[blindkid] Leaving classes early

Sun Jan 25 12:09:51 UTC 2009

Well....I guess that I may be the only parent on the list serv who sees the need for my daughter to leave class 5 minutes early. I thought about not posting, but I'm open for critism this morning! Don't be too harsh with me....
My daughter is in the 11th grade and has left her class 5 minutes early since 7th grade. She wears a watch and begins packing up her laptop, books, etc and heads out at the appropriate time (no reminders from the teacher). There are quite a few "sighted" kids who are in the hallway at the same time for various reasons due to injuries, etc. My daughter carries a very heavy backpack with a laptop, books, technology, and binders while using her cane. She is rather small and must lean forward for balance. The school is 2 story and she is constantly up and down stairs. The school is dealing with a huge influx in population due to rezoning with around 3000 kids. My daughter's sighted friends complain about getting to and from classes while carrying one book and a binder. There are times when she hasn't left 5 minutes early and gets caught in the traffic. She has found that she has a hard time getting to her locker as the other kids are blocking her access
 while they get their belongings and they also gather in groups outside of classrooms to chat causing the hallways to be blocked. At these times, she ends up being frustrated and rushed, sometimes arriving just seconds before the bell. Then she is rushed about getting her laptop set up and loaded for the begining of class (Some of the programs and textbooks take a while to load). There is no time to visit with friends when this happens.  When she leaves 5 minutes early, she goes to her locker and arrives at class early enough to still talk with her friends and have her technology ready to start. During this time she is also able to talk with her teacher and get clarification about what is needed for the day and will prepare for it with the appropriate technology. I believe that my daughter should act and be treated equally as a blind person, but what about taking into consideration all the "extras" that our kids must handle as a blind person. Do we
 expect our children to go above and beyond what we expect for their peers? Most all of our kids attend the same class schedule as the other kids, but must also have O&M lessons, TBS services, braille instruction, etc. There are only so many hours in a day to get something accomplished and if leaving class 5 minutes early helps to alleviate some stress, then I'm OK with it, as is my daughter. 
Just my two cents.
Kim Cunningham

--- On Sat, 1/24/09, Barbara.Mathews at sce.com <Barbara.Mathews at sce.com> wrote:

From: Barbara.Mathews at sce.com <Barbara.Mathews at sce.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Leaving classes early
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Date: Saturday, January 24, 2009, 4:26 PM

My advice is to just say "No thank you.". My daughter attended a large
middle school.  She is totally blind and her orientation skill isn't that
great, but she got herself from class to class just fine. We did include in her
IEP an accommodation that she would not be penalized for being tardy to a class
if it was due to orientation problems, but this was intended primarily for the
beginning of the year when she was still learning the routes or if there was a
change in schedule or something that meant she wouldn't follow the usual
route.  We wanted to make sure she would handle those situations independently
without undue stress about being late.  We also told the teachers that the
accommodation didn't apply if she was goofing off between classes.

I asked her about this 5 minutes early idea, and she thought it was silly.  She
also said you would miss less if you got to class a little late because it
usually takes a while for class to settle down.

I also wonder who would tell your son it's time to leave 5 minutes before
the bell rings.  Kyra's teachers wouldn't have interrupted what they
were doing for that.  If some other adult would come into the room for that
reason, how embarrassing for a middle school kid! For an otherwise typical blind
kid, not a good idea.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy & Sally Thomas" [andysally at comcast.net]
Sent: 01/24/2009 07:38 AM CST
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blindkid] Leaving classes early

My son's O&M instructor has told him that next year in junior high he
will be dismissed from classes 5 minutes early in order to get a head start into
the halls to make it to his next class. I'm wondering if most of the blind
kids out there get this "accommodation."  I personally think it is an
opportunity to miss some afterthought the teacher has and to be singled out and
isolated in the classroom. Walking to classes with friends is one of the few
times kids have for private conversations.  Would you share your experiences
with this?

Sally Thomas
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