[blindkid] Transition to Kindergarten

Penny Duffy pennyduffy at gmail.com
Fri Apr 29 16:39:00 UTC 2011


Ok I don't think i will be that much help but I will try. I had a  sighted
kindergartener who started first grade blind.

I know that it is very important not to forget every child is different and
thats with the individual part comes into play with an IEP.  No one knows
your child like you do.

There should be reading goals in the IEP including math. My daughter (who is
in first grade and just learned braille)  had both in her IEP.  Kindergarten
kids have goals they should be at by the end of the year and that should be
your son's goal.  The IEP is very details about the level of of Braille for
reading and the Nemeth for math she should be in a year. (some of which I
still dont' understand LOL)

My daughter doesn't really uses any technology (there is a clause in the IEP
to use as needed like they added a text to speech reader for the computer
when she need it) She will be introduced a note taker in about 3rd grade
I believe (maybe a little older) She has a Perkins Braille at both home and
at school.  Every child is different in what they need. Those items that the
child needs and the learning medium should be covered in the functional
visual assessment. Thats a very important thing to have

How often will the child see the TVI.. This seems to be different for every
single child.  My daughter sees her 1 hour a day 5x a week.

Don't forget Orientation and Mobility goals.  Its an area that gets
forgotten sometime depending on how much experience the school district has
with visually impaired students. My daughter sees her O & M once a week and
uses a cane. She doesn't always need it but O & M is important.

Will he need an aid to help convert all material and give him any extra help
he may need.  A child in kindergarten should already be learning some
independence its really important they don't over help but its also very
important that all the materials are  the right format for him.  Abby's aid
spend half her time not even in the room with her but converting and
brailling papers and books.

Its reasonable to expect that everything everyone else does in the classroom
your child is able to do some how.  Even fluff work.

Oh I had them add outreach programs to the IEP. We live pretty close to
Perkins School and they have these great programs during weekends look and
see if the local schools for the blind has something like that and see
if the school district will pay for them.

Its always  better to try and ask then not ask at all. Don't lower your
expectations. Don't let the school lower them ether.

Thats all I have to to share :)  there are some wonderful resources for IEPs
I don't know where to direct you.  We just did our IEP in November and I was
pretty clueless.
-- 
--Penny
----------
Adventures with Abby - visionfora.blogspot.com

On Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 11:50 AM, Erin Teply <eteply at cfl.rr.com> wrote:

> I am preparing for our IEP roll-up meeting as my son Max will be starting
> kindergarten next year.  He is my first child to attend public school, so
> the process is new to me and I have so many questions around how they place
> kids in the classroom, what they consider, etc.   I also have questions as
> to what 'should be' on his IEP as educational goals aren't necessarily going
> to be on as he will have the same goals as everyone else.  I've got
> questions on what technology should be introduced, if any, along with his
> Perkins Brailler.  Because I feel like there is so much I don't know, I am
> sending a letter to the school prior to the meeting to make sure all my
> questions are addressed.
>
> If anyone has a child close in age or can remember what they did prior to
> kindergarten with respect to placement, IEP goals, technology and anything
> else, please share with me what you can.
>
> Thanks so much,
> Erin Teply
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