[blindkid] Leaving classes early

Carol Castellano blindchildren at verizon.net
Sun Jan 25 17:50:25 UTC 2009


Brave of you to post, Kim :-)!

Thinking about some of the things you list, I wonder if maybe her 
load could be cut down somehow.  For ex., does she have to carry the 
binders around?  Maybe she could substitute large-size 
folders?  (Serena used them in high school and college.)  Also, maybe 
a notetaker instead of a laptop?

Carol

At 07:09 AM 1/25/2009, you wrote:
>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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