[blindkid] Why JAWS?

[Bo Page]

My daughter gets service through BESB in Connecticut.  If your agency is 
anything like ours here in CT, don't expect too much from them.  And yes, cost 
is everything to them.  I've asked for a notetaker for years and they always 
found an excuse not to supply it for my daughter.  I've asked for assitive 
technology and was assigned a TVI who was a "technology expert."  Don't buy into 
that.  They don't have enough time to become technology experts.  My daughter is 
20 years old and has one more year in the school system and she needs a lot of 
help with technology and independent living.  I've tried everything to get BESB 
to help her and they tell me that she can only have one hour of service per 
month.  (If your jaw just dropped, it should have!) If that's what your child is 
getting, it's not going to be enough to help your child learn what they need to 
learn to be functional in society as a blind person.  WE as parents will have to 
pick up the slack.  Don't believe anyone who tells you your child isn't ready 
for this or that.  You know your child, get them what they need and don't count 
on any agency to make things happen for you.  It's all a numbers game--too many 
blind people to serve and not enough money.  I've got 20 years experience into 
this, and the first thing I tell people is that if you feel your child needs 
something, they probably do and do everything you can to make it happen for 
them.  Don't worry about overloading the child.  They can handle it.  Hope this 
helps someone out there.


________________________________
From: b&s <lanesims at gmail.com>
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Sent: Thu, March 7, 2013 12:02:37 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Why JAWS?

I absolutely agree with Jim's expression of "Grrrr," as it applies to the notion 
that cost should not be an issue in a blind kid getting their educational needs 
met…I also shouldn't know more about blind technology than the TVI at this 
phase, but I do - which isn't saying much for either of us. However, this is the 
situation we seem to have. I have to educate myself so that I can then educate 
the TVI on what's appropriate and when.

With that said, I am keenly aware that we can only take on a certain number of 
learning projects at a time. I think it may be overload for Emilia to learn a 
notetaker and JAWS/computer and do regular schoolwork and work on increasing 
braille reading speed. Do kids really manage all this at the same time? My 
thought has been that I'm willing to go with a phase in approach - My impression 
from the comments so far is that maybe JAWS/computer with braille display might 
take first priority, then notetaker once she's cruising on the computer. 
Brandon  


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