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Dave MontrealCan - Good evening everyone i would like to welcome you all to integration and mainstreaming of visually impaired and blind students into the regular classroom
teach - What modifications do you use?
Dave MontrealCan - I want to thank you all for your interest in this topic and special thanks to Kathleen and Bob for making this possible
Dave MontrealCan - I am sight impaired myself and was mainstreamed into the regular school system from K right through University and managed to overcome a lot of challenges
GG - Dave, do you wear corrective lenses?
Dave MontrealCan - I want to help all of you and help you to feel comfortable having sight impaired students in your classroom everyone can ask whatever you wish
Renja - Dave I have one visually impaired 6th grade students, I must admit my biggest problem is remembering to enlarged her work
Dave MontrealCan - GG no i use special reading glasses with double magnification and use a program called large print dos on the screen of my computer
GG - Are there many computer programs and modifications available now for sight impaired students?
Dave MontrealCan - Renja please do not feel bad I know you are a devoted teacher and i am sure you help her a lot
Renja - I am very nearsighted so I know that I what I see without my contact lenses as what she see with her contact lenses
Dave MontrealCan - GG yes for totally blind students there is a program known as Jaws that is compatible with the modern windows programs
GG - Is black the easiest color print for a sight impaired person to see
Dave MontrealCan - GG yes one of the easier colors for me at least and the colors that are darker are normally much easier
karma - Dave, what single thing helped you in the regular ed classroom
GG - What does the JAWS program do?
Dave MontrealCan - karma whenever i had teachers who wanted to have me in their classroom and were doing everything they could to make me feel wanted and accepted that was always what helped me fit in because i knew that if i had any problems i could go to the teacher and they would support me
Dave MontrealCan - GG the jaws program will help blind users to use the windows programs and make them compatible for the blind user
Renja - My student has a difficult time seeing anything in the overhead projector, is there a color contrast that could improve what she is able to see?
Dave MontrealCan - Renja could you take the stencils that you put under the overhead and photocopy them so she can have a copy at her desk that is probably the easiest way for her
GG - Can blind people explore the Internet? Is there anything like audio on many websites?
Renja - Dave I am already doing that, just wondered if a color contrast would improve. She is a great student! She NEVER complains & that concerns me
GG - Ranja, how old is she?
Renja - GG she is a 6th grade student 12 years old
Dave MontrealCan - GG totally blind people can use a speech synthesizer hooked up to any computer or laptop it is portable and can be moved from one computer to another and it speaks to you as you type and you can use the spell check so you can correct any errors in a document the voice acts as the blind person's screen
GG - Dave, do you have any recommendations for room set-up that we might not think of on our own (since we are fully sighted, we might not be able to identify problem set-ups)
GG - Renja, I understand what you mean by wishing she would "complain." She has to get comfortable asking for help, telling the teachers if she has difficulty.
Dave MontrealCan - GG sometimes a sight impaired student if they are using a monocular telescope aid to view the blackboard may need to change seats depending on the time of day in other words of the sin is shining on the blackboard it may be difficult for them to see the board from a specific location so if they ask if they could please change seats it may be because of the lighting in the room or the glare
Renja - One day I forgot to enlarge her worksheets & her performance really went down, so now if I forget I make her take them to the office to be enlarged & tell her it's so she will do her best
Dave MontrealCan - GG also it is a good idea to try to include the sight impaired student as much as possible in group participation activities
Dave MontrealCan - GG what grade do you teach?
Kathleen - DynoTech Software http://www.dynotech.com/fables.htm has a program, 101 Fairy Tales and Fables, $9.95, Using the Windows Help index capability, the Fairy Tales and Fables collection is ideally suited for use by blind students using computer text readers. This program was inspired by a blind person who spends much of his day using his computer to read books and browse the Internet.
Dave MontrealCan - Renja I think that the student will feel more comfortable to tell you what she needs if you tell her that you want her to do her best and that you must know if she is having difficulties
sharon - Renja, what grade do you teach, sorry if i missed that.
Minnie - Dave....could you maybe tell us a little more about how Word is adapted for the visually impaired child?
