[blindkid] Street crossing

[Arielle Silverman]

Right on. And at the risk of sounding cliche, Will a blind kid get a
bus stopping in front of his house to take him to college? How about
grad school? Or a job?
Arielle

On 5/17/12, Carol Castellano <carol_castellano at verizon.net> wrote:
> Chantel,
>
> Glad you shared this story.  Virtually every time we or the school is
> ready to provide an accommodation, there is a skill that the child
> can learn instead that would take care of the situation.
>
> Carol
>
> Carol Castellano
> President, Parents of Blind Children-NJ
> Director of Programs
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> 973-377-0976
> carol_castellano at verizon.net
> www.blindchildren.org
> www.nopbc.org
>
> At 03:16 PM 5/17/2012, you wrote:
>>Drake is finishing 2nd grade and this year he had the goal of being
>>able to  safely  cross a low traffic residential street.   He is
>>able to do it 75% of the time - he indicates when it is safe and of
>>course his O&M instructor doesn't let him cross if a car is coming -
>>so we are continuing with this goal.  Once he accomplished the goal,
>>we will change it to crossing high traffic residential street.
>>
>>My sighted daughter began middle school this year and has to walk
>>two blocks and cross two high traffic residential streets to get to
>>the bus stop.  Drake who just finished 2nd grade began expressing
>>concern about how he was going to find the bus stop and find his
>>house when it came his turn to ride the bus to middle school.  I
>>assured him that his O&M instructor would teach him the skills so he
>>could do it.
>>
>>Although I told Drake he would ready to independently walk to/from
>>the bus stop I didn't believe it.  His concerns got me thinking how
>>I would argue the district must accommodate Drake by having the bus
>>stop in front of our house.  I would refuse the special education
>>bus because the travel time on the regular education bus is
>>important social time with his friends so they would simply have to
>>make our house his bus stop.
>>
>>But then it dawned on me I was preparing for the WRONG
>>fight.  Instead of worrying about the school accommodating him I
>>should be focused on ensuring my blind child can independently walk
>>to the bus stop.   I realized I need to make sure his O&M instructor
>>is teaching him the proper techniques so when the time comes for him
>>to walk to the middle school bus stop he will be able to do so just
>>as his sighted peers are able and expected to do so.   It really
>>brought home how important good O&M training is to our kids.
>>
>>Chantel
>>
>>Chantel L. Alberhasky, Esq
>>419 Boonville Avenue
>>Springfield, MO 65806
>>417.865.4444
>>
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>>
>>________________________________
>>  >> street crossings I needed to do for this route were merely
>> residential
>> >
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