Future Reflections
The National Federation of the Blind Magazine for Parents and Teachers of Blind Children
Vol. 26, No. 3 Fall 2007
Barbara Cheadle, Editor
ISSN-0883-3419
Copyright © 2007 National Federation of the Blind
For more
information about blindness and children contact:
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, ext. 2360
www.nfb.org/nopbc • nfb@nfb.org • bcheadle@nfb.org
CONTENTS
Vol. 26, No. 3 Fall 2007
NOPBC Wins Literacy Award
FEATURES
“You Don’t Have To…”
by Carrie Gilmer
Of Self-Esteem, Expectations, and Performance
EDUCATION
The Skills of Blindness: What Should Students Know and When Should They Know
It?
by Lisa Wright
Blind Youths Seek a Future
in Science
by Chris Emery
PARENT POWER
Raising a Blind Child 101: Join the NOPBC!
by Laura Weber
Untangling the Threads:
When a Blind Child has Additional Disabilities
by Rene Harrell
BRAILLE
Toy Review
by Jon and Kathy Gabry
It’s Changed! Braille Readers Are Leaders
INTERNATIONAL
Harmony’s Progress
by Lynsey Scott
TRAVEL/O&M
Functions of the Cane and the Bottom-Up Approach to O&M for Children
by Joseph Cutter
EARLY YEARS
The Blessing of Your New Grandson: Letter to a Grandmother
by Gary Wunder
Learning to Read Begins at Home
LIBRARY SERVICES
Accessible Reading Materials for Youth: The Evolution of the
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Children’s
Collection
Talking Book Program Effectiveness Jeopardized
TECH TALK
Access Technology at the NFB
by Anne Taylor
HEROES & ROLE
MODELS
Blind Student Earns M.D.
by Sharon Cohen
ODDS AND ENDS
Join
the NOPBC
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For thousands of parents and friends of blind children, PARENT POWER means membership in the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. The NOPBC is a national membership organization that provides vital support, encouragement, training, and information about blindness to members and to the broader community. As an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind, the NOPBC is a bridge that connects families to blind role models and mentors. NOPBC is also a vehicle for expanding resources for parents, changing public attitudes about blindness, and creating greater opportunities for blind and visually impaired kids everywhere. Your NOPBC membership matters. NOPBC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
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Earlier this year, the NOPBC received one of thirty-nine national 2006 James Patterson PageTurner Awards in the amount of $5,000. The James Patterson PageTurner Awards serve to honor libraries, schools, individuals, and organizations that strive greatly to encourage the joy of reading across the United States. The NOPBC received the award for its promotion of leisure and scholastic reading for blind children through its Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest, Braille Reading Pals pre-literacy program, and Free Braille Book Flea Market at the NFB National Convention.
The Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest encourages readers in grades K-12 to read Braille outside of their normal school requirements in order to increase their love of reading and improve their fluency in Braille. The Braille Pals pre-literacy program targets younger children so as to introduce Braille as a medium for information and exploration. Twin Vision® books are used, thus allowing parents to read print while the child touches the Braille on each page. The Commission on Reading calls reading aloud to children “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading.” The Free Braille Book Flea Market, in partnership with the UPS Foundation, provides convention attendees the opportunity to browse a vast selection of free Braille books, and then have them packed and sent to their homes free of postage by UPS volunteers.
The connection between literacy and success is undeniable. These programs promote the fact that over 80 percent of employed blind or visually impaired adults report using Braille every day. However, only 10 percent of blind or visually impaired students learn Braille--a statistic that does nothing to curb the 70 percent unemployment rate of working-age blind adults.
You can find information about both of these important programs in this issue. A notice about the upcoming changes to the Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest can be found on page 21, and the Braille Pals program overview and application can be found on page 37.
by Carrie Gilmer
Reprinted from the March 2007 issue of Expectations, the newsletter of the Minnesota Parents of Blind Children, a division of the NFB of Minnesota.
Editor’s Note: Carrie Gilmer is emerging as an energetic and philosophically thoughtful parent leader in the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. In this editorial, originally titled “The Power of Expectations,” Carrie examines the importance of expectations even in the ordinary events of life that, at the time they occur, may seem inconsequential. Here is Carrie:
Four little words, “You don’t have to…” How much harm can be
done by such a seemingly innocent pardon? After all it is born out of the kindest
and most sympathetic of intentions, right? This thing is unfair for you to do,
so you don’t have to do whatever this is. That levels everything; all is right
with the world.
Recently my son Jordan was excused from an assignment at school with the words,
“You don’t have to do it.” His class was to view a film and answer some questions
about it from a worksheet as they were viewing the video. It was a spontaneous
assignment added to the planned showing of the video because the class had been
fidgety and the teacher wanted to ensure that the students focused on the film.
Therefore, the worksheet was not available in Braille.
Jordan has enough vision so that when educational videos are played, he is given
the option of simultaneously viewing the video on a separate monitor. This way,
he can essentially put his face right up to the screen and view what he can--which
even then is not much. He can also access regular print (such as that on this
worksheet) with magnification, but it is very slow going.
Thinking that it would be too hard for Jordan to try to see the print, write,
and keep his face on the screen to view the video visually all at the same time--while
also rationalizing that Jordan, (who has a reputation for being very focused)
is not a fidgety student--the teacher decided to give Jordan a break.
Her offer: “Everyone is doing this worksheet Jordan, but I know
you pay attention and I know it would be harder for you, so you don’t have to
do it if you don’t want to.”
Jordan, for his part, readily agreed to the logic and gladly accepted the offer
that he “didn’t have to do” this.
At first, I thought he had been excused simply because the Braille
was not available. When the teacher explained what occurred (we happened to
have a conference within days of discovering that the incident had happened)
my husband and I indicated to her that we understood and accepted her explanation
that for Jordan to do the assignment from the print copy might have actually
caused him to be less focused on the film. The whole matter was taking up too
much of the conference time and so, after discovering the accurate sequence
of events from the teacher’s side of things, we moved on. It wasn’t until after
we left the conference that I allowed myself to think more deeply about it.
I began to ask myself some questions. Wouldn’t the other students have had to
take their eyes off the film as well in order to read and write on the worksheet?
Might this have caused the sighted students to also miss something as they concentrated
on filling out the worksheet during the film? Granted, they probably would be
able to do it faster than Jordan, but still…
I began to consider what Jordan or the teacher might have thought to do if the
idea that “he didn’t have to” was totally unthinkable or unacceptable--not even
in the realm of possibility. What if, at the start, as the worksheets were being
passed, another student had read the questions to Jordan while he typed them
into his BrailleNote? It would have taken less than five minutes to do this.
Then Jordan could have “kissed” the screen without interfering with his hands
reading and writing the refreshable Braille on his BrailleNote. He would then,
in fact, have the best opportunity in the entire class to focus on every moment
of the film while writing.
What if he had taken the sheet home and simply answered them that evening, while
the film was still fresh in his mind? The whole thing was bothering me, and
I was pressing Jordan about it because I thought he should be even more bothered
by it. After all, he was the one who had been robbed. Robbed, did I say? Yes,
robbed!
While the teacher’s purpose for the assignment had merely been a tool to motivate
the class to pay better attention to the film, the actual assignment presented
quite a learning opportunity. Doing it forced the students to not only focus
on the film, but to analyze it and then go further to articulate what they had
analyzed as they formulated and wrote the answers. There are a number of rather
valuable skills involved. Everyone had a chance to work on those skills, whether
they realized it or not, simply by doing the assignment, but not Jordan. He
simply passively watched and enjoyed the film. He had no catalyst to prompt
him to analyze anything more deeply, and no opportunity to practice articulating
his thoughts. He was relieved by a false idea of fairness, but in reality robbed
of a learning opportunity.
Beyond that, how did his classmates view Jordan from the perspective of “he
doesn’t have to?” This question got to Jordan and he began to appreciate that
it was a big deal after all. How can peers view you as an equal if you “don’t
have to?” What does it mean when everyone accepts that you “don’t have to” because
whatever it is that you don’t have to do is (or appears to be) harder for you?
How often have I met blind children who didn’t have to use their canes, tie
their shoes, learn to read Braille, be on time, or in general to be expected
to do the same things at the same time as other children of the same age and/or
ability? I am sad to say I meet them too often. And what is the consequence?
They didn’t have to…so they don’t!