Renja - Dave, she & I have a good relationship & I have compared my nearsighted ness to hers. The feedback from the mom was that the student felt good knowing I could understand
Renja - Sharon I teach middle school grades 6,7, &8
Kathleen - Questions From Kids About Blindness, National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street Baltimore, Maryland 21230 We receive many letters and questions from children who wish to learn more about blindness. http://www.nfb.org/kids.htm
Kathleen - Questions From Kids About Blindness, National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street Baltimore, Maryland 21230 We receive many letters and questions from children who wish to learn more about blindness. http://www.nfb.org/kids.htm
Dave MontrealCan - Minnie do you mean the story sack program not sure?
Minnie - Dave....basically any program on the Internet....was wondering how it is adapted for the visually impaired?
Dave MontrealCan - How many here have taught a sight impaired student before and please tell me how you felt about it were you nervous?
Renja - Are there any online groups for the visually impaired student?
Kathleen - Blindness Resource Center (lots of links to information) http://www.nyise.org/text/blind.htm#index
Renja - Dave this is my first time to teach a visually impaired student & I was VERY nervous
Minnie - Renja....how hold is your student?
Dave MontrealCan - Minnie the visually impaired person can use a speech synthesizer hooked up to their computer and basically that performs as your normal screen would it reads in speech everything that is on the screen for you
Kathleen - Policy Guidance on Educating Blind and Visually Impaired Students-US Dept. of Education http://www.afb.org/g_guide.html
Dave MontrealCan - Renja at the end of the session i will share something very special with all of you it is a touching story and i think it will help everyone to understand how much i appreciated teachers who cared
sharon - My hubby tells me that you can use a scanner to scan documents (like a quiz) and the speech synthesizer will read it to the student.
Dave MontrealCan - Sharon that is correct
Kathleen - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN TEACHING SCIENCE TO STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES http://www.dinf.org/csun_98/csun98_002.htm
Renja - Dave has all this computer technology phased out braille?
sharon - Renja, that makes me wonder how children learn braille in a regular school setting.
Kathleen - http://people.delphi.com/LUNNEY/ECUPGMS.HTM LAB SOFTWARE FOR BLIND SCIENCE STUDENTS
Dave MontrealCan - Renja pretty much yes for example many of my blind friends who are now in their thirties when they were in elementary school used very bulky braillers and they had to carry them around everywhere now if they have a computer they do not need a brailler to take notes and the children today are using computers with voice equipment it is much more convenient
Renja - Actually I think it would be a deal to also know braille I could read in the dark!
Minnie - sharon....I also wonder about the teachers who are very limited in equipment/materials for their classroom.....in those cases, must the teacher be more conscious of enlarging print for example?
Renja - I have a friend is like a court reporter & transcribes lectures for hearing impaired students
jellybean - Dave just wanted to let you know you are doing a great job.
sharon - Are the state schools for the blind in decline?
Dave MontrealCan - thanks jellybean that is nice tell her thanks very much
Kathleen - http://www.nyise.org/whatsnew/taevi.html A program called Tactile Access to Education for Visually Impaired Students has generated thousands of scientific diagrams with puffy, raised lines and Braille labels to aid blind students.
Dave MontrealCan - Sharon i am in Canada can anyone answer that question about the state schools
Kathleen - http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/curr_inst/speced/guides/blindsec.html Blind Students in the Secondary Years
sharon - I know that the enrollment for the Indiana State School for the Blind is way down.
Kathleen - I'm guessing the number of state schools is declining due to mainstreaming efforts
Renja - Sharon I know state schools for the deaf are on the decline & because of the federal legislation I think state blind schools are also
sharon - That is good news, don't you think.
Minnie - Sharon....sadly, I cannot think of any school for the blind in my county or surrounding counties..
Dave MontrealCan - Renja please tell us why you were nervous about having the sight impaired student and how did u manage to overcome the concerns u had
Kathleen - Schools provide adaptations that allow more students to be in "regular" public school
Renja - I was nervous, because I had never had to deal with a visually impaired student before. She and her mother really put me at ease. they explained what she could do & what was hard for her to do, after that it hasn't been so scary
Kathleen - Resources for Parents and Teachers of Blind Kids: http://www.az.com/~dday/computers.html
Dave MontrealCan - Here in Canada the schools are mainstreaming a lot more these days as well and it is good for the children because they are better prepared for the work world when they finish their schooling and they also get to mingle with sighted children
Kathleen - I think being in the general population is good. Dave, do you agree?
sharon - Minnie, I don't think that is sad, I think all kids should be together. I'm glad the state schools seem to be in decline.
