[blindkid] ideas needed

[Doreen Franklin]

Hi to all ...
 
we are looking for some help with our 7-yr old, first grade daughter who is visually impaired. She needs a cane but refuses to use it with us. She will "use" it during her O&M instruction of 30-minutes, but I have no idea if she uses it, or uses it safely, during the rest of her time at school. Most times with us, she holds it off the ground, like a shephard's crook. She has also not accepted her visual disability and has told me "Mom, I can see." And the school has non-verbally told her that last year in kindergarten as well as this year -- she has a CCTV in class; she does not have Braille. She is being re-evaled this year and I have been told "best practice is to use her vision." I backed off to be more collaborative instead of being near the door to due process. It is killing me, but I want to be more collaborative. 
 
Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you get around it? I can tell her about safety, but I know all she hears is "blah blah blah." She has said numerous times she HATES her cane, and I don't know how to get around it to make her see that she is safe with it and unsafe without it. She has gotten several bruises on her legs and her eye and all of those times have been because she has not used her cane. Again, she is hearing "blah blah blah." She did very well while at the national convention in July ... but within 2 weeks, she was not using her cane safely. There are no role models for her in school ... 
 
Any and all suggestions would be appreciated ....
 
Thank you!!!!

Doreen