Do you want to raise a blind child who can compete with his or her peers? Then
strike the words “you don’t have to” from your vocabulary.
Editor’s Note: Too much self-esteem? Is that possible, especially for blind kids? That was one of the intriguing topics discussed this past summer on <teachvib@nfbnet.org>, a listserve sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind for teachers and other interested in the education of blind and visually impaired children. It started when Heather Field of Tennessee posted a mainstream article that challenged our culture’s assumptions about the importance of self-esteem. The article is called “Too Much Self-Esteem Can Be Bad for Your Child,” by Andrew Lam, New America Media, July 10, 2007 (see <http://www.alternet.org/story/56230/>). Ms. Field, a blind woman and former educator from Australia, is a frequent contributor to conversation threads on the NFB listserves for parents (<blindkid@nfbnet.org>) and teachers (<teachvib@nfbnet.org>). Her wide-ranging knowledge, astute insights, and capacity to think outside the box generate many lively and thoughtful exchanges. Beginning in the same order that the comments are posted, that is, with the most recent response listed first, here is the short, slightly edited conversation thread followed lastly by the article that generated the discussion:
Mindy Lipsey, <Mindy_lipsey@yahoo.com>
July 12, 2007
teachvib@nfbnet.org
Subject: Too Much Self-Esteem Can Be Bad for Your Child
It’s interesting that you mention this. My visually impaired son attended Space Camp last September. The instructors praised the children for accomplishing the same thing sighted children do every week at the camp. I disagreed when they called blind children special and amazing for sitting in a simulator machine, or for rock climbing in the indoor facility.
Let’s be proud of our kids for truly amazing accomplishments. My expectations for my two visually impaired children are obviously much higher than the general public. I guess I’m learning what most of you already know!
Mindy
H. Field, <missheather@comcast.net>
July 12, 2007
teachvib@nfbnet.org
Subject: Too Much Self-Esteem Can Be Bad for Your Child
Hello everyone:
Here’s a very interesting article (see below). All too often our blind children are praised as being marvelous just for doing something that’s far below the performance expectations of their sighted peers. When blind kids know that they aren’t doing what their peers are doing, what a strange effect this must have on their self-concepts.
I do agree with this article, particularly as I come from, and taught for years in, Australia. We Australians shake our heads in disbelief at the trend in American schools, sporting teams, and other cultural institutions where people emphasize self-esteem, and where the goal to make children feel good about themselves is often at the expense of a good strong dose of reality.
This robs children of the opportunity to make accurate decisions
about their abilities, and distorts their understanding of the effort required
from them to achieve their goals. No wonder they are angry, blame others, and
drop out when they find that life in the real world is very hard, and that people
don’t like them, or at least don’t like them long enough to build a relationship.
This generation has to do a lot of work to learn coping skills now that they’re
out of school and dealing with real life and the logical consequences of the
choices they make.
I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Regards,
Heather Field
Too Much Self-Esteem Can Be Bad for Your Child
by Andrew Lam
New America Media, July 10, 2007
<http://www.alternet.org/story/56230/>
In the age of MySpace, YouTube, and Google Earth, the space between East and
West seems to shrink. But in the area of self-perception, especially, there
remains a cultural gap that can often be as wide as the ocean.
Take Jeong-Hyun Lim, a twenty-four-year-old business student in Seoul. Popularly
known as Funtwo on YouTube, his rock rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon has turned
him into a global phenomenon. Lim’s dizzying sweep-picking--sounding and muting
notes at breakneck speed--has had some viewers calling him a second Hendrix.
His video has been viewed on YouTube twenty-four million times so far.
But Funtwo himself is self-effacing, a baseball cap covering much of his face.
No one knew who he was until Virginia Heffernan wrote about him in the New
York Times last August. She called his anti-showmanship distinctly Asian,
adding that “sometimes an element of flat-out abjection even enters into this
act, as though the chief reason to play guitar is to be excoriated by others.”
Anyone in the West with this kind of media spotlight and Internet following
would hire an agent and make a CD. But Lim told Heffernan, “I am always thinking
that I’m not that good a player and must improve more than now.” In another
interview, he rated his playing around fifty or sixty out of one-hundred. Lim’s
modesty is reassuringly Asian, echoing the famous Chinese saying: “Who is not
satisfied with himself will grow.”
In a classic 1992 study, psychologists Harold Stevenson and James Stigler compared
academic skills of elementary school students in Taiwan, China, Japan, and the
United States. It showed a yawning gap in self-perception between East and West.
Asian students outperformed their American counterparts, but when they were
asked to evaluate their performances, American students evaluated themselves
significantly higher than those from Asia. “In other words, they combined a
lousy performance with a high sense of self-esteem,” noted Nina H. Shokraii,
author of School Choice 2000: What’s Happening in the States, in an
essay called “The Self-Esteem Fraud.”
Since the eighties, self-esteem has become a movement widely practiced in public
schools, based on the belief that academic achievements come with higher self-confidence.
Shokraii disputes that self-esteem is necessary for academic success. “For all
of its current popularity, however, self-esteem theory threatens to deny children
the tools they will need in order to experience true success in school and as
adults,” writes Shokraii.
A quarter of a century later, a comprehensive new study released last February
from San Diego State University maintains that too much self-regard has resulted
in college campuses full of narcissists. In 2006, researchers said, two-thirds
of the students had above-average scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory
evaluation, thirty percent more than when the test was first administered in
1982.
Researchers like San Diego State University professor Jean Twenge, author of
Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, worried
that narcissists “are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived,
at risk for infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing,
dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behaviors.”
by Lisa Wright
Editor’s Note: The following article is a slightly edited version of a speech that was given at the 2006 convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in Ocean City, Maryland. The topic Mrs. Wright was given was very broad and could have obviously taken up much more time than she had on the agenda. However, in the short time she had, Wright gave an informative overview with enough specifics to be of genuine help to parents and others in her audience. Although she makes many references to curriculum and test requirements that are specific to Maryland, even readers from other states will find this useful as points of comparison with their own state requirements. A former teacher of the visually impaired, Lisa Wright is employed as the statewide blind and visually impaired and low incidence specialist with the Maryland State Department of Education in partnership with the Maryland School for the Blind. For those who would like to contact her for more information about the education of blind children in Maryland, her e-mail address is <lwright@msde.state.md.us>; her office phone number is (410) 767-0812 and her fax number is (410) 333-8165. Here’s Lisa Wright:
When I began to think about this topic, I felt overwhelmed. Where do I begin? There are so many things that students need to learn throughout their school career. So, as an educator, I first thought about the purpose of education. Although this includes fostering development and imparting knowledge, the fundamental goal of education is to provide students with knowledge that they can transfer into the real world. In other words, the real purpose of education is to prepare students for life. It is about the knowledge we teach children in particular subjects, the formation of social skills, the growth in thinking and decision-making skills, and in building the capacity to lead a full and independent life.
The core curriculum is what we expect all children to know by the end of each grade level throughout their school career. This includes the traditional subjects of reading, writing, math, science, social studies, physical education, and fine arts. In Maryland, we have a document called the “Voluntary State Curriculum” which defines these skills in the core curriculum.
The National Agenda for Students with Visual Impairments also defines the need for instruction in the Expanded Core Curriculum (see <www.tsbvi.edu/education/corecurric.htm>). These are the disability-specific skills--blindness skills--that children need to access the core curriculum, as well as the functional skills that prepare students for life. These skills need to be systematically taught to blind children. They are not all learned incidentally nor are they part of the core curriculum. They include ten areas:
Dr. Phil Hatlen, superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, states that providing both the core and expanded core curriculum together for students who are blind and visually impaired is essential to give students “the opportunity to be equal and the right to be different.”
I will discuss both the core and expanded core curriculum that blind students need to learn at important transition points in their school career.
The first important transition point is the beginning of a formal school program--kindergarten. Maryland has defined the skills that children need to have in order to be ready to learn. This is the definition the state of Maryland gives in the report, “Children Entering School Ready to Learn”:
“What is ‘ready to learn’? School readiness is the state of early development that enables a child to engage in and benefit from first grade learning.”
Maryland’s “Model for School Readiness” is a curriculum framework that defines early learning skills for what children should know by the end of kindergarten. Each kindergarten teacher in Maryland tracks student progress in the fall and spring to assess each student’s learning. When Maryland began tracking this data in 2002, 49 percent of children were ready to learn. Last year [2005] 60 percent of all children started kindergarten “ready to learn.”
