[blindkid] I am so incredibly proud and need to share!

[Carol Castellano]

What great news, Rene.  We've missed you!
Carol

At 04:12 PM 10/18/2009, you wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth these past few months. My
>just turned three year old has been struggling with unstable heart issues
>and after several rounds of hospitalizations, a couple of heart
>catherizations, two open heart surgeries plus a new baby due in a matter of
>weeks....well, we've been in that "survival" mode I'm sure others of you
>know very well.
>
>In the midst of all of this, we've still been plodding away homeschooling
>wise. Clare just turned 8 and we have been working, working, working on
>mastering her alphabet for several years now. Progress has been slow, but we
>have patiently continued to plod along, hoping to give her every opportunity
>for the light bulb to finally go off.
>
>Well, I have to say that this was the week! We've been using Tack-Tiles in
>combination with real braille, and last week you could tell she was actually
>processing letters and trying to read. I had the word "MAT" on the tack-tile
>slate and I switched off the "T" for a "P" without telling her and asked her
>to tell me what word was there. She scanned the board, started to say "MAT"
>again, then paused and all on her own said "No, not MAT....MAP." She still
>doesn't have full mastery of all her letters but she is truly starting to
>grasp the concept of reading, and is demonstrating the consistent ability to
>read words! Not memorize them, but truly read them!
>
>I am completely and absolutely thrilled. We dealt with so many people who
>doubted she'd ever have the cognitive ability to read, and while it's not
>Shakespeare, she is indeed reading and she's only just turned 8. Here is to
>long-term persistence and effort......I'm just so completely thrilled for
>her! And better yet, you can tell she is feeling very proud of herself.
>
>So, I couldn't help but share. It's been three years in the making, but you
>never know when it could possibly happen.
>
>Rene in Colorado Springs--- Mom to 5, including Clare (ROP) who is becoming
>the champion of words ending in -at, -ap, and -an
>
>--
>" I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up
>where I needed to be."
>-- Douglas Adams
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Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nfb.org/nopbc