A Chance to Belong

A Chance to Belong

A Chance to Belong

by Crystal McClain
Reprinted from Advocacy in Action, a publication

of the Ohio NFB Parents Division.

The chance to belong. Isn't that one thing we

want for our kids? Just because our kid is blind doesn't mean we erase that natural

instinct of wanting them to be a part of something. As parents of blind children we may be

tempted to let "belonging" slip away. Here is one example of how I helped to

make sure my daughter Macy did belong.

SEA is a five week program offered to kids in

grades K-8 in Logan County. This program is for two hours on Saturday morning and offers a

variety of enrichment courses for the children. I eagerly signed up my twin kindergartners

(Madison & Macy). You might like to know that Madison is sighted and Macy is blind.

Madison chose an animal class and Macy chose a puppet class where you make puppets and

then have a puppet show. Both of the girls were excited. We got back their admission slips

after we sent in the twenty-five dollar course fee.

Things were going well until I received a phone

call saying that because Macy was visually impaired she would not be permitted to

participate unless I provided and paid for a private assistant. I was very upset. This

program was sponsored by the very school system that Macy attends.

I started to investigate and after six phone

calls (including one to Ohio Legal Rights and one to Eric Duffy, Ohio NFB director of

field operations), I got to the source of the problem. One woman (the director of the

program) was responsible for this. She had many misconceptions about blindness, and she

wasn't about to let go of them. She used class size and dangerous equipment (glue guns) as

an excuse. She said no visually impaired student would be allowed to participate in any

SEA class. I asked her if the other kindergartners in the class would be using hot glue

guns unassisted. (I hope not!) Finally, when push came to shove, she had me call the

Special Education Director, Melinda.

The Special Education Director said that the

other woman stated that I was requesting a paid assistant because I didn't want to pay for

it. Once again I was shocked. I told Melinda (we're on a first name basis) that I did not

want an assistant. I want Macy to continue to grow in her independence and that was

impossible with a personal aide continuously at her side. Melinda knows me and said she

understood, and that I was to take Macy to the class on Saturday.

SEA classes are over now and Macy enjoyed hers

immensely. She got to be with her friends from school, make puppets (maybe not the

prettiest ones), and perform a puppet show. The lesson here is that I could have accepted

a refund of my twenty-five dollars, or paid for an aide, or accepted an aide that was paid

for me, but I didn't. I stuck to my convictions and Macy was able to belong to something

(SEA) without hurting her independence.

The result is worth the battle. How many kids

lose out because someone said "No"—they couldn't belong—and their

parents let it happen. Please don't let it happen to your child. Make sure your child

participates in school activities, church, and activities within your community.