Maryland’s data demonstrates that a young child’s learning before they enter formal education is an essential foundation for later school success, and children who attended formal early learning programs performed five percent higher than those that did not.
We all know that parents are a child’s first teacher and can greatly impact a child’s ability to be ready to learn. Parents of blind children need to be aware of the skills their children need and the resources available to them to foster this development.
Maryland’s kindergarten curriculum includes skills in seven areas: social and personal skills, language and literacy, social studies, math, science, the arts, and physical development and health. In each of these areas, blind and visually impaired children need to develop the same skills as other children, but notice how, as I discuss each of these seven areas, they also need structured learning and instruction in both core and expanded core curriculum in order to be “fully ready.”
Social/personal: This includes skills for independently
completing school tasks, classroom jobs, and using classroom materials such
as glue and scissors. Encouraging independence should be stressed at this time.
For example, using verbal directions/prompts will facilitate independence much
more than a hand-over-hand approach. Kindergarteners need social skills of interacting
with other children, such as sharing, taking turns, and playing cooperatively.
Experiences outside of the classroom--in the neighborhood and with community
groups--helps children at this age establish friendships and fosters the growth
of social skills.
Language/literacy: Sighted children need to show understanding of print
concepts. For blind and visually impaired children who will learn Braille, this
translates into understanding the concept that Braille dots have and convey
meaning. It also means the acquisition of book skills, such as knowing how to
turn pages and track lines of Braille. Like other children, they also need beginning
phonics skills, such as identifying rhyming words and beginning/ending sounds.
They also need to demonstrate the ability to comprehend stories read to them,
such as recalling details and the sequence of events in the story. By the end
of kindergarten, children are expected to identify their own name and read simple
words and sentences. They should be able to write the letters of the alphabet,
and use invented spelling and some consonant and vowel sounds to write simple
stories of several sentences. For the blind and visually impaired child to meet
these expectations, early exposure to a Braille-rich environment, Braille books,
Braille writing tools such as the Braillewriter and slate/stylus, and systematic
Braille instruction are crucial.
Social studies: Children need to have a basic knowledge about communities, jobs, and rules. For blind and visually impaired kindergartners, early orientation and mobility instruction will help them achieve this knowledge as it exposes them to community environments and jobs. Also, exposure to tactile graphics and simple maps as part of this early community-based instruction lays the foundation for more complex map reading skills needed for later grades.
Math: Children are expected to have an understanding of number concepts. They should be able to count objects and identify numerals from 0-10. The Nemeth Braille code should be introduced at this time as kindergarten skills of numerals and combining sets is the foundation of later math skills. Kindergarteners also need to recognize shapes and patterns. For blind and visually impaired kindergartners, real objects should be used to lay the foundation, but tactile graphics introduced early will help transfer the concept of a three-dimensional shape/object to a two-dimensional graphic for later math understanding.
Science: Kindergartners begin to learn to use tools such as clocks, rulers, scales, thermometers, and calculators to measure time, weight, temperature, and size. Equivalent Braille and tactile tools and instruction in their use should be introduced to blind and visually impaired students at this time.
Arts: Blind students need to participate fully in all music and arts activities. Usually only small adaptations will be needed for full access to these activities.
Physical development and health: These include gross and fine motor skills. Children are expected to move around the classroom, building, and school playground independently. Obviously, orientation and mobility instruction is critical at this stage for student independence. If the student is using an adult or peer sighted guide at this time, the student will not have the opportunity to develop these skills and both the child and the school will develop undesirable habits and attitudes of dependency. Kindergarteners are expected to have independent self-care skills in toileting, washing hands, hanging up coats, and eating. Blind children should be afforded the opportunities to learn these skills as well.
These, then, are the kindergarten skills that lay the foundation for later academic, social, and functional life skills. Let’s move now to the higher levels and see what Maryland requires of students.
The Maryland “Voluntary State Curriculum” (VSC) refers to the skills students need at each grade level. The skills in the VSC go from pre-kindergarten to grade eight, and there is a VSC for math, English and language arts, science, social studies, health and PE, fine arts, and most recently, technology literacy. The Maryland State Department of Education is also currently drafting standards for career education.
Parents should be familiar with the VSC for the grade level of their children. It helps to provide a good measure of what their children should learn in school, the blindness skills needed, and how their children are progressing. IEP goals and objectives can be developed based upon where the student’s skills lie. Expectations of blind students within the VSC should be equal, but at times need to be different, to master these skills.
Here are highlights of some of the cumulative skills students need in the core curriculum, as well as some specific skills in the expanded core curriculum that blind students need to know by the end of eighth grade.
By the end of grade eight, students are expected to have mastered a great many math skills. These include mathematical computations, reading data displays, understanding geometric concepts, and knowledge of how to use math tools. In order to learn all of these skills, blind children need to learn to use adaptive tools and techniques for measuring, calculating, and constructing math problems. Braille students need to know all of the Nemeth code in order to effectively read and write math.
Eighth graders should be able to read grade-level vocabulary and texts with accuracy, speed, and comprehension. It is not acceptable that Braille readers should read slower than their peers. Current research in reading identifies strategies for improving reading fluency and speed, and these should be incorporated automatically in instruction for Braille readers. Slower reading doesn’t need to become a “given” just because a student reads Braille. Other strategies for good reading that are expected skills for this age group are even more critical for Braille readers. This includes the ability to utilize headings, subheadings, footnotes, and the skill of skimming to help gain meaning from text. Learning these skills are slightly different for Braille readers than print readers, and it is essential to have teachers with a strong knowledge base in Braille and reading to teach these skills.
The Maryland science curriculum will begin to have more of a focus in the future as the department of education will pilot our state assessment in science next spring for grades five and eight. Access to hands-on activities and experiments are crucial for blind students to learn the concepts in biology, physical and earth science, electricity, and energy. Instruction in tactile graphics is essential to interpret results of investigations in both graphics and data displays.
By the end of eighth grade, students have become much more independent and are maturing into young adults. They care about the way that they dress and have become quite independent in their sense of style. They socialize with friends, make their own snacks, and travel in their neighborhoods and at the mall independently. They should be doing chores at home, such as helping with laundry, cleaning, cooking, and other household tasks. Blind students should also be maturing and developing these skills of independence. Instruction and focus on the expanded core curriculum throughout the grades helps to ensure that blind students achieve these same milestones. They need the orientation and mobility skills to travel independently and hang out with friends to foster socialization. They need the technology skills to use computers and assistive technology devices for completing schoolwork and accessing the Internet. Equal expectations at home and at school and learning blindness techniques fosters independence, high self-esteem, and self-determination. Career education at this age should focus on thinking about strengths, interests, and awareness of careers and future education options.
At the high school level, Maryland’s focus on the curriculum is through the “Core Learning Goals.” Blind students need to continue to learn the academic skills in these core areas in order to pass the High School Assessments. But they also need the other skills and experiences that will help them prepare for adult life. Orientation and mobility should focus on advanced independent travel skills in a variety of environments and situations, and especially utilizing transportation systems. Independent living skills should focus on higher levels of independent cooking and personal management of clothing and money. Students need technology skills to access printed and electronic information, e-mail, instant messaging, and blogging. High school students need self-advocacy skills. This includes assuming responsibility for school and homework, decision-making, knowing about and advocating for the accommodations they need, and knowing how to access the resources available to them as adults. They need volunteer and/or work experiences to learn job skills and responsibility.
Parents and teachers working together on areas in the expanded core curriculum will give students the skills and opportunity to be equal and build their capacity for a future with a full and independent life.
by Chris Emery, Sun reporter
Reprinted from the Baltimore Sun, August 14, 2007.
Editor’s Note: There will be more articles to come about the 2007 one-of-a-kind NFB Youth Slam summer event. But, as we go to press, we were just able to squeeze in this reprint of an article from the major paper in the Baltimore area. Here is what the Baltimore Sun published:
Camp Inspires Students Toward Careers Once Beyond Reach
Dave Wohlers leaned against the cold laboratory bench, gripping a white cane. He listened as the three blind girls across the bench struggled with their experiment.
“Oh, I dropped the wire,” one girl said.
“I’ll get it,” replied another.
