[nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
Lauren Merryfield
lauren1 at catliness.com
Sat Aug 25 01:31:08 CDT 2007
Hi,
When I was in the hospital, the occupational therapist said they had to
simulate different disabilities, each one for a week. For blindness, they
wore a bandana over their eyes. I told her this didn't allow for the
learning of alternative techniques which many blind persons have learned.
Thanks
Lauren
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 8:33 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
> concur.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Nightingale, Noel
> To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 8:15 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> I would hate to see WSSB focus on the fact that an article was
> published. To me, that is not the real issue. the issue is that
> someone at WSSB, presumably Dee, believed that the simulation was a
> good
> idea at all. How are they going to undo the damage that was done to
> the
> teachers who are going to have blind children in their classrooms in
> the
> fall?
>
> I can think of other simulations that have been done that were quite
> effective. For example, Dr. Schroeder has a way to demonstrate how
> one
> can master reading Braille by touch within the space of two Braille
> pages. That kind of simulation is effective, but not a simulation that
> is designed in fact to demonstrate the difficulty in losing one's
> eyesight overnight and needing to learn nonvisual techniques in an
> instance.
>
> Noel
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 10:22 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
>
> No but I did let the Board of Trustees know of NFBW's displeasure. I
> also talked to Dee Amundson, Director of Outreach, and she was as
> aghast
> as are we. I'm not sure she is quite as down on simulations as we of
> NFB
> often are but she found the article totally disgusting and damaging.
> Apparently, the new director of the WSSB Foundation wanted a reporter
> to
> cover the event; Dee was totally opposed but was overridden. In any
> event, she, at least, understands that with the appearance of this
> article,WSSB has (inadvertently or not) reaped the whirlwind insofar
> as
> the reatction of the blindness community is concerned.
>
> One positive note: Dee herself suggested that this be brought up at
> the
> Board of Trustees meeting in September (I was going to do it anyway).
> I
> suspect that Dean isn't happy!
>
> Mike
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Carl Jarvis
> To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:47 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> Has anyone called Dean?
> Carl Jarvis
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mackenstadt, Gary" <Gary.Mackenstadt at ed.gov>
> To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> > This article does unbelievable damage. I would like to think that
> there
> > are people at WSB who are also offended. We need to find out who
> is
> > responsible.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
> > Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> > Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 7:03 PM
> > To: NFB of Washington Talk
> > Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Michelle Creedy
> > To: Elizabeth Lalonde ; list at cfb.ca
> > Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 6:44 PM
> > Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
> >
> >
> > How stupid!!! That's not what its like to be blind! I don't
> tollorate
> > my
> > blind students putting their hands in their food thank you very
> much!
> > Maybe
> > I'm too strict but that's just gross!!! Ew!!! That makes me feel
> quite
> > ill!!! Not even our school in South Africa would have done
> something
> > like
> > that! At least teach them some skills if you have to do
> simulations!
> > Now I
> > see why the Federation is so against them!
> >
> > Michelle Who is Rather Grossed out!
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Elizabeth Lalonde" <elalonde at shaw.ca>
> > To: <list at cfb.ca>
> > Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 4:47 PM
> > Subject: FW: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
> >
> >
> > See article below.
> >
> > This is why we in the Federation are against simulations. Because
> they
> > do
> > not give people an accurate idea of what it is like to be blind.
> > Blindness
> > is a skill and it takes some practice to learn to be a competent
> blind
> > person. It isn't something you can learn in a half an hour. All
> the
> > simulations do is scare people and reinforce stereotypes of the
> > helpless,
> > fumbling blind person.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> > On
> > Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> > Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 4:36 PM
> > To: NFB of Washington Talk
> > Subject: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
> >
> > A Feast Not for the Eyes
> > Turns out it's not so easy eating blind. From left, educators
> Heidi
> > Stump, Diana Graham and Cheryl Edmonds eat their entrees
> blindfolded
>
> as
> > part of a five-day
> > intensive workshop through the Washington State School for the
> Blind.
