Keepin' Up With Cindy

Keepin' Up With Cindy

Future Reflections Spring 1996, Vol. 15 No. 2
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KEEPIN' UP WITH CINDY
by Sue Bennett
[PICTURE] Cindy Bennett
Editor's note: It started with a phone call. Somehow Sue
Bennett got the name and number of a local member of the NFB,
who in turn gave her my name and the number of the national
office of the NFB. That was over three years ago. Sue's
daughter, Cindy (yes, she's blind), was no more than two at
the time. Sue was anxious to learn all she could about
blindness, blindness skills, and services that would (or
should) be available to her daughter. Within a year, Sue (with
the help of her NFB state affiliate-Alabama) attended a
national NFB seminar in Washington, D.C.
Her excitement and enthusiasm for all that she was
learning from the NFB about blindness encouraged her to keep
her expectations high for her daughter. It also prompted her
to join her local affiliate of the NFB. In the short time that
she was a member she spearheaded a local effort to raise funds
and set up a "Cane Bank" from which parents could get free
long white canes for their blind children. But no sooner than
she had this up and running, Sue and her family moved out of
state to North Carolina.
Busy as she has been in adjusting to a new home in a new
state, Sue was so excited about Cindy's achievement of a very
important milestone that she sent me the following letter and
article, "Keepin' Up with Cindy."
At the end of the letter you will notice that Sue says
there are no NFB members in her area. That's not quite
accurate, Sue-there's you and your family! Considering Sue's
energy and the commitment the NFB of North Carolina has to
blind children and their parents, I wouldn't be surprised at
all if in a year or two I get an article from Wayne Shevlin,
President of the NFB of North Carolina, entitled "Keepin' Up
With Sue."
January 31, 1996
Dear Barbara,
It has been a while since I talked to you. We moved from
Alabama last June. I am glad for the move now, although I was
not so happy a year ago. The biggest reason is the great
program here. Mrs. Shorkey has been teaching the blind for 15
years, and her experience and excitement is just what Cindy
needed.
As much as I loved [our local] Montessori Preschool,
there was not a strong effort to begin Braille instruction.
Funds were also limited. The resources here in Buncombe County
are tremendous. They have the ability to produce Braille at
the T.C. Roberson High School. I'm volunteering in this area.
I am finding out that there is always the need for someone to
Braille books, tests, etc.
There is another group, Blue Ridge Braillers, who are
senior citizens who learned Braille and they volunteer
hundreds of hours a year to produce Braille. I do have a goal
of becoming a certified transcriber, even if it takes me two
years (I just started the Library of Congress course).
I am in the early stages of beginning a "Braille Club"
with the five Braille readers (ages 6-16) in this area. It
will be informal. We plan to meet weekly at the library during
the summer to discuss the books they are reading. It will give
the younger ones a chance to see the older ones reading
Braille. Cindy was so excited when she met the 9th grader (and
fascinated by her Braille n' Speak). She has also met a 6th
grader. I want to keep the momentum going because it is quite
a lot of work to keep at grade level. I'll send a report later
on the Braille Club with more details.
All in all, I wrote the enclosed article to encourage
other parents. I can't tell you how much the parents magazine
[Future Reflections] means to me.
Sincerely,
Sue Bennett
P.S. I have not found any NFB members here yet.
KEEPIN' UP WITH CINDY
It has been five years since we were told that our
daughter was blind. I was determined to learn Braille. I
couldn't imagine being asked, "What is this word?" and having
to say to my child, "I don't know." So I ordered the course
Just Enough to Know Better and plunged in. I hung up the
alphabet card over my kitchen sink. I finished the first
lesson. Only a short time later I felt discouraged. It seemed
like I couldn't remember anything. At the ripe old age of 33,
I thought my memory was shot. Cindy was two years old then,
and there seemed to be so many other things about her
development which occupied my time. Learning Braille seemed
impossible. I was so frantic!
Fortunately, I expressed my frustrations to her preschool
teacher, Jayne McDaniel, at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and
Blind. She wisely told me, "You have some time now, just wait
and see how much you'll learn along with Cindy." This is
exactly what has happened since September of '95.

Cindy began kindergarten at Estes Elementary in Buncombe
County School District, Asheville, North Carolina. Under the
fantastic instruction of the Braille teacher, Mrs. Carolyn
Shorkey, we have both been extremely busy! They are using
Patterns curriculum and modifying it somewhat to fit into the
whole language approach. I can tell you that we work hard
together. Cindy began reading words by the second month of
kindergarten. I wish you could have seen the huge smiles on
both our faces this January after spending 45 minutes reading
Green Eggs and Ham. What fun!
One night I was sitting next to Cindy on the sofa, and I
thought of practicing the Braille alphabet on her leg using my
fingertips. Letter by letter I gently pressed the Braille
shape onto her leg. Cindy loves this game. It was especially
exciting for me, that night, because I realized that I knew
them all by heart! All this time I had kept the "cheat sheet"
close at hand for reference, but now I didn't need it anymore.
At least, not for letters and numbers. (Will I ever learn all
those contractions and rules?) Later I practiced over and over
on the Perkins Brailler, so proud that my memory was still in
good working order!
Cindy has been very bold about telling me what I don't
know. Recently, she corrected me that an f was from. I thanked
her, of course. In early October she stated in an exaggerated
tone to Mrs. Shorkey, "My mother doesn't even know Braille!"
She doesn't say that anymore. She assures me, "I'll keep
teaching you some more, Mom." And she has been pleasantly
surprised to find out that I know a little more Braille than
she does at this point and can actually teach her a thing or
two! She's bound to catch up, however, and zoom ahead. I'll be
right on her heels!