Her stool screeched across the tile floor of the Johns Hopkins University chemistry lab as she climbed down to grope for the wire. The girls were building an electrolytic cell, a power source of the sort that might one-day fuel ultra-green cars. Such technical projects are difficult, even for students with good eyes. But Wohlers showed no pity for the twenty or so blind students under his tutelage that morning. His role as an instructor was to guide and inspire--not to coddle.
The experiment was part of Youth Slam 2007, a science camp sponsored this month by the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind (NFB) that attracted about 200 blind students from around the country. It grew out of a larger initiative by the Jernigan Institute, a NFB program launched in 2004 to foster a culture of self-sufficiency in the blind community. Blind children are being pushed to pursue careers that even the most optimistic once thought beyond their grasp.
“The big thing is to inspire them to do more than they previously thought possible,” said Mark Riccobono, executive director of the institute.
Bolstering the initiative are new electronic devices that act as a blind person’s eyes by turning visual information into sound or Braille text. IPod-sized translators can take photos of printed documents and read them out loud. Portable computers known as notetakers can store reams of information--novels, scientific data and personal reminders--then reproduce it instantly as lines of Braille. And talking instruments can tell blind scientists the color, temperature, and weight of chemical compounds.
NFB officials say the combination of technology and hands-on lab experience will boost blind students’ confidence. Wohlers hopes that will help them overcome hurdles similar to those that nearly kept him out of science. “ If you can feed the thinking by doing it physically,” he said, “somehow you have a recognition that ‘I can do this.’”
Such surety was hard won for Wohlers, who was completely blind by age eight, the result of a genetic condition that caused cancerous tumors to form on his retinas.
He first developed a keen interest in chemistry while attending a school for the blind in Vinton, Iowa. “I loved the competition in the classroom,” he recalled. “And I loved the idea of synthesizing something new that nobody had made before. “Aptitude tests also showed he might make a good scientist.
But Wohlers had never heard of a blind chemist and neither, it seemed, had anyone else. Back then, “blind scientist” sounded like a virtual impossibility. When his high school guidance counselor told him it was too bad he couldn’t go into chemistry, Wohlers didn’t think to ask why he couldn’t. “I just didn’t know anybody who did that,” he said. “ If you were good, you were a teacher. If you were special good, maybe you were a lawyer. Otherwise, you were a piano tuner or broom maker, or some other manufacturing job.”
In 1970, he entered the University of Iowa as an economics and business major, thinking it was a practical field for a blind man. He soon discovered he had made a mistake. “I just couldn’t stand reading that stuff, and I couldn’t motivate myself,” he said. “I realized that maybe I wasn’t following my bliss.”
After failing an economics exam, he switched to a double major in chemistry and mathematics despite his misgivings about science as a career. “There were no guarantees I could do the lab work,” he said. “We didn’t even have microcomputers then. I just had faith that someday there would be a solution, that the technology would catch up.”
Other students acted as Wohlers’ eyes in the laboratory. They handled the chemicals, mixed the various reagents, and measured the products. Wolhers was the brains behind the operation, telling the volunteers what to do at each step. He learned a lesson about science that would carry him through his career: The lead scientist doesn’t have to do the laboratory grunt work. “It quickly became very apparent that chemistry is a cerebral sport,” he said, “and not hand-to-hand combat.”
Wolhers decided he would need to be the boss--managing the ideas, people, and data, while delegating the bench work to sighted assistants. He could be intellectually immersed in the work, if not physically connected to research. But not everyone was convinced a blind man could do science. Wolhers discovered this when he applied to the graduate program at Iowa State University’s chemistry department.
Iowa State was the professional home of Henry Gilman, a pioneering organic chemist who had gone blind in 1947, about a third of the way through his career. Known as a stern taskmaster who demanded much of his graduate assistants, Gilman published more than five hundred papers after losing his sight. In 1977, he was awarded the Priestley Medal, the American Chemical Society’s highest honor.
Despite that precedent, Iowa State turned down Wohlers’ application. “ They wrote me back a rejection letter saying they didn’t think people who are blind can do chemistry,” he said. “The recruitment committee must not have known Henry was on their faculty.”
The chemistry department at Kansas State University saw things differently and accepted him into their graduate program.
Wohlers’ graduate research focused on inorganic synthesis and photochemistry, the study of how light alters a substance’s chemical properties. As in his days as an undergraduate science major, he directed the intellectual orchestra while assistants played the laboratory instruments.
“It took longer, no question,” he said, “and I didn’t produce as much work as the next guy, but I did enough to get the job done for a Ph.D.”
He parlayed his doctorate into a faculty position in the chemistry department at Truman State University in Missouri, where he still teaches. “I’m not the first blind chemist and I’m not the only blind chemist,” said Wohlers, fifty-five, “but I’m one of the few blind chemists.”
He hopes programs such as the Youth Slam will help increase those numbers by raising blind students’ expectations for themselves and giving them hands-on lab experience.
The students in the Johns Hopkins lab that muggy morning were working mostly on their own to construct the fuel cells. The three girls across the bench from him were making steady progress despite their early difficulties. Two were high school students, both seventeen and considering science careers. Courtney Lee, from Seattle, wanted to be a chemist, and Colleen McBride, from Madison, New Jersey, thought she would make a good biologist, or maybe a doctor.
The third member of the group was Heather Oklak, twenty, a blind business major at Indiana University who volunteered to act as the younger girls’ mentor. They found the dropped wiring and combined it with a battery and saltwater solution to simulate the storage of energy in a hydrogen fuel cell car.
“It’s going to smell like chlorine and it’s going to bubble,” said Oklak as they applied electric current to the salt water.
“Oh, yeah, it’s working,” McBride said.” It smells like a pool!”
“It’s sodium chloride,” Lee said,” so that makes sense.”
After a minute of charging their fuel cell, they hooked it up to a talking voltmeter, a device that measures the energy stored in the cell.
“Zero point zero nine four,” the machine said in a computer voice.
“What’d it say--zero point zero four nine?” McBride asked.
“No, I think it was zero point four eight zero,” Lee replied.
Standing farther away now, Wohlers remained silent, letting the young scientists learn their lessons the hard way.
by Laura Weber
Editor’s Note: Laura Weber is the president of the Texas Parents of Blind Children (TPoBC), a division of the NFB of Texas and one of the newest affiliates of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC). Texas will be the host of the 2008 NFB Convention, and Laura and our Texas parents will be on hand to help make it the best convention ever for families of blind children. For more information about the TPoBC, contact Laura Weber by phone at (832) 971-7571 or by e-mail at <weberfam07@houston.rr.com>. Here is what Laura has to say about her experiences as the mom of a blind daughter, and what she has gained from her membership in the NOPBC:
When we took our daughter to her two-month checkup, I mentioned to her pediatrician that her eyes seemed to jerk and that she wasn’t visually tracking things yet. She wasn’t on track with the developmental checklists and, although I wasn’t too worried, something didn’t seem right.
Our doctor told us that the involuntary eye movement was known as nystagmus, and he got us an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist that very same day. I guess I should have realized that something was up for us to get an appointment so soon, but I still wasn’t overly worried. The ophthalmologist confirmed the nystagmus and after examining her, told us that Lindsay was extremely farsighted. She rapidly ran down a laundry list of conditions that might be causing the nystagmus, and told us to come back when Lindsay was six months old. We left the office feeling confused and frustrated, but we thought that being farsighted wasn’t that bad. She would just have to wear glasses, right? Wrong.
We got a copy of the ophthalmologist’s records and showed it to a friend of ours who is an optometrist. Jotted to the side of the exam notes were the words “possible Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis.” Huh? The doctor never mentioned that in the exam. We started researching on the Internet, and what we found was very frightening.
Unable to wait another four months, we made an appointment with another pediatric ophthalmologist for a second opinion. He told us that he agreed with the diagnosis that had been jotted in her chart, and said that we should probably start looking into things like Braille. But, like the first ophthalmologist, he never used the word blind. Then he ushered us to the front desk to pay our bill, and sent us on our way. That was it. That was how we found out that our beautiful, healthy, and perfect baby was blind. And, apparently, that’s where the doctors felt their obligations ended. We were never referred to early childhood intervention services. We were never referred to a parent support group. We were never given books, brochures, or a list of references. We were just sent home.