> > (ISOLDE RAFTERY/The Columbian)
> > Sunday, July 29, 2007
> > BY ISOLDE RAFTERY, Columbian staff writer
> >
> > Cheryl Edmonds is not, at first glance, the sort of person who
> would
> > plunge her hands into her salad bowl. But Wednesday evening, at
> the
> > Olive Garden in
> > Vancouver, Edmonds was blindfolded and desperate to connect with
> her
> > entree.
> >
> > Edmonds, of Vancouver, was among 37 people, most of them
> educators,
> who
> > agreed to a blind dinner. The exercise is part of a five-day
> intensive
> > workshop
> > on blindness.
> >
> > By the end of the meal, Edmonds, who was seated with two other
> > blindfolded women, had ditched etiquette.
> >
> > "I'd like to touch it all," she said, fingering a leaf. "I don't
> even
> > know how much I ate. Oh! There's a lot left."
> >
> > Sitting next to her, Diana Graham, a kindergarten teacher from the
> North
> > Mason School District, north of Olympia, used her fingers to wrap
> > fettuccine noodles
> > around her fork.
> >
> > And Heidi Stump, a paraeducator seated at their table, was taking
> sips
> > from various glasses of soda.
> >
> > The three women, poised and socially aware without their
> blindfolds,
> > behaved like giddy children learning table manners.
> >
> > The idea behind the blind dinner was to provide a blind
> experience,
> and
> > also to help explain how specific directions ("Your iced tea is 5
> inches
> > in front
> > of you with the straw bobbing out") are key to working with blind
> > students. Educating the teachers
> >
> > Dee Amundsen, director of outreach at the School for the Blind,
> said
>
> the
> > five days are a time for teachers who work with blind students to
> learn
> > about blindness.
> >
> >
> > In Washington, there are 80 teachers for 1,300 visually impaired
> > students, Amundsen said.
> >
> > "Finding teachers for the visually impaired is like finding a
> needle
>
> in
> > a haystack," she said. "A lot of kids don't get services. All
> these
> > people who are
> > teaching visually impaired kids don't know anything about
> blindness."
> >
> > At the restaurant, the educators learned they can't just "say
> when"
> to a
> > waiter grinding pepper over their entrees. Someone must read the
> menu to
> > them.
> > And then there's going to the restroom - an awkward dance that
> involves
> > dodging patrons, slinking into a stall and finding the toilet
> seat.
> >
> > For Graham, the veteran kindergarten teacher from North Mason
> School
> > District, the five-day stint is worth it. She will have a blind
> student
> > in her class
> > come fall.
> >
> > "I want to figure out how best to teach a child," Graham said. "I
> want
> > to get her reading for Braille. I want to get some academics into
> her."
> >
> > Then she paused.
> >
> > "Are you still there?" she asked, also attempting to land a small
> pile
> > of fettuccine into her mouth.
> >
> > Yes, everyone was still there.
> >
> > "I feel stupid," Graham said. "I don't normally miss my face when
> I
> > eat."
> >
> > Cheryl Edmonds, a consultant, agreed.
> >
> > "I get a sense for the independence thing," she said. "If the
> lights
> > went out tomorrow, I don't know what that would mean for me."
> >
> > Did you know?
> >
> > There are 1,300 visually impaired or blind students in Washington.
> >
> > Eighty teachers are trained to teach blind students in the state.
> >
> > About 70 students attend Washington State School for the Blind in
> > Vancouver. The school serves about 600 students per month
> statewide.
> >
> > Isolde Raftery writes about education. She can be reached at
> > 360-759-8047 or isolde.raftery at columbian.com.
> >
> > (c)2007 Columbian.com. All Rights Reserved - Use of this site
> constitutes
> > acceptance of our
> > User Agreement.
> >
> >
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> > 3:50 PM
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> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nfbwatlk mailing list
> > nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
> >
>
>
>
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