What Constitutes a Good Education for Blind Children

What Constitutes a Good Education for Blind Children

Future Reflections Winter 1989, Vol. 8 No. 1
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WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD EDUCATION
FOR BLIND CHILDREN?
by Barbara Cheadle
As I sorted through articles and considered
events and topics which should be written up for
this issue, one theme kept coming up. Everything
I looked at seemed to say something important
to me about what should be included in a good
education for a blind child. Granted, after a nearly
two-year personal battle with our school district
-- trying to get Braille and other services for
our blind son--I am pretty sensitive to that topic.
But it is not just my personal sensitivity which
makes this question so critical and so urgent.
The education of blind children is, quite frankly,
in a state of crisis. I know those are strong words,
but I believe any words less strong would only be
glossing over the true difficulties we face. This is
not to say there are not any good programs or
teachers out there. There are. But they have become
the exception, not the rule. Ironically, the
crisis has come at a time when public understanding
and acceptance of the blind, as well as
blindness-related technological advances, are at
an all-time high.
The crisis is not in, as one might expect, the application
of new technology and new concepts of
education. Rather, we are seeing an almost total
breakdown in the teaching of basic, fundamental
skills.
We know this because we see what is happening
to blind kids when they get out of school. Over
four hundred blind students apply each year for
scholarships administered by the National
Federation of the Blind. There are hundreds
more who apply for scholarships to state affiliates
of the National Federation of the Blind. Three
state affiliates of the National Federation of the
Blind operate orientation and training centers
for the adult blind. A large number of
Federationists are employed as counselors,
teachers, supervisors, and directors in other
public or private rehabilitation programs for the
blind. What we are seeing are blind youth who
have neither the skills nor the confidence to really
compete on an equal basis in our society. They
expect to take twice as long to do a task as it takes
others; they expect teachers routinely to shorten
assignments for them; they have such limited notions
of independent travel that the idea of
traveling alone to a stange city is frightening and
foreign to them; and they limit job expectations
to "safe" careers in computers, social services,
and governmental employment.
Even among the best, the brightest, the most accomplished
blind students there are astonishing
gaps in skills. No typing skills; no experience in
independently using readers or ordering and
using taped materials; mobility skills limited to
route travel; but most blatantly of all-no Braille
skills.
The decline in Braille literacy is well-documented.
The American Printing House for the
Blind (APH) has kept statistics dating from the
early 1960's to the present which confirm it. For
example, in 1966 46^c of the registered, legally
blind students read Braille, and only 6% read
neither Braille nor large print. In 1988 only \2c/c of the students read Braille, and 31% were nonreaders.
But there are those who would argue that these
statistics prove nothing. They cite increases in the
numbers of blind, multiply-handicapped children and say this explains it all away. But it
doesn't. The ploy of using the blind and multiply-handicapped
as a cop-out for providing good
educational services just won't wash. Regressive
workshops and rehabilitation agencies for the
adult blind have tried to use the same argument
(we can't pay minimum wages or give better
training because of the multiply-handicapped)
and have failed. The argument doesn't hold up
because, among other things, it assumes (falsely)
that the blind, multiply-handicapped are all alike
and are all uniformly incapable of learning (and
especially of learning to read and write Braille).
This just isn't true.
And so we come back to the same problem. Nearly
a third of the blind children in this country are
illiterate. There is reason to believe that few of
our blind children graduate from school today
with a complete foundation in blindness skills or
competitive expectations for themselves as blind
persons. What do we do about it? If what we are
doing isn't working, what should we be doing?
In 1985 I sent, upon request, some materials to a
task force studying the education of blind
children in one of our midwestern states.
Reprinted below is part of a cover letter I sent
with the literature. The letter outlined what I
believed were key elements in a good educational
program for blind children. If I were writing
the letter today I would add some items to it, such
as instruction in typing, instruction in using
readers and taped materials, and instruction and
guidance in the efficient use of visual aids; but I
wouldn't change anything else.
As you read my list and read the other articles in
this issue, I challenge you to think deeply about
the question, "What constitites a good education
for blind children?" Then I would like to hear
from you. What is your answer to this question?
Perhaps you don't think there is a problem at all,
maybe you disagree with all or some of the
proposals in this issue, or maybe you want to
present something entirely new.
The direction of the education of blind children
in this country depends upon what we, parents,
teachers, and the adult blind, believe ought to
happen. Please share your views and write to:
Education of Blind Children, Barbara Cheadle,
National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson
Street, Baltimore, MD 21230, (301) 659-9314.
1. Blind people, given the proper training and opportunity,
can compete on a basis of equality with
their sighted peers. This should be the basic
philosophy for any programs, standards for
programs, or evaluation of programs for the
blind.
2. It is respectable to be blind. "Blind" should be restored to the vocabulary of educators and used
frequently.
3. All blind children (including legally blind
children who have some vision) should learn to
read and write Braille.
4. All Braille users should learn to use the slate and stylus as early as possible and be required to
use it regularly. (Early means at grade school
level, usually between first and third grades, and
always before junior high or high school.)
5. Teachers of blind children should be required to demonstrate proficiency in reading and writing
Braille at least at the level required of Braille
transcribers certified by the National Library for
the Blind and Physically Handicapped. (Certification
as a teacher of the blind and visually impaired
by a university program does not guarantee
such proficiency.)
6. All blind children should be given a long, white cane and instruction in its use upon enrollment
in school (kindergarten or first grade). The cane should be with the child throughout the day and
used in the halls, in the cafeteria, in the classroom
as needed, on the playground, during fire drills,
and under any other conditions requiring independent
mobility.
7. Sleepshades (eye covers) should be routinely used when alternative techniques, such as cane
travel or Braille, are being taught to children with
partial vision.
8. Educators should work with the organized blind to expose blind children of all ages to competent,
knowledgeable blind adult role models.
Blind children need these role models in order
to develop confidence and sound expectations
for themselves as blind persons. (Note: The Kansas
School for the Blind under Ralph Bartley has
developed programs to meet this need. Such
programs could be adapted to meet the needs of
blind children in nonresidential settings.)
9. Special education teachers of the blind should
be required, as a part of their professional growth
and continuing education, to attend conferences
or conventions of blind consumers. They should,
in addition, make themselves knowledgeable
about the philosophy, literature, and resources of
the major consumer organization and utilize the
most progressive materials available.
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