We were devastated. We were lost. We felt like all the dreams we had for our daughter’s future were crushed. And everyone around us contributed to that thinking. Some friends sent us flowers. A neighbor from down the street whom we had never even met, heard about Lindsay through the grapevine and brought us a daily meditation sympathy calendar. People offered to cook for us. Everyone said how sorry he or she was. Now please don’t think that I didn’t appreciate their attempts at being supportive but, in retrospect, they treated us exactly like a family whose child has died. And that’s how we felt.
I started searching the Internet for support groups and information, and I became more depressed. I read articles about blindness that reported the low employment rate and high illiteracy rate among blind adults. I met other parents of blind children, and the message I got from them was how hard things were going to be. They talked about IEPs and ARDs and CTVIs and COMS--and lots of other acronyms that flew right over my head. They told me that I would be in a constant battle with the school system and with insurance companies to get Lindsay the services she needed. They told me my daughter would be discriminated against, and I’d need to become an expert on the law and on advocacy. Where was the good news? Who could tell me what to do? Who could tell me that it would be okay?
Then I got in touch with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). I requested information from their parent division, the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC). I can’t explain what it meant to me to hear--for the first time--positive things about blindness and about what Lindsay could accomplish. I read information packets and Kernel Books and presidential addresses, and all of it hammered away at the same message: blindness is respectable. The mantra I kept repeating to myself over and over was this:
The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of information that exist. If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a physical nuisance.
When I first contacted NOPBC, they did not have a parents chapter in Texas. So, I got involved in another local parent support group. It was a great place to meet other parents and to find resources, but something was missing. I wanted to be part of a group that promoted a positive message about blindness, and I wanted to meet blind adults who could help me teach those beliefs to my daughter. A group of parents, teachers, or therapists can sit around all day talking about how to teach my daughter blindness skills, but only a blind person has experienced being blind. I’ve met wonderful, caring, and intelligent professionals in the blindness field, and I’ve learned a lot from them but, unless they’re blind, they are speaking as observers. For many of the things that my daughter needs to learn, that’s fine, but when she wants to talk to someone who truly knows what she faces and how she feels, I believe that only another blind person can fill that need. The analogy I like to use is this: a man can be a brilliant, talented, and caring obstetrician. He can have the knowledge and skills to deliver babies. He can have a wonderful bedside manner. He cannot, however, tell you what it feels like to give birth. For that, you should talk to another mother.
In my opinion, the major difference between NOPBC and other
parent groups is that the NOPBC is part of the NFB, and the NFB’s philosophy
is what I want my daughter to learn and live. I want her to have a positive
attitude, self-determination, and high expectations; and I want her to have
competent, successful blind role models. NOPBC helps me stay focused on my goal
to raise my daughter to be a happy, healthy, independent, and successful adult
with good life skills, social skills, academic skills, and career skills. In
short, I want for my child what all parents want for their children. My desires
and expectations aren’t different or lower because she’s blind.
Last fall I had the privilege of attending the NFB of Texas state convention
in Houston, and at that time, a state chapter of NOPBC was formed. Texas Parents
of Blind Children (TPoBC) came to life, and I was elected president. My goal
is to pass on the message of the NFB to parents of blind children all over Texas.
My daughter turned five years old this summer. She’s slowly but surely learning to use a cane and to read Braille. She’s smart and beautiful and is, without a doubt, the happiest kid I’ve ever met. I feel good to be raising her in the NFB. I want her to have the opportunity to have a Braille pen pal, participate in Braille reading contests, and have a blind mentor. The NFB has all those programs. I also want her to meet successful blind adults, and to be able to go to them with questions and frustrations. I will never be able to completely understand what life is like for her; besides, what child wants to go to her mom all the time? I want Lindsay to go to camp, have summer jobs, get life skills training, go to college, and have a career and family. The NFB promotes all those things. Together we’ll teach her that it’s respectable to be blind.
by Rene Harrell
Editor’s Note: Some great conversation threads appear on the <blindkid@nfbnet.org> listserver sponsored by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. Occasionally, parts of those conversations have enough substance, detail, and insight to stand-alone. Such is the case with the remarks below by Colorado mother, Rene Harrell. Here is Harrell as she describes her struggles to untangle the threads of cause-and-effect for her child who has multiple disabilities:
From: Rene Harrell
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children) <blindkid@nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007
Subject: Re: What do you REALLY believe about blindness?
This is a great conversation. I’m so glad to see this on here, because I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot lately.
Our daughter has multiple disabilities, which had made untangling
the threads of “why” she can’t do certain things hard for us as her parents.
Why wasn’t she verbally on par with her peers? Why the certain persevering play
behaviors? Why was she lagging in certain motor skills?
She is adopted and came home to us at the age of four, so we also had the transition
from her foster home to a whole new country and new language to throw into the
mix.
I haven’t had the chance to attend any NFB events, though I would dearly love to make it to a national convention. As of yet, we’ve never had the opportunity to meet any other children who are blind. I’ve struggled to figure out what is a blindness issue, what is a mental retardation issue, what is an autism issue, and what is just unique to Clare. But this list has been a wonderful resource, and two beliefs have really anchored me in this journey: 1. Blind children should have the capacity to achieve on par with their peers. In Clare’s case, this means that she has the capacity to achieve on par with children who share her other disabilities but are sighted; and 2. Our job as her parents is to encourage and foster every milestone of independence that she has the capacity to achieve.
Truly believing these two things has been a transformative process for me. I can’t say I always believed them in my core. I’d dress her and change her and put on her shoes and always have her hold my hand; and we never made any steps towards anything more. And then, when we really started to believe in these two core principles, we began to expect more out of Clare. Since her developmental and cognitive age hovers around age two, I took a good hard look at my two-year-old son and started taking stock--and started to push.
Clare will be six in September and is only now beginning to talk. She has a vocabulary of about fifty words. But with a little assistance, she is now dressing and undressing herself. She is not potty trained but she can take off her diaper, put on a new one, and then wash her hands with just a little prompting (obviously these are the “clean” diaper changes). She can brush her teeth and her hair. She can feed herself with a spoon and a fork. She can navigate our house. Now when we go to the playground, I take her on a tour to show her where all the equipment is and then push her to do it herself.
She initially fought every single one of these pushes. (Whew! We had some major meltdowns of disappointment and frustration.) But then we got the wonderful chance to stand back, watch her blossom, and see the pride she has in herself when she finds she can achieve. Each time she’s risen to reach a new expectation, it’s shown us that we will never know her true capacity unless we are stretching her to grow. And we gain more and more confidence to challenge her when we see the positive results that come from encouraging her to figure out how she can do things for herself instead of needing things done for her.
She rides a tricycle now, and she is playing T-ball in the three-year-old league with her brother at the local YMCA, as it is her cognitive age. (We didn’t tell them she was blind.) We’ve shown her where the T is, how to figure out where the ball is on the T, and how to swing the bat. The only help we give her is to have someone at the bases shouting so she knows where to run, and they have to do that for all the kids anyway. She’s in gymnastics with peers her own age (either her dad or I stay with her to help her follow directions).
Each time a new task comes up, I ask myself how much of this can she do on her own? We are now working on different fasteners, such as buttons, zippers, laces, etc. She can’t zipper entirely on her own, but if I get it started, she can pull it up the whole way. She can’t buckle herself in her car seat, but if I thread the top fastener together and tell her to “push,” then she can click it in on her own.
I’m probably rambling incoherently right now, but this listserver
has really challenged me to reframe how I think about blindness in light of
my daughter’s other disabilities. I always thought I had a positive attitude
about what blind people could achieve, until I was confronted with a child who
seemed so incapable of doing absolutely anything. And “blame it on blindness”
syndrome runs so rampant that it was hard not to get sucked into believing that
everything she couldn’t do was because she was blind. We had one doctor, God
bless her, who finally looked me in the eye and said flat out, “There is nothing
about blindness that would prevent your daughter from talking and don’t believe
anyone who says that.” This really kick-started us to begin forcefully advocating
against those who want to blame blindness for our daughter’s other challenges
in life. And since then, her quality of life has dramatically increased.
So THANK YOU all on this listserver, because you’ve been such an encouragement!
:-) Rene
by Jon and Kathy Gabry
Editor’s Note: Kathy Gabry is a parent leader in the New Jersey affiliate of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children, and Jon is her teenage son. Jon was featured in the Summer 2006 issue of Future Reflections (volume 25, number 2) in an article about the technology he uses as a deaf-blind high school student. In planning for this issue, I sent out a request for volunteer toy reviewers, and Kathy and Jon took on the challenge. Here are their reviews of the following educational Braille toy product:
Greggo Magnets, Inc.
