Are Your Children's Books On Time?

We are approaching an exciting time of the year-- a new school year! Whatever grade your child is entering, whatever transitions they are making--it's vital that we as parents are advocating a and ensuring their needs will be met. You ask, isn't that what an IEP is for? Technically yes. But what about reality? What can you do at the beginning of the year?

The biggest and most recent complaint I have heard from parents is that their child's Braille and/or large print books are not available the first day of class or the same time as their sighted peers. This is of great concern to me on many levels. What message is it sending our kids? Is it limiting a child's ability to learn? Are they lagging behind academically due to this error?

What is the law?
There are protections in the law to prevent this situation. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA 2004), the most recent reauthorization of IDEA, reads:
… To ensure that children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats are provided those materials in a timely manner, the SEA must ensure that all public agencies take all reasonable steps to provide instructional materials in accessible formats to children with disabilities who need those instructional materials at the same time as other children receive instructional materials.

I urge parents to make a visit to their child's school to see if their books are available. If they are not, we would like to hear about it.

What are other things you can do to advocate?

Review your child's IEP goals. Be knowledgable about the goals, objectives, and service times. This will empower you, so you can feel comfortable talking to their teacher, TVI, O&M instructor, or special education director about how these will be implemented throughout the year. This might include discussing what days and times they will be pulling your child out of the classroom. Is it during Math? Reading? PE? Are they coming the times listed on the IEP? Some IEPS will list clump service time into one total rather than stating how many days of the week. If your child needs daily instruction, be specific.

Make sure your child's TVI is providing progress notes. This will help you know if they are making progress towards their IEP goals.

Talk to your child's teacher if there are any special accomodations (seating, written materials, testing, enlarged or Brailled worksheets, extended time, etc..) You might be surprised how many accomodations get overlooked because of the tremendous load teachers carry.

If you are able, offer to help your child's teacher in any way. This may be making extra large copies, coming in to adapt a Science experiment, educating the class about blindness.

Print, Braille, or Both??

In a landmark study by Dr. Ruby Ryles, she found that children who grew up reading Braille had a 44 percent unemployment rate as adults compared to a 77 percent unemployment rate among low-vision children reading print. Research Study: Early Braille Education Vital, (Ryles, R.) Future Reflections, Special Issue, 2004. http://nfb.org/legacy/fr/fr14/fr04se22.htm
Staggering statistics confirm this trend continues year after year. In 2007, there were 57, 696 legally blind students registered, and 10% (5,626) were registered as Braille readers. http://www.aph.org/about/ar2007.pdf

While only 10 percent of blind people read Braille, as many as 90 percent of employed blind people are Braille readers. According to the Louis Braille Bicentennial–Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin Act, P.L. 109-257 (109th Congress), “Braille literacy aids the blind in taking responsible and self-sufficient roles in society, such as employment: while 70 percent of the blind are unemployed, 85 percent of the employed blind are Braille-literate.”

So, why all the statistics? The hub-bub? Does your child need Braille? Print? or Both?

Let's start with the law. iii) In the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille unless the IEP Team determines, after an evaluation of the child's reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media (including an evaluation of the child's future needs for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille), that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate for the child;
Section 300.324(2)(iii) Development, review, and revision of IEP.(2) Consideration of special factors.

What does this mean? If you have a blind or visually impaired child, they should be provide Braille instruction UNLESS there is a thorough evaluation (not a statement or opinion) is in their file proving it is not appropriate.

Some blind/vi children are given an introduction to Braille. This is not instruction.
Some blind/vi children are told, "let's wait and see" what happens. This is not looking at the future needs of a child.

Some blind/vi children can read enlarged print--but their eyes tire after 30 minutes of reading. Do you know your child's print and Braille reading fluency?

Some blind/children can read enlarged print, but their nose is often "inked" from reading so close. Braille is a tool that can be used when giving presentations or public speaking, rather than having to memorize or seeing a paper in front of the presenters face.

Assessment of reading and writing needs should carefully consider how a student will function in upcoming years as print size diminishes and reading demands increase. The appropriate reading and writing media must provide for effective personal communication and full participation in community, vocational, and social settings
http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/fr/fr18/Issue1/f180104.htm

I would love to hear your opinions? Is your child successfully learning Print, Braille or Both? If you are an adult- are you successfully reading Print, Braille or Both? Is it working?

Look Who Is In the News!

Caroline Blair and her parents were recently interviewed by the Deseret News and an article was published this week. On June 28th, Caroline competed in the National Braille Challenge held in Los Angeles. She was the only representative from Utah! Caroline's mom, Pat Renfranz is the Secretary of the Utah Parents of Blind Children. You can find the article online at:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700246554,00.html