[blindkid] PE in middle school

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Thu Mar 14 04:54:58 UTC 2013


Oh and on being underweight, I've been underweight my whole life and I
know it is still possible to gain muscle. Having low body weight makes
it trickier, but it's still doable.
Arielle

On 3/13/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Julie,
> It sounds completely reasonable to say on her IEP that she will be
> pulled for one-on-one during the PE period instead of going to the PE
> class. If she's pulled out, she won't have to dress out at all.
> I think the bigger issue is, Do you like her APE teacher and do you
> think pulling her out to work with the APE teacher would be a good
> thing? What kinds of things could they work on together? What kinds of
> things have they been working on over the past two years? You can
> build on that when developing the IEP goals for next year and beyond.
> Arielle
>
> On 3/13/13, Julie Yanez <jyanez112 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> She has had an APE teacher for 2 years now. My daughter is a bright
>> kiddo,
>> but we know where she falls behind. She is in 5th grade but mainstreamed
>> into 3rd grade language arts and math. She has a memory like an elephant
>> but falls behind on comprehension. She can memorize 2+3=5. But if you ask
>> her to add 3+2, she can't tell you the answer right away. But yet she
>> aces
>> every single 5th grade spelling test.
>> And her physical abilities is where we push hard on as well. Fine and
>> gross
>> motor. She can't gain weight to gain the muscle, and she has other
>> underline issues as well. I would prefer her to just be pulled out of
>> class
>> a few times a week with an APE teacher since she's most comfortable one
>> on
>> one. I know PE is one of the periods in the 6 period classes at her soon
>> to
>> be middle school. I'm just wondering if I can and can't fight for on her
>> IEP. Such as dressing. If I have been working on it here at home with her
>> for years, what's to make me think she can magically learn it in a timed
>> setting like dressing out at school? Plus she gets easily flustered. And
>> that leads to changes in her blood pressure that leads to one of her
>> other
>> underlined issues. Its a vicious cycle she has.
>> I'm hoping I can have her dressing out be something as simple as
>> accessing
>> her own lock, changing shoes, maybe into gym shorts and reporting to a
>> designated area.
>> I need as much help as I can knowing what we will face going into middle
>> school.
>> On Mar 13, 2013 9:15 PM, "Arielle Silverman" <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Julie and all,
>>> I guess I'd like to take this discussion in a bit of a different
>>> direction. I'm wondering if it would be possible to replace your
>>> daughter's PE requirement with some extra one-on-one time with someone
>>> who can help her work on some of these motor issues so she can master
>>> some of these independent living skills like dressing herself and
>>> using keys? (Perhaps an OT, PT, APE instructor or some combination)?
>>> To me, this seems much more critically important than whatever she
>>> might get out of being in a mainstreamed PE class--especially if she
>>> wants to start going to sleepover parties with her girlfriends, or
>>> letting herself into the house when you aren't at home. It seems once
>>> she has learned these skills she will be more ready for a traditional
>>> P.E. program.
>>> More generally, to everyone, I think there is some benefit in having
>>> blind kids do their P.E. requirements in a more individualized fashion
>>> rather than just having someone come into their regular P.E. class to
>>> help them. I'm usually an advocate of including blind students in the
>>> regular curriculum as much as possible, but based on my own
>>> experiences with regular and adapted P.E. I feel that P.E. needs to be
>>> handled a little differently. I'm curious if others have had
>>> experiences similar to mine.
>>> I was in regular P.E. throughout elementary school and sixth grade (in
>>> middle school) and what I remember was either being forced to sit on
>>> the bench, participating with a lot of help from my classmates, or
>>> having an APE teacher practically on top of me aiming throws for me,
>>> catching balls, etc. so I was basically a passive participant. Sports
>>> activities were never adapted, and at times my P.E. teachers were
>>> quite frank in stating that I wasn't expected to perform well. For
>>> example, in sixth grade I was required to dress out, but when we ran
>>> laps the kid who forgot his gym clothes at home was always the one
>>> assigned to be my running guide, because evidently the P.E. teachers
>>> didn't think that guiding me on the track was strenuous enough
>>> exercise to make someone dress out to do it. Anyway you get the idea.
>>> In seventh grade on, my PE requirements were waived due to alleged
>>> "safety concerns" and I was assigned one-on-one classes with an APE
>>> instructor instead. I hated this at first but it turned out to be
>>> great because my teacher was a female bodybuilder who assigned me to
>>> do weight training. I worked with her twice per week throughout the
>>> eighth, ninth, and tenth grades and she taught me how to use all the
>>> common weight machines and free-weights, and trained me to build up to
>>> some fairly competitive lifting routines. Initially I thought it was
