[blindkid] IEP / update

Thu Nov 27 09:26:45 UTC 2008

Mrs. Roxann Buller, an O&M Instructor, would advise you to begin OO&M
instruction with a cane as soon as possible.  Otherwise, she will develop
the unwanted habit of using her feet to locate objects which is a difficult
habit to get out of.

Debra

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Doreen Franklin
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 1:09 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] IEP / update

Stacy and all ...
I spoke with the ESE director yesterday and he said to email him all of our
"concerns" that had not been addressed (simple changes/corrections that
needed to be made, questions answered from all of the evals and IEP's). That
went to him yesterday so we are waiting to see what the outcome of that will
be. There was a lot more than I remembered from a month ago ... but they are
now in his hands. If there is no satisfaction, I will go to DoE (I have been
in contact with someone there) and further if needed.

We have a meeting with the TVI and TVI/O&M to review/rewrite the goals on
Wed, Dec 3 (we are only allowed to stay till 3:30 when their school day is
over, and with my hubby's schedule at work, we will not be able to get there
till about 2:15). Our next IEP meeting is Mon, Dec 8. I am hoping we can
agree on the goals on the 3rd so that on the 8th, we can accept the IEP! 
(but I am not holding my breath).

We did pull her out of Head Start, so now the vision sessions will have to
be done with me as we go to the public school. I am interested to see if the
TVI has "a bag of goodies, toys, etc" to play with as she has done 2
observations for Torrie's 30 minutes a month (Sept. & Oct) and then in Nov,
she played on the computer with my daughter (but have no progress note yet
as to exactly what was done -- I am sure I will have more questions on
that). 

For now, since she is home, we are just going to fill her with everyday
experiences as well as continuing to read in print and Braille (we are doing
some pre-Braille things as well as reading twin vision books from the
Jernigan library and she LOVES it!). Today, she and I made a coffee
cake (from a box) for breakfast tomorrow and fresh cranberry sauce -- she
even soaked up some of the sauce on her plate with her peanut butter & jelly
sandwich! Since she will be home and when we will be out, we will be holding
her hand, I am going to let the cane go for now ... and as we approach the
end of the year (April-May), then I will see if a cane may be in order. I
will continue to push for Braille now because I am not sure of the fatigue,
lighting (she is light sensitive), clutter and spacing on paper, ...how they
will affect her as she gets older and the print shrinks and she has to read
more for school. This will be the big mountain we have to get
 over. But I put this in the email and included the thoughts that hubby and
I have had ... that they are trying to fit her into a mold instead of being
an individual ... and they are only looking at her acuity and not taking any
of her other diagnoses into account. So we will see what happens next. 

I am going to request O&M services for her spatial awareness when talking to
others - she is on top of you and does not always look at you when speaking
to you. That I know is one of the O&M things we need to work on. And I am
keeping my log of her tripping and bumping into things. If it escalates,
then I will recall the IEP team and insist on O&M services if we do not get
any on the 8th. 

Our district is the one where the kindergarten teacher voted the child out
of class ... that's us. So I know they have a lot on their plate with the
lawsuit there ... but my child needs to have her INDIVIDUAL services that
she needs! So we will continue to advocate for Torrie! 

We thank all for your thoughts ... please keep them coming. And we hope
everyone has a very blessed Thanksgiving!!!!

Doreen

--- On Tue, 11/25/08, Stacy Lemmon <slemmonrn at spotlight-music.com> wrote:

From: Stacy Lemmon <slemmonrn at spotlight-music.com>
Subject: [blindkid] IEP
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 2:06 PM

Doreen~

Oh, we have walked this path. Our daughter has a congenital eye
anomaly...she
is not blind, but it is likely degenerative. She just turned 5 last week. My
concern was as the years progressed and the print got smaller in school, she
would not be able to keep up, and with her nystagmus she would tucker out.
They
REFUSED Braille instruction, we had several meetings where I left crying.  I
had
someone from the NFB go with us...how quickly the story changed. It turned
in to
"what goals do you want on her IEP?". It was so frustrating and
degrading to us.  We were deemed uneducated and easy targets...not any more.

Adison uses a cane, that we did not have to fight for, our TVI started her
at
age 3. She does fairly well with it.

Keep up the good fight. I'm always on the defensive and I will not shed any
more tears over those yahoos at the IU or school district.

Hang in,
Stacy
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