8 West 43rd Street
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55409
Phone: (612) 824-1782, Fax: (612) 824-1794
<GreggoMagnets.com>
Item #GM-23 Magnetic Braille, Retail: $12.50
One set includes sixty-three one-inch brightly colored squares--lime green, purple, red, blue, aqua, yellow, among others--with both jumbo Braille and colorful print letters. One set includes two full alphabets, punctuation, the number symbol, and the capital letter symbol.
Jon’s review:
I like the Braille magnets a lot because they are very clear, big, and easy
to read and feel. I used the Braille rather than the letters to make words because
it was too hard for me to see the print letters. I made messages in both contracted
and uncontracted Braille. I think the magnets were a little weak, but they were
okay.
I think I liked this toy so much because it is the first time that I ever saw big Braille on a toy. I think children in preschool through third grade would probably enjoy these magnets a lot. The set would also be a good toy for sisters, brothers, and friends because they could learn Braille and make fun messages too. I think every young blind child should get these magnets for Christmas or as a birthday gift.
Kathy’s review:
Jon and I have had a good time playing with the Greggo Magnets for a couple
of months. They’ve been a colorful and fun addition to our refrigerator.
As a sighted person, I would rather have seen more vowels and commonly used consonants like r, s, t, l, n, e, and a than two each of x, q, and z. I also would have liked to have seen commonly used contractions like and and the, and I was a bit miffed that when I opened the box, I didn’t see any contractions. Yet, when I mentioned this to Jon, he quickly told me that I was mistaken; that there were contractions. He pointed out the b for but, the c for can, and a rotated y for and. Then he quickly found the Brailled letters to spell my name. In Braille it was just fine, but in print it was: k,tjy.
What? Does that really read kathy? It sure does. He used a k, he rotated the comma to make an a, he used a t, he rotated a j to make an h, and he used a y. He then wrote his friend Megan’s name, and in print it read: meg(blank)z (m--e--g--rotated symbol for caps--rotated z to make an n).
For a sighted person, looking at Braille messages that in print absolutely doesn’t make sense--like those above--could prove rather confusing, but it also presents--as Jon says--an opportunity to really begin learning Braille. Using the magnets as a communication tool in school could definitely send some confusing messages to a sighted child, but an understanding, thoughtful teacher could provide feedback and insight when the kids were making messages.
Jon mentioned that the magnets were a little weak, and I agree. We weren’t able to use them on the front of our refrigerator, which has a textured surface; we had to use them on the side, which has a flat surface.
My other complaint about the magnets is that on some of the squares there is very little contrast between the background color and the color of the print letter. For example, there is a green letter on an aqua square, a red letter on a purple square, and a brown letter on a red square.
All in all, we’ve had a lot of fun with the magnets. The price is right, and my son enjoys them. As long as you’re comfortable with rotating the print letters to find a Braille letter or contraction, you’ll have loads of fun making short messages on your family refrigerator.
Bigger, Better Prizes
Date Change
New Features
Revised Rules
Information and forms are available online at: www.nfb.org/nfb/NOPBC_Braille_Readers_Are_Leaders.asp
Paper forms may be requested by e-mail, mail, telephone, and
fax from:
BrailleReadersAreLeaders@nfb.org
Braille Contest
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314, extensions 2360 or 2361
Fax: (410) 659-5129
by Lynsey Scott
Introduction
by Barbara Cheadle, President, National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
The Internet is an amazing communication tool. It is, without any deliberate or conscious effort on our part, circulating the Federation message and philosophy about blindness to thousands of parents of blind children all over the world. Several parents in the United Kingdom (UK)--which includes England, Scotland, and Wales--read Future Reflections and our other literature online, and also participate in the NOPBC’s blindkid listserver. One such mum (or mom, as we say in America) is Lynsey Scott. She thinks our approach to blindness makes sense, and, despite resistance from the blindness establishment, is teaching her blind daughter (who has a little bit of vision) Braille and the use of the long white cane.
But Mrs. Scott is also trying to help other children in the UK. A Braille petition created by Harmony’s mum and other parents in the UK has received nearly 3,000 signatures and the parents continue to ask why registered blind children are not learning Braille, even when they cannot keep up with their peers by print alone. UK citizens can sign the online petition until the 27th of August. For more information go to <http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveBraille/>.
Although the Federation’s Braille Readers Are Leaders contest and Braille Reading Pals program do not operate outside the USA and Canada, Mrs. Scott found out about it, and, with our permission and some creativity on her part, used the materials in the program to help her daughter improve her Braille skills and also to raise funds to get important Braille technology. Here’s what Lynsey Scott, an English mum, has to say about her daughter’s progress:
Lynsey Scott: Harmony is six years old and home educated. She is registered
as blind and is learning to read and write with both print and Braille, despite
being told by professionals not to bother with Braille. She took part in the
American NFB Braille Readers Are Leaders 2006 Braille Reading Pals program in
order to raise awareness about Braille in the UK and to raise money for her
own Mountbatten Brailler. Harmony completed her program in January 2007, and
received a certificate from the National Federation of the Blind in America.
Harmony was sponsored by friends and family for taking part
in the NFB program, and raised nearly enough money to buy her Mountbatten. Victa,
a charity for visually impaired children, agreed to pay the remaining cost.
Harmony received her Mountbatten Brailler in June because it had to be shipped
from Australia where they are made. Harmony also met the lady who sells the
Mountbatten here in the UK, Patricia Fraser; she moved here recently, and works
for Quantum Technologies, creators of the Mountbatten.
Here’s what the National Federation of the Blind (USA) says about Braille and
why they conduct the Braille Readers Are Leaders program. This is from the NFB
Web site, <www.nfb.org>:
The purpose of the Braille Readers Are Leaders program is to help blind and visually impaired children become good Braille readers. Good readers have confidence in themselves and in their abilities to learn and to adapt to new situations throughout their lifetimes. Furthermore, Braille literacy is one of the highest predictors of success in later life for blind students. It’s estimated that about eighty-five percent of blind and visually impaired people who are employed are Braille readers.
However, many parents and children do not know that Braille is a viable alternative to print or that Braille readers can be competitive with print readers. Too many blind children graduate from school with low expectations for themselves as readers. The Braille Readers Are Leaders program generates enthusiasm, raises expectations, and instils pride as children come to realize that reading Braille is fun and rewarding.
PVIC (Parents of Visually Impaired Children) is a UK-based online
yahoo group set up by Harmony’s mum for parents of visually impaired children
and visually impaired adults who wish to support parents and share positive
experiences: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PVIC/>.
VIC is the ‘sister’ group to PVIC and is a place for parents and professionals
(teachers, staff, and volunteers working with visually impaired children and
their families): <http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/visuallyimpairedchildren/>.
Excerpts from
Independent Movement and Travel in Blind Children: A Promotion Model
A Volume in Critical Concerns in Blindness
by Joseph Cutter
Introduction and Review
by Barbara Cheadle, Editor, Future Reflections
President, National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
Independent Movement and Travel in Blind Children: A Promotion
Model
A Volume in Critical Concerns in Blindness
by Joseph Cutter
Includes bibliographical references
Copyright 2007 IAP--Information Age Publishing, Inc.
ISBN 13: 978-1-59311-603-3 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-59311-604-0 (hardcover)
331 pages, large print font, black and white photos.
Hardback and paperback editions are available for purchase from IAP at <www.infoagepub.com> (search by author, Cutter). Paperback copies are also available from the NFB Independence Market: <IndependenceMarket@nfb.org>, fax (410) 685-2340, phone (410) 659-9314, extension 2216.
Joe Cutter has finally done it. He’s written a book with answers to the questions that parents have been asking ever since the NFB revolutionized orientation and mobility (O&M) for blind kids by being the first to produce and promote kid-size canes for toddlers on up. For years, parents have been asking: When is a child ready for a cane? What kind of cane should she use? How long should the cane be? What if my child has additional disabilities? Our traditionally trained O&M instructor is using techniques and strategies that don’t work with our three-year-old; is she just too young or is there a different approach that will work?
