[blindkid] Hard Day New Beginning

[Marie Smith]

Congratulations. Sounds like it was a difficult situation that wasn't going
to get better. Wishing you the best on this new journey. I'll bet your
little guy will excel!

Marie (mother of Jack, 4 yrs old with Apert Syndrome)
http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com
Learn more about Apert Syndrome
http://www.thecraniofacialcenter.org/apert.html
Get information and support at Teeter's page
http://www.apert.org



> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Susan Harper
> Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 7:11 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
> Subject: [blindkid] Hard Day New Beginning
> 
> It has been a hard day, but I think a positive new beginning.  I finally
> slept a peaceful night, the first in a few weeks.  We took our son out
> Public School and feel we can't do any worse.  I went to school so excited
> that our son had gone from inside the house, out to the porch, down the
> steps, then the sidewalk, to the driveway and to the car by himself, with
> only a few verbal prompts.  He gets in and out of the car by himself.  He
> can take off his coat/s and hang it/them up.  He is just 3 and amazing
> with
> a cane, his echo and mental mapping skills.  He has learned to trail with
> his cane, etc.
>      At school, what I observed was my son sitting in a wet sand box, with
> his 1:1 aid in front of him and 5 other children in an 8 x 8 sand box in
> the
> school playground.  He couldn't move, let alone play.  When all the other
> children were lining up, my son's aid was helping my son stand up.  He has
> excellent motor skills and has never needed help standing up.  As I looked
> around for my son's cane, I saw it lying on the ground, outside the
> playground fence in the grass.  I picked it up and handed it to my son.
> Was
> he allowed to use it?  No, it was put in his left hand (after repeated
> requests to allow him to use him dominant hand, which he learned to cane
> with) and then made to find the side of the building and trail in with his
> right hand, instead of using his cane.  By now all the rest of the
> children
> are long gone.  When he got back to the classroom, his cane was taken from
> him and hung up by his aid outside the classroom (even after repeated
> requests to keep it in his classroom so he could just grab it on his way
> out, like he does at home).  The the O & M person said that in case of an
> emergency, he wouldn't need his cane, his aid would make sure he got out.
> That was kind of where I lost it.  No I didn't scream and shout, I calmly
> collected my twins from their separate classes and left.  I cried and we
> (husband and wife) talked and decided to end this madness and home school
> our blind child the same as we have the rest of our children.  We couldn't
> do any worse.  I wrote a letter and my husband delivered it to the
> superintendent.  Best decision I have made in a long time.  Don't know why
> I
> ever doubted myself.  But one of ours gave me the courage yesterday to do
> what I needed done.  She will know who she is.  Thank you!
> 
>      School is a few hours a week.  Family is for a lifetime.
> 
> Blessing and Thanks!
> Sue
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