[blindkid] Schools for the Blind vs. Education in Public SchoolSystems

[trising]

My name is Terri Griffon. I will be attending my first convention in ten 
days. I was educated in a public school system, but I wanted to go to a 
school for the blind as a teenager. I got academics at the public school, 
but I was the only blind student, and I was a target for a lot of nastiness 
by other students. They might say hi, but they would not talk to me if their 
friends were around. One girl ate part of my food and placed it back on my 
tray. When I inadvertently ate it, the whole table laughed.Other things 
happened, and by my sophomore year of high school I was considering suicide. 
I was very strong academically, so my parents and the district did not want 
to send me away to the school for the blind. This was in the mid to late 
eighties. Since the emphasis was on academics I did not get the mobility and 
daily living skills I would have gotten at the school for the blind. These 
would have been far more useful than some of the advanced academics. This is 
just one woman's opinion and experience.  I know many will disagree with me.