[blindkid] o&m issues

[Susan Harper]

Hi Jessica,
   First, good for you.  My son did not get his cane until almost three last
June, because I purchased one.  He is totally blind and now at 3 1/2 very
proficient with touch tap technique and very independent.  He is good at
echo location (but not in large noisey settings), trailing, and mental
mapping. He stopped walking with his head down and now holds it up all the
time.  But I also did my homework first and have read extensively.  Some
very wise person on this blog told me about a new book by Joseph Cutter,
"Independent Movement and Travel in Blind Children".  This is a must read
for parents.  It has some great stuff.  It is published by IAP-Information
Age Publishing; P.O. Box 79049; Charlotte, NC 28271-7047.  The ISBN#:
978-1-59311-603-3.  It is especially good for Pre-school and young cane
users.

     The next book I would recommend is "Practice Makes Perfect:  A Family
Program In Orientation and Mobility", put out by Region 4 Educated Solutions
@ www.region4store.com; customer service #:  713-744-6302.  ISBN #:
1-933049-52-9.  This is a practical how to book on how to teach specific
skills with step by step directions and activities.  It is excellent and
helpful.  Notice the word FAMILY in the title.  We need to learn right along
with our children, as we are there 24/7.  I got this book at a workshop.

     Many children who are born with disabilities, no matter what they are,
will adapt and find other ways without a lot of direct intervention when
allowed to experience the same situations that all children need to
develop.  And some children disabled or not, require more direct hands on
learning and teaching.
Blessings,
Sue H.
     These might be very helpful if you don't already have them.  Keep up
the good work!  As parents we are our children's first teachers.  We get
them for the most important developmental years of their lives.  Enjoy and
treasure!

On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 7:04 AM, Jessica Brown <black22 at localnet.com> wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> I am responding to Doreen's post from October 20th. unfortunatly, I have
> not had the time to read them every day so they pile up. Anyhow, Doreen
> stated that her 5 year old who is partially sighted is not getting the
> services she needs (most important O&M right now because of safety). My
> daughter is 3 and totally blind. Her O&M told she would not be getting a
> cane until she was in school. I immediatly went to the NFB and purchased a
> cane. She takes it everywhere we go. She only receives O&M once a month for
> 60 minutes due to the lame excuse of not having enough O&Ms in the area. In
> fact we were lucky to get him at all. I have since come in contact with a
> women that has been totally blind since birth and said she is not certified
> but would like to help. However, we are not going to quit fighting for the
> appropriate services for her.
>
> Meanwhile, at school there is a child in 5th grade that is legally blind
> that has never received any braille instruction and is not receiving O&M
> because he "doesn't need it". He was just recently diagnosed with epilapsy
> and now the medicine is reducing his vision more! I find this infuriating!
> Just because the school or a "professional" thinks our children do not need
> a service does not mean that they won't someday. If their vision is already
> low there should be no question whether they should have instruction.
>
> Good luck Doreen, keep fighting for daughter and thank you Heather for the
> advice of putting the cane the in the IEP. I will keep that in mind if I run
> into problems with that.
>
> Jessica
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