[blindkid] [Bulk] School cane O/M issues

[Brandy W]

Hi, Yes she should be using her cane. You never know what could be left in 
her path that she may not see. Putting the strap around her arm is a choice, 
but it can help if you let go not to have to find where it fell. I hope I'm 
not the first to tell you this, but 20-400 is not very much vision. That is 
what I had as a child, and my vision has decreased as I've grown older. It 
is hard for a kid with her level of vision to be fooled. We can often see 
just enough in a familar invironment, but as soon as someone leaves a pape 
on the floor we don't see down you go. Yes Sighted guide is important. It is 
just a tool in her toolbox. When one wants to walk quickly in a strange 
invironment, when one ends up with a broken cane, sometimes with a friend it 
is more enjoyable to talk and walk with out worring about protecting 
yourself. You just need to make sure she doesn't depend on it. When ever 
possible she needs to be using that cane and excepting that it is a part of 
her now, It is her eye that won't fail her in poor lighting etc.

Is your daughter beeing taught Braille? The print is going to get smaller as 
she gets older. I learned both, but print was no longer usefull in the end 
of second grade beginning of third because things could no longer be 
enlarged enough.

Hope this helps,

Bran

Brandy Wojcik
Discovery Toys Educational Leader
www.playtoachieve.com
(512) 231-8697
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "L W" <mama2sally at yahoo.com>
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2009 12:22 AM
Subject: [Bulk] [blindkid] School cane O/M issues


> Hi all. We got our daughter Joli’s IEP finalized last week. Monday I went 
> to her school to visit her vision teacher and discovered that Joli hasn’t 
> been using her cane. She has been storing it in her locker. So I wrote a 
> note in her communication book saying that I wanted Joli to take her cane 
> with her everywhere. Joli came home Tuesday saying that her O/M teacher 
> told her that her classes are so close together she could just leave the 
> cane in her homeroom. She also told Joli to stick her hand through the 
> strap and wear it like a bracelet so she wouldn’t drop it in dog poop. The 
> O/M teacher’s concern seems to be that Joli isn’t properly using the cane 
> at school. Is this normal / common? Am I missing something? I want Joli to 
> use the cane at school even though it is a familiar environment because I 
> want Joli to get into the habit of always taking her cane with her. Joli 
> has had her cane for almost 1 month.
> Also I just noticed on her IEP it says she will learn sighted guide 
> technique. I am not sure I see the point of that. Joli is 8 and her vision 
> is 20/400. Maybe I am not understanding what sighted guide technique is, 
> but as I understand it, it’s taking somebody’s arm and letting them lead 
> you? If she were younger or her vision were worse maybe I would see more 
> of a point to this, but now I would rather place more emphasis on cane 
> travel and on things like safely crossing the road. Must admit during the 
> IEP process (it’s our 1st time doing the IEP) I was so focused on getting 
> the technology she needs and the enlargements and getting extra reading 
> help as Joli also has dyslexia, that I sort of didn’t pay attention to the 
> O/M side of things as much as I guess I should have. I am wondering if 
> this sighted guide technique is something I should fight to have changed, 
> which I guess would mean calling another IEP meeting, or if it’s something
> Joli could benefit from.
> Thanks for any advice,
> Lauren
>
>
>
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