Kathleen - Dave, you answered my question just as I posted it, you do think it is good for blind kids to be in the mainstream
Renja - I think we fear what we do not understand, and mainstreaming is good for many situations
sharon - When i student taught at the deaf school, i was saddened by these little ones saying good bye to their parents on Sunday night and not seeing them until the following Friday.
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen absolutely i was mainstreamed and i am all the better for it today i thank my parents for doing the right thing and mainstreaming me and insisting that i had the same education as everyone else
Minnie - sharon....I agree also....but thought that there might be some kids that require more attention and that the "regular" school cannot accommodate..
sharon - Hurrah for mainstreaming!
Dave MontrealCan - Minnie the multi handicapped children are not always mainstreamed because they have additional problems other than sight impairments
Renja - Shouldn't we also recognize that the schools for the blind were the first attempts to provide an education?
Dave MontrealCan - Renja yes absolutely they served a great purpose in the early days
Minnie - Was also wondering what the children do as far as P.E. activities.....would maybe some of them require an adaptive P.E. program?
sharon - One note of caution, however, many mainstreamed kids don't get the support they need in the way of technology, teaching assistants, etc. etc.
Kathleen - Human interest article, Deaf, blind student builds new worlds http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn_lggraph_display/0,3442,2139476,00.html
Renja - I recently found out I had a great aunt who was blind
sharon - right, minnie. The state schools were the answer for a long time. I just think it's time to move on from that.
Dave MontrealCan - Please elaborate on PE Minnie?
Kathleen - Renja, yes, that is true. Each stage has been better than when impaired children were confined to home
Renja - I must confess at times I feel overwhelmed by all the adaptations that are expected in the schools today
Minnie - Dave...sport programs and activities of any kind in school.
sharon - I know what you mean...if we could just add hours to the day!
Dave MontrealCan - Minnie there is a hockey puck that beeps that was developed by the telephone pioneers as well as a basketball with a bell inside and they help the sight impaired a lot
Dave MontrealCan - Is anyone here still a little concerned if u were to get a sight impaired student and if so how can i help u to feel comfortable about it
sharon - My biggest concern would be getting the support I would need.
June - I am visually impaired and was included in all areas
Renja - My biggest support has been the parents
Dave MontrealCan - Sharon you would get the support through teachers chat and the state support groups as well as the American council of the blind
June - I was never very good in Pe because I am a klutz!
Renja - June neither was I for the same reason & I can see!
sharon - Yes Dave and that would certainly be appreciated but I would want in house support in the way of technology etc etc
June - nope, I am a sped teacher finishing my 26th year of teaching
sharon - Dave, in addition to great support from you of course :) :)
Dave MontrealCan - Several years ago I won dinner for 2 from a local radio station when they asked who was the teacher who made the most difference in your life who was there and who cared I phoned in and told my story about Kathy Inniss my former 4th grade teacher and i won a 100 dollar gift certificate to the crystal palace restaurant and I took her to dinner it was my way of saying thank you to her I was the only sight impaired student she ever taught
Renja - Is there an email address to contact Dave if we have more questions?
Kathleen - What a lucky teacher Kathy is to have had you for a student.:-)
sharon - Dave, that's great!!
Dave MontrealCan - yes Renja here it is ve2mpd@axess.com
Kathleen - Dave is also available (frequently) in the Teachers.Net chatroom. :-)
Kathleen - Dave, on behalf of Teachers.Net, thank you for an interesting,helpful and inspiring seminar! Thank you to all who participated or read along tonight. Goodnight all!
Dave MontrealCan - i want to thank u so much kathleen for allowing me to give this seminar
Renja - Thanks Dave
Dave MontrealCan - I am off to the new brunswick teachers convention i leave tomorrow evening and will be gone for a week i am giving 2 seminars there
Kathleen - Good luck with the seminars, Dave. You'll have to tell us about them during another session. Bye!
Dave MontrealCan - renja i want to encourage u to enjoy having your student there she sounds very cooperative for u
sharon - you have , i've enjoyed myself....thanks again, Dave
