
went through the same concerns and soul searching with Michael when he was
in pre-K, K, and elementary school.  He had to be bused to the other side of
the parish; a trip that took hours on the bus and required a transfer to a
second bus each day. We had our concerns about the transportation issues,
the fact that he would be in a self contained classroom, the social
implications, etc. but decided that the immersion in Braille, O&M, and other
skills of blindness in a setting where his sighted peers were still part of
the school with teachers who were well trained in the needs and educational
objectives of blind children and a principal that valued the inclusion of
blind children in her school was worth the trade-offs.  In looking back we
made the absolutely correct decision in not fighting the system for our
right to get services in the local neighborhood school. Michael could not
have gotten better services during his elementary school years. I don’t
think I can say the same for the EBR parish parents who choose to exert
their right to have their children in their local school.

Ironically, once Michael's services switched to the schools that he was to
be mainstreamed into for middle and high school everything has fallen apart.
If he didn't have the strong foundation developed in the resource room in
elementary school he would really be in an untenable situation right now.

I recognize that this is not the most widely held opinion but I feel
strongly that at times the school systems are making the best decisions when
they set up these type of focused programs.

Just one opinion from someone who has been there.

Joe

 ,-._.-,
 \/)"(\/
 (_0_)
 /\--/\
(_'^'_)
  /\_/\
( o   o )
 > * <
 _ / /
/// o\ 
/// \_ \ 
//// (_|

Joseph Taboada, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM
Professor; Small Animal Internal Medicine and 
Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs
School of Veterinary Medicine
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA  70803-8410

225 578-9537 (phone)
225 578-9546 (fax)
JTABOADA at VETMED.LSU.EDU

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH)
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 4:33 PM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] School placement question

I've posted before about our disagreement with the county about school
placement for my daughter.  The county wants us to send her to the
school with the resource 
room; we disagree.  Today her TVI told me she was told last week that
the reason is because the resource room school has a TVI there all day
and they already have the 
necessary technology. She was told it was based on number of hours of
TVI time needed.  Since Kendra is a totally blind Braille reader, they
argue she should be at the 
resource room school while a child with low vision wouldn't need to go
there.  I located the section below on the Wrightslaw website. Is there
other language I'm missing 
which addresses this as well?
Thank you.

> 8. What are the permissible factors that must be considered in
> determining what placement is appropriate for a student with a
> disability? Which factors, if any, may not be considered?
> ANSWER: The overriding rule in placement is that each student's
> placement must be individually-determined based on the individual
> student's abilities and needs. As noted previously, it is the program
> of specialized instruction and related service contained in the
> student's IEP that forms the basis for the placement decision. In
> determining if a placement is appropriate under IDEA, the following
> factors are relevant:
> the educational benefits available to the disabled student in a
> traditional classroom, supplemented with appropriate aids and
> services, in comparison to the educational benefits to the disabled
> student from a special education classroom;
> the non-academic benefits to the disabled student from interacting
> with nondisabled students; and the degree of disruption of the
> education of other students, resulting in the inability to meet the
> unique needs of the disabled student.
> However, school districts may not make placements based solely on
> factors such as the following: 
> *	category of disability; 
> *	severity of disability; 
> *	configuration of delivery system; 
> *	availability of educational or related services; 
> *	availability of space; or 
> *	administrative convenience.
> 
>  http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/lre.osers.memo.idea.htm
> 
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