[blindkid] Leaving classes early

Sun Jan 25 16:37:16 UTC 2009

Dear Kim,
We always need to keep in mind that our kids have on the one hand an
IEP-which means an Individualized education program. This all came about in
the first place because so many factors in a child make it necessary to
individualize things. On the other hand, throughout the process we need to
always be thinking about where we are getting them and re-evaluating-to
compete with their peers in higher education and employment. Individualized
and entitlement do not exist in real life like they do in school.

My son goes to a school with 3,000 students-it has always been that size
since his freshman year. He carries a full back pack and a computer bag and
often his KNFB classic reader (size of a camera bag). The hallways are
crushed and chaotic, but they have a four period day and they have a full
ten minutes between classes. (Middle school was 1500 and four minutes
passing-he often got to class first there too and they had one-way hallways
to alleviate traffic for all) He had learned he could get to the teacher's
better if he can get to class first. He leaves at the same time, has learned
to start packing up a bit before the others, then he goes straight to his
next class, he has had to figure out when locker stops work, when it works
to stop at the resource room on the way or when he should use his permanent
pass during open class work time or come to school early or correspond with
teachers through email. Many do not visit in the halls, but many do, he does
not often, but has time in the classroom as do others because he gets to
class early. He has time then to start up his computer. He does not have big
things to move like CCTV, he does not have any ambulatory or other physical
difficulties. When he started with all the equipment he was a small kid,
undersize--the last nearly three years (after finding he was not
manufacturing growth hormone-he has had growth hormone replacement and now
is 5'9" and 185 pounds-he was in April 2006 4'11" and 90 some pounds in his
freshman year and beginning of sophomore year). So it may be easier for him
now to carry all the stuff, but he carried the same amount while he was
undersized.

That all said, they may not ever have to cram through hallways of 3,000
students again (unless they want to be a high school teacher, smile)-a
school environment is in many ways not like real life too, BUT...someday our
kids will have a job, and they will have things to manage and problem solve
that their sighted co-workers do not. She will have to plan ahead and
possibly build extra time in to her planning-employers will not let people
routinely leave meetings early or come late or take extra time to complete
tasks. They will not even hire someone who they think they have to think
about a lot of accommodations for...and even now blind people  who totally
take care of their own accommodations get fear at their interviews and must
do a lot of reassuring to get hired...I have even known fear in the
potential employer about the blind person needing help to get to the
bathroom and it is like a mental block and they don't hear much else...The
hard truth is as an adult she will often have to go above and beyond. The
learning of doing that routinely and accepting it without anger or feeling
sorry for oneself or making excuses and limiting oneself or asking for the
world to change or feeling all is unfair for me is so important as to be a
real part of our adjustment to blindness training center's training.

There will also be times in her life that she must deal with crowds or such
things, having to tell people "excuse me" and not be stressed about it
is a skill, my son has had to learn to make room without himself feeling bad
about it and to get the others to understand. After a few times actually the
kids near his locker understood and just made room when he came-they didn't
need to be told every time. I don't know if it is possible, is there an
elevator and a possibility of a backpack on wheels? Schools are supposed to
be accessible to stairs.

Please Kim, understand that I am not judging you, or even saying Kayleigh
needs to do it different, or what you are doing is not totally fine and
understandable...again I think you know all the factors and know best, it is
INDIVIDUAL, but I am trying to point out that in the end it is the world we
are getting them ready for and the world is not fair, and within only 24
hours she will always need to do some things sighted people don't. On the
other hand there are some things that are as efficient or more so
non-visually. All I know is that successfully employed well adjusted blind
people live with the inconveniences of blindness, able to view them as only
inconveniences, are highly skilled at planning ahead and problem solving and
get to meetings and get their work done on time-or even ahead of their
sighted co-workers. For me one of the great values of this list or the deep
connection to blind adults has been the feedback that caused me to
re-evaulate or re-think. Many times I found I had sold Jordan short, or let
some sneaky sense of feeling a bit sorry for him cloud my judgement, or let
him have a "break" past the time he really truly needed it. And that for me
became the "test" for me, does he truly NEED it, or is it just "nice".  And
if he NEEDED it today, was it a thing that was temporary and we needed to
move away from with training and practice.

So just because Jordan "does it" I am not trying to say directly to you
Kayleigh specifically has to do it and you are wrong if you let her not do
it, but it can be done, is being done, and will need to be done as a
grown-up and it does not mean it is easy but neither does it mean it has to
be as hard as we think. 

Hope this makes sense on a sleepy Sunday morning.

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 Kim Cunningham
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 6:10 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Leaving classes early

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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