[blindkid] Schooling and State Regulations

Tue Dec 13 14:15:08 UTC 2011

If you can get youtube, here is a channel, that has a plethora of
educational instruction on what children should be doing in school (just
hold down your control and click and it will take you to dozens of videos
on education for the blind:
http://www.youtube.com/user/yourtechvision?feature=mhee

If someone says your child is not ready to do it, show them the videos,
especially the little ones of the 3-9 year old children where many TVIs say
the children are not ready. A  video is very powerful in a meeting when you
have someone say "they are not ready or they cannot do it because they are
too young".

Denise

On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 5:15 PM, Phouka <Phouka at kc.rr.com> wrote:

> Cheryl,
>
>
>
> I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of responses to your post-and
> most will be from people far more knowledgeable than I.  My son, Eddie, is
> about to turn three, and we're currently going through the IEP process with
> the school district as we transition from Part C to Part B services.  It's
> been ugly, so I definitely feel for your situation and understand what
> you're going through.  I imagine a lot of people on this list will say the
> same.
>
>
>
> First:  The IEP Itself
>
> Interestingly enough, the districts don't have as much power as they want
> you to believe they do.  They are required, by law, to give a free
> appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment
> (LRE).  I don't think your TVI gets to tell you whether or not you have
> another IEP meeting.  The IEP has not been signed-therefore, you have not
> agreed to the IEP, and you need to keep having meetings until everything's
> ironed out.  You say you need a meeting, the district says you need a
> meeting-the TVI can suck it up and go to the meeting.
>
>
>
> I highly recommend becoming as educated as possible as quickly as possible.
> As parents and advocates, we have a steep and quick learning curve.  I've
> found Wrightslaw to be helpful (www.wrightslaw.com), and I have their book
> on IEPs (http://www.wrightslaw.com/store/aaieps.html), which I definitely
> recommend.  I'd also say to check out the Web site for your state's
> Department of Education.  Kansas, for instance, has its Special Education
> Process Handbook available for download-the handbook both cites the
> relevant
> portions of state and federal law and explains them in plain English that
> us
> regular folks can understand.  See if there's something similar for your
> state.  I printed the entire honking book out-all 200+ pages-put it in a
> binder, and took it with me to our last meeting.  I think it made a
> difference that they could see that even if I wasn't currently informed, I
> was working on becoming informed, so they needed to tread a bit more
> carefully.
>
>
>
> You have the right to request an independent evaluation for your daughter
> at
> the school district's expense.  If they're saying that you don't need
> vision
> services and vision isn't an issue, it might be worth pursuing the
> evaluation.  See if your state school for the blind (if you have one) has
> suggestions.
>
>
>
> Second:  The TVI
>
> Your TVI doesn't get to decide how many hours she spends with your child,
> and she doesn't get to decide what your child needs on his/her own.  The
> time your child gets with each service is set by the IEP.  You might check
> on her credentials:  what training does she have in special education?  Is
> she a certified teacher of the visually impaired?  Is she also the O&M
> person?  In that case, is she a Certified Orientation and Mobility
> Specialist (COMS)?   You might have grounds to argue for different people
> providing the services if she doesn't have the right qualifications and
> certifications for her job.
>
>
>
> Third:  Moving
>
> We're planning on moving to a different district ourselves, so I understand
> this impulse; we're also on a state line, so I know what you're talking
> about with different regulations in different states.  What I'd suggest
> here
> is to do your research.  Find out what the laws are, but also ask people
> who
> live in the different districts what they think.  We've found that service
> providers can't necessarily say bad things about the districts they work
> with-but other parents can and will.  Call the schools when you've found a
> home and ask questions about their program to make sure it's what you want
> for your daughter (I've got a list that some of the parents at CCVI have
> put
> together that I can forward you off list if you want-just let me know!).
> We've talked to other parents of B/VI kids, service providers (Social
> workers, TVIs, etc.), the kids themselves when they're old enough to tell
> us
> about it.
>
>
>
> The best advice I've gotten so far is to "use my resources."  Do your
> research.  You can do this.
>
>
>
> Let us know how it goes,
>
> Mary
>
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-- 
Denise

Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D.
CEO, TechVision
Virtual Instructor for blind/low vision
Email:  yourtechvision at gmail.com <deniserob at gmail.com>
Website with hundreds of informational articles & lessons all done with
keystrokes: www.yourtechvision.com <http://yourtechvision.com>