>>> unfair to be separated from my peers and to have to come in before
>>> school for bench-press drills, but eventually I gained confidence in
>>> my body and my physical abilities because I was working with someone
>>> who challenged me and held me to high standards instead of just
>>> casting me aside to sit on the bench. In tenth grade the program
>>> changed from on-campus sessions to my walking from school to my local
>>> YMCA to complete the exercise routine (with supervision from the
>>> instructor at first, and then completely independent). It has been
>>> twelve years since that class ended for me, but I still know exactly
>>> how to use all the equipment, and though I have been erratic in my gym
>>> participation, I still enjoy lifting weights and still do some of the
>>> floor exercises that I learned. I also know a few other blind students
>>> who had similar individualized APE programs, some of which also
>>> involved stationary bike, elliptical or treadmill routines as well.
>>> I am pretty sure that the real purpose of required physical education
>>> (for all kids) is to instill good exercise habits and to motivate kids
>>> to become and remain physically active. I question how well that can
>>> happen for a blind student in a mainstreamed class where the blind
>>> student is always at a disadvantage, the last to be chosen for every
>>> team, etc. If others have found ways to make mainstreamed P.E. truly
>>> accessible, I would be very curious to hear how that was done.
>>> However, I suspect that it is quite difficult for regular P.E.
>>> teachers to make their classes fully accessible to a blind student
>>> because many of the modifications, like using beeping balls, have an
>>> effect on how the whole class is run. It's great if you have a P.E.
>>> arrangement where your child is fully included and where he/she can
>>> excel. If that's not happening, though, I think the option of setting
>>> up an individualized adapted P.E. program is one worth considering so
>>> that your child can achieve excellence in the class and learn some
>>> practical, good exercise habits. Of course, this is only going to work
>>> if the adapted P.E. teacher at the school is a quality teacher,
>>> someone with an open mind and someone who believes in blind people. I
>>> also think that sports groups for the blind, and mainstreamed
>>> community sports leagues where the leaders believe in blind people,
>>> are alternative ways to achieve these goals if the P.E. programs at
>>> school are not worthwhile.
>>>
>>> What are your thoughts on this?
>>> Arielle
>>>
>>> On 3/13/13, Julie Yanez <jyanez112 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Thank you. I'll look into it all.
>>> > On Mar 13, 2013 10:14 AM, "Bernadette Jacobs" <bernienfb75 at gmail.com>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Good Afternoon Julie!
>>> >>
>>> >> Don't lose heart Darling!  Firstly, RE: the combination lock, there
>>> >> actually is, (believe it or not), such a thing as Braille Combination
>>> >> Locks.  And they are very easy to work. You can check with Ellen
>>> >> Ringlein over at NFB: 410-659-9314 in the independence market.  You
>>> >> might also check with the folks over at BISM: 410-7372600 and ask to
>>> >> speak with Andy McIver.  Or there's Independent Living Aids.  I don't
>>> >> remember the number offhand.  You can always "goodsearch" it.
>>> >>
>>> >> As for the dressing part, I'm not the expert in that department.
>>> >> But,
>>> >> hopefully, before long, somebody will have some ideas for you there
>>> >> as
>>> >> well.
>>> >>
>>> >> On 3/12/13, Julie Yanez <jyanez112 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >> > Hi all,
>>> >> > My daughter will be going into middle school next year and physical
>>> >> > education will be one of the courses. I have a few concerns that I
>>> know
>>> >> > will be brought up in our next IEP in a few weeks.
>>> >> > 1. Will she be required to dress into PE clothes?
>>> >> > Right now she has lots of difficulty dressing herself. Pants, socks
>>> and
>>> >> > shoes are easy. Its the upper half she can't accomplish yet. She
>>> >> > doesn't
>>> >> > have the muscle structure to do certain things and still had
>>> difficulty
>>> >> > with muscle isolation. Her Dr thinks it's just part of being
>>> >> > extremely
>>> >> > premee and her being underweight.
>>> >> > I am also NOT ok with someone assisting her to dress out. She will
>>> >> > be
>>> >> > in
>>> >> > APE. Is not dressing out a reasonable request for her APE in her
>>> >> > IEP?
>>> >> >
>>> >> > If she is required to change in some way such as just shoes, what
>>> >> > type
>>> >> > of
>>> >> > lock might be easiest to start off with?  I don't know how to
>>> >> > modify
>>> >> > a
>>> >> > combination lock for her, and like I said, she hasn't been able to
>>> >> isolate
>>> >> > fingers well. So getting a key in a lock is very very difficult for
>>> >> > her.
>>> >> We
>>> >> > have tried for so long already.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > What are some things I need to know before we start PE in middle
>>> school
>>> >> so
>>> >> > I can bring up to her IEP team?
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Thank you all in advance. I need to get this all figured out before
>>> the
>>> >> > meeting and before the year starts and we find things out the hard
>>> way.
>>> >> > ~Julie.
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