[blindkid] [Bulk] Justifying a Specialized Environment for aVisually-Impaired Child
Brandy W
branlw at sbcglobal.net
Mon Oct 17 15:22:02 UTC 2011
Hi, I'm going to have to agree with the others in that a typical environment
is the best for your son. While you are correct that blindness skills are
very important for success think about what environment he is going to be
using these skills in the rest of his life. He is a blind child living in
the sighted world, and he may as well learn to navigate the sighted world
with blindness skills. He won't work with blind people as an adult, but will
work with sighted people. As a teacher and a blind adult I strongly feel it
is important for the teachers of the blind to come to the typical
environments. Blind peers and role models are important, but not the most
important for his education. So I'd climb on board educating yourself on
blindness skills, find mentors for you and your child, create goals similar
to the goals for sighted children, and figure out how you are going to
achieve these goals in the typical classroom. When you choose goals think
what skill does my child need to obtain to do this normal childhood
activity. You will want him exploring and playing on playgrounds, and to do
this he will need a cane, and the skills to use the cane, but you want him
running and climbing for all the same reasons we want sighted children
playing this way. You want him to read because you want him to be
successful, and for him this means Braille, but this should mean Braille on
the level as his sighted peers accomplishing the same tasks in school.
We are all happy to help so ask us how will he... and we will answer.
Bran
"When we treat children's play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping
them feel the joy that's to be found in the creative spirit. It's the things
we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in
our lives."
- Fred Rogers
Brandy Wojcik
Discovery Toys Educational Consultant and Team Leader
www.playtoachieve.com
(512) 689-5045
Looking for team members nation wide!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phouka" <Phouka at kc.rr.com>
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 8:52 PM
Subject: [Bulk] [blindkid] Justifying a Specialized Environment for
aVisually-Impaired Child
> Hello!
>
>
>
> My name is Mary Strahan; among other things, I'm the mother of an
> absolutely
> awesome little boy who's visually impaired. Eddie will be 3 in January,
> so
> we're just starting the transition process from early childhood services
> to
> the local school district and learning all about IEPs. I know it's really
> important for him to learn the skills of blindness now to set him up for
> success throughout his life, and I suspect he'll best learn those skills
> in
> a specialized environment (i.e. a school specializing in the education of
> blind/visually impaired children) rather than in the district's preschool.
> I was wondering if any of you could direct me towards
> research/articles/etc.
> justifying specialized environments for blind/visually impaired children?
>
>
>
>
> Also, if you have suggestions about navigating the IEP process in general,
> those would also be much appreciated. We can use all the help we can get
> on
> this journey.
>
>
>
> Thank you for your help!
>
> Mary
>
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