The last question is key to understanding the unique breakthrough that Cutter’s book represents. This is more than a book about cane techniques and teaching strategies (although there is enough of that to satisfy the most detail-oriented parent or instructor), it is a guide that lays out a whole new way to think about and approach the facilitating of normal--yes, normal--movement and independence in young blind children.
That’s what has made it so hard to select a segment to reprint from the book. If we only print the practical tips and strategies, then the reader will not fully understand the vital conceptual underpinnings; and if we only print segments about principles and philosophy, then we lose the practical-minded who are looking for specifics. So, as editor, I determined that to do this properly, it required printing a segment from two different sections of the book. Going in reverse order, the first segment is reprinted from chapter 4, “Cane Travel for the Blind Child--From the Bottom Up.” This is a very practical discussion of the specific functions, uses, and characteristics of the cane, with special attention to its functionality and adaptations for the very young child. Last is a segment reprinted from chapter 1, “The Promotion Model.” This segment is a short explanation of the philosophy behind the practices that are described in the book, with specific attention to the bottom-up concept that Joe Cutter has pioneered in the development of the Promotion Model.
Having said all this, it still does not do justice to the importance of this book. Since movement is essential to all aspects of development and growth for every blind and visually impaired child, the value and scope of this book goes far beyond questions related to the use of the white cane. In fact, I can say--without hesitation--that if the parents, caregivers, or instructors of blind/visually impaired children between the developmental ages of birth to kindergarten could only have one book or one resource to consult--this is the one they must have.
With permission of IAP--Information Age Publishing, here are pages 149-160 as reprinted from Independent Movement and Travel in Blind Children: A Promotion Model:
Functions of the Cane
The cane is a handheld tool used for independent movement and travel. It performs many functions. Under the blind child’s direction, it can inform, explore, inspect, detect, protect, and most of all, facilitate getting to know and moving in the world.
To illustrate, the cane is more than a windshield wiper on the world. It is the steering wheel that can be manipulated to where the traveler wants to go and gives direction for whenever the traveler wants to circumvent an obstacle. It is the headlights giving preview of what’s ahead. It is the bumper protecting from unexpected encounters. It is the antennae receiving resonance information about the sound space world. It is the tires, adjusting to the terrain and providing a smoother safe ride. Like the car, the cane is as effective as the driver who must obey the laws of the road. The cane gets children where they want to go.
Below is a list of the basic functions of the cane.
Characteristics of the Cane
The characteristics of the cane can affect the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of the traveler. As travelers, blind children and blind adults have the same requirements for the characteristics of the cane. These main characteristics that need to be considered when choosing a cane are: composition, weight, length, grip, tip, flexibility of the shaft, resonance affordability, and one piece or folding.
As blind children mature and develop appropriate posture, balance, hand-functioning, height, and size, they will use a proportionately larger cane. Over the years, I have experimented with a variety of types of canes, grips, and tips. I have found that the straight, hollow, flexible, lightweight, metal-tipped canes, such as those available through the National Federation of the Blind, possess the most advantages for the blind traveler. These canes start at about 24 inches and, as their length increases, the overall proportions of the cane are scaled larger. The design of the cane is not altered. This creates a seamless continuity for the child and makes it unnecessary to adapt to a different type of cane.
The characteristics of the long cane can either afford the traveler advantages in use of this handheld tool or not. Below is a list with a brief explanation of the characteristics that have the most significant effect on the independent movement and travel of blind children.
Eventually, a telescoping or folding cane might be an option as a back-up cane, or when the child has developed efficient reaction time and a light touch with using the cane. However, in the early movement of blind children, adults must promote what is known to be best to facilitate independent movement and travel, and which affords a rich and valuable experience in using the cane.
When these characteristics of the cane are considered carefully, we are more likely to choose a cane that places the blind child at an advantage. The bottom line is this: any cane is better than no cane. However, if we are to promote the independent movement and travel of blind children, we should consider the characteristics outlined above. We should be placing blind children at an advantage by using what we know has worked successfully when learning to use the cane.
When these characteristics are considered and built into a cane, this becomes the cane of choice for the blind child. There are blind adults who use this cane of choice every day and blind children should have the opportunity to use it too. The Resources chapter gives contact information for purchasing this cane through the National Federation of the Blind.
Ideas for Adapting the Cane for the Child
To better meet the needs of the child, it may be necessary to adapt the cane.
The cane may need to be adapted for various reasons--hand and finger functioning,
keeping the tip oriented down, and differences in the child’s developmental
level to grip and use the cane. Below are some ways to adapt the cane.
These modifications can be removed as the child develops more advanced hand-functioning and control over inadvertently lifting the cane, or when personal preferences for griping the cane change.
[The following segment is reprinted from chapter one, pages 10-12, of Independent Movement and Travel in Blind Children--A Promotion Model, with permission of IAP--Information Age Publishing.]
The Building Blocks of the Promotion Model
Below are the building blocks of the Promotion Model. First, the philosophy, which is its essence and spirit. Second, the principles, which are the foundational truths that support the model. Third, the developmental perspectives, which are the fundamental beliefs to fuel and guide the model. Fourth, the strategies, which put the philosophy, principles, and developmental perspectives into a plan for action. And fifth, the practices and techniques, which facilitate and put the strategies into action in the everyday learning and development of life skills for the independent movement and travel of blind children.
The Philosophy
Philosophically, we must acknowledge that child development is built on gain and not loss. The adult-centered approach of conventional O&M gives significant consideration to the loss of vision that adults experience later in life. When looking at child development, however, the Promotion Model recognizes that loss of vision does not factor significantly in the developmental gains that children make every day. Children born blind or who lose vision in the first years of life do not experience the type of loss associated with adults who lose vision. These children have not acquired years of developing visual skills nor do they possess a visual orientation to the world that has a long-standing integration into their personality.
For blind children, success is not measured by how much vision they have, but rather is built on how many skills are developed for independent movement and travel. With one skill built upon another, the goal of development is mastery over the environment to move and travel safely, confidently, and independently.
In the Promotion Model, the child leads the way, and if we are willing to learn from the child, many possibilities emerge. As an O&M professional service provider, I have connected with parents of blind children, incorporated them into my service delivery plan, and learned much from their experiences with their blind children. I have partnered with the organized blind that have provided me with positive, skilled blind role models for independent movement and travel. The building blocks of the Promotion Model have been developed from years of such learning from blind children, their parents, and skilled blind adults (the organized blind). Together, they form the fabric of the “nature and nurture” of independent movement and travel. Together, they present a formidable, alternative program of O&M to promote the independent movement and travel of blind children.
Bottom-Up
The child is not born with concepts of the world. The baby is born with sensory systems, like “fingers of the brain,” that gather information. With sensory and motor experiences the child matures over time and gives purposeful thought to what is experienced. One way to describe this process is bottom-up, which means that out of the experience comes the concept. If the experiences we give blind children are developmentally sound they will experience independent movement and travel age/stage appropriately. Blind children will develop the concept or self-perception of themselves as travelers.
Historically, conventional O&M was developed as an adult-centered approach. Its protocols were developed from an adult point of view for adult learners. For instance, the adult was given the concept of a new skill and the skill demonstrated for him/her. Then the newly blinded adult would perform the skill. This can be described as a top-down approach, which means that out of the concept comes the experience. This is a very different approach than bottom-up, which is the perspective of the Promotion Model.
Bottom-up is driven by the sensory and motor experiences of the child, and top-down driven by the cognitive concepts directing the movements of the adult. For example, when blind children under three years of age are learning to use the cane, they will need to be amused, explore, and have fun with their cane. Their movements will be more exaggerated and less refined. On the other hand, these are not the behaviors or the goal of the adult learning cane travel for the first time; adults will be ready to perform at a different cognitive level of understanding.
When promoting independent movement and travel in blind children we need to approach skill acquisition from the bottom-up, making sure our intervention and practice is suited to the developmental ability of the child. Imposing a top-down approach at a developmentally inappropriate level will meet with frustration and disappointment for both the child and the teacher. As a result, the conventional O&M instructor often assesses that the child is not ready for O&M instruction or ready for using a cane. In the latter case a pre-cane device is often used. Within the Promotion Model, however, the blind child is ready for instruction, just not from the top-down but rather from the bottom-up.
by Gary Wunder
Editor’s Note: It’s not uncommon for aunts, uncles, cousins,
and most especially grandparents to reach out for resources and information
when a beloved baby or young child in their family is diagnosed with blindness.
