[blindkid] Do blind kids need personal aides in school?

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all,

I'm on another listserv with primarily parents of blind children (it's
a support list for families of people with Lebers congenital
amaurosis, and not affiliated with NFB or any other consumer group).
Anyway, a bunch of the parents on the list have kids who are just
starting preschool or kindergarten, and they've been talking about
school arrangements and services (how much Braille instruction time to
get, etc.) Some of these parents are saying that their kids have an
"aide", or a paraprofessional who doesn't actually teach skills like
Braille, with them in the classroom for part or all of the school day.
Some other parents are asking whether or not the aide is necessary and
I'd like to offer some advice, but I'm not quite sure what to tell
them. Is it typical for blind kids in public schools (with no
additional disabilities) to have classroom aides? If so, what does the
aide do, and do you feel the aide is beneficial?

My intuition is that aides who don't actually teach alternative
skills, but who simply act as the child's "eyes", are unnecessary and
could promote superfluous dependence. But, I'm not a parent or a
teacher, so perhaps the aide does serve a legitimate purpose that I'm
not aware of?

Thanks for your guidance on this matter.

Arielle

-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org