These days, many of those searching for information find the National Federation
of the Blind (NFB) and the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
(NOPBC) on our Web site at <www.nfb.org> and <www.nfb.org/nopbc>.
Some of those who read our material will also send us e-mails asking for additional
encouragement and help. Sometimes these letters ask for very detailed, specific
help--such as sources of funding for medical procedures--but usually not. Usually,
the letters are short and vague. Sometimes a bit of sadness or fear is evident,
but not always. What is really wanted must be read in the spaces between the
lines. One such grandmother contacted me recently, and when I replied I also
suggested (as I always try to do) that she contact the NFB state affiliate president
in the state in which she lives. In this case, it was Gary Wunder, president
of the NFB of Missouri. The grandmother did write to him and, with sensitivity
and insight, Gary read between the lines and answered the question that weighed
most heavily on her heart. Here is what he said:
From: Gary Wunder
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007
To: LM
Subject: The blessing of your new grandson
Dear L____:
First, let me begin by telling you how glad I am you have written to us. We are very willing to help. No one chooses to be blind, and your sadness is understandable. Even with a good attitude and positive information, the grief you feel will take some time to work through. Equally true, however, is that blindness does not have to be the most important characteristic in your grandson’s life, and with proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to the level of a nuisance and an inconvenience.
When you read this, you may be tempted to think you are getting hype and spin, but I assure you that my life and the lives of many others affirm these statements. Our job as blind people, and your new job as one who cares about a blind person, is to make sure that training and opportunity are both made available to your grandson.
It is our job because we who are blind have the most to lose or gain through good public policy, and because we feel a special kinship with other blind people--especially blind children with whom we feel a special bond and responsibility.
So what is good training? For someone like Matthew it starts with providing stimulation--things he can feel, hear, taste, and smell. It means thinking about what others get through sight and trying to be sure he gets it some other way. Too many blind children are initially diagnosed as developmentally disabled or mentally retarded because, lacking stimulation, they don’t do at various stages those things used to judge age-appropriate progress. So, the toys which swing should also ring, the lights can be replaced with sounds, and there’s no substitute for holding and talking to the child. When language begins to be understood, let some of that talk focus on what’s around. Ask yourself: what of interest do I see, and what are people doing and why is that interesting? Then tell him about it.
In writing this out, it sounds like a forced prescription, but what I’m really talking about is cultivating a natural behavior. At first Matthew will simply receive, but later he’ll take an active part in telling you what he wants to know more about. Your job, at least at first, is to let him know there are things worth knowing.
As Matthew gets older your challenge will be to get him into a preschool program, or perhaps even before that, some kind of day care. You’ll have to be aware that while Matthew’s social involvement with other children begins with physically being present, that physical presence is no guarantee of inclusion. When the children are playing games, is he a player or a spectator? Most of the time he should be a participant, and most games are easily modified if, indeed, they require any modification at all.
There probably isn’t much benefit in going further at this point about how to make sure he has his books in elementary school, the challenges of dating, and how he will fill out college admission papers. All the concepts are the same--accept that Matthew is blind, expect normal age-appropriate behavior, and help convince him that to be blind is okay. And if you don’t see this happening, talk with us, the blind members of the NFB, and perhaps with other people if there are other conditions or disabilities that are a part of his life situation.
Just one last thought: all of this will be real for your grandson only if you believe it and work to see that it happens. Matthew will grow up with good attitudes and normal expectations if the blind people he sees around him expect it of him, and if you do, too. You and other adults in his life are more likely to have the same expectations of him if you see them lived out in the lives of the blind people you come to know, love, and trust.
Matthew’s future will depend on the future we together help to shape. Right now we spend a lot of time trying to make computers give us the same information with Braille and speech that you use your eyes to get from a computer screen. Our success will determine whether Matthew gets an education and a job. Right now we’re working to ensure that home electronics are usable without vision; more and more the easy-to-use knobs and switches on these devices are being replaced with touch screens and computers which could, but do not, talk.
When Matthew is old enough to take his long white cane in hand and go to the store for Mom, we want to ensure that cars still emit enough usable sound that he can determine when it is safe to cross the street. New hybrids and electric vehicles threaten the sound on which we have relied for a century, but we’re making important people aware of the problem and they want to help. I was at a conference of automobile engineers a week ago, and they were excited to learn about a need they could meet to build a better, safer vehicle.
I know my letter is far longer than yours, but I assure you that not all blind people are so long-winded. Some are actually articulate and concise.
Please write back and let’s consider a visit. I live in Columbia but we have chapters in many parts of the state. Having your address and a phone number would help and feel free to call me, too.
Warmest regards,
Gary Wunder, President
National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
gwunder@earthlink.net
Learning to love books and reading begins at home long before your child or student starts formal reading instruction. That’s true for all kids and it is just as true, and important, for blind and visually impaired children--including those with delays or additional disabilities.
Here’s a program that gently encourages--and rewards--parents who spend time reading daily with their blind or visually impaired child. It’s called Braille Reading Pals, and the program starts November 1 and ends December 30, 2007. We are in the process of taking registrations for the program now, so we can mail out the Braille Reading Pals packets in October. The packet contains literature about literacy and Braille, a free print/Braille storybook, a reading journal with instructions, and a free Beanie Baby reading “pal” to use in the program.
We have been doing this program for a number of years. This year we want to add something new. We would like, with your help, to evaluate our program so that we can see if it is making a difference and make it better in the years to come. You can choose to participate in the program but not the evaluation if you wish. Participation in the evaluation study will have no effect on the contact you have with the Braille Reading Pals Program or the NFB.
While a prize will be given to those families who complete the program, you will not be paid for the study portion. Information from this study may be presented at meetings or published in professional journals. This information will not include your name or information that can be easily traced back to you.
Please note that we send one packet per child. We have a limited number of packets but, when possible, we do consider special requests, so please explain your situation and we will do our best to accommodate. For more details about the program, see <http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NOPBC_BRL_Reading_Pals.asp>.
To register, please fill out and mail, fax, telephone, or e-mail
the following registration/information/consent form.
Dates to Remember
Registration: September 1 to November 1, 2007
Program: November 1 through December 31, 2007
Journal due: January 18, 2008
2007 Prizes:
· A tactile children’s book
· A Braille Valentine’s Day greeting card
· A Braille bookmark
Prizes will be shipped within three business days of receipt of the Reading Pals Journal. Journals are to be mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to the same place the registration forms are sent.
Braille Reading Pals Registration Form
Mail: Braille Reading Pals, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore,
MD 21230
Fax: (410) 659-5129
E-mail: BrailleReadersAreLeaders@nfb.org
Note: The registration information may be e-mailed, but the consent form must
be mailed or faxed.
[ ] I wish to register for the 2007 Braille Reading Pals program. I understand this is a pre-Braille literacy program for blind and visually impaired prereaders (babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and older children who are not yet independent readers).
Please send me ___Braille Reading Pals program packets to [ ] school/work address [ ] home address
Name
[ ] Parent [ ] Teacher [ ] Librarian [ ] Other
Address
City
State
Zip
Child’s name (first and last)
birth date
[ ] Male [ ] Female
Child’s name (first and last)
birth date
[ ] Male [ ] Female
Child’s name (first and last)
birth date
[ ] Male [ ] Female
The best way to contact me is by (provide at least one of the below):
E-mail
Phone/home
Phone/cell
Phone/work
Note: If you are a teacher or other professional you must provide the following signed consent form from the parent of each child participating in the program. (Please print out additional consent forms if necessary, or we will send them to parents with the registration packets.)
PARENTS
[ ] I give permission to the Braille Reading Pals, the National Federation of
the Blind and to other Braille Reading Pals Partners to use the information
obtained in this program, logs and telephone interviews, to evaluate the Braille
Reading Pals Program. I am not giving up any of my legal rights by signing this
form.
[ ] I want to participate in the program with my family but not in the evaluation
study.
Signature of parent
Date
Printed name of parent
by Jane Caulton, Head, Publications and Media Section, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Washington, D.C.; Linda Redmond, Head, Reference Section, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Washington, D.C.; Patricia Steelman, Senior Selection Librarian, Collection Development Section, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Washington, D.C.; and Deborah Toomey, Network Consultant, Network Services Section, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Washington, D.C.
Editor’s Note: Some months ago I called NLS staff member and expert in children’s literature, Patricia