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Dave MontrealCan - Good evening everyone and welcome to this evening's session
Candy... - Evenin' Dave...
Dave MontrealCan - Tonight we will be talking about visually impaired an dblind children who are mainstreamed into the regular classroom environment as well as other special needs children
Dave MontrealCan - I am sight impaired myself and was mainstreamed into the regular classroom environment from K through University
Dave MontrealCan - Please bare with me if it takes me a little while to respond to some questions if I get a lot at one time it may take me a little while to respond to everyone :0
Dave MontrealCan - Does anyone have any concerns or questions about having a sight impaired child in their classroom?
Dave MontrealCan - I went through the regular school system in the 1970's without a teacher's aid to assist me at that time so i basically made it on my own
Candy... - Dave what other types of special needs students will we be discussng tonight?
Dave MontrealCan - Well hearing impaired and ADD ADHD if there are any others here tonight who wish to discuss these types of students as well those are fields however that I have limitted knowledge on
Dave MontrealCan - Leeny Hi welcome what grade do you teach?
fran - Dave 2 years ago I had a student in my room who had "a lazy eye" I asked the parent what assistance I could provide and she manintained nothing I neede to do however in Gr.1 the visual consultant was called in what should I as a classroom teacher be looking out for in a situation such as this
Dave MontrealCan - Fran always watch to see if the student s having a hard time following the lesson, if you find for example that they are not able to read the blackboard or that they are reading very slowly it may be because they hare having difficulty reading the print in the text books also sometimes these children do not like to admot that they are having difficulties they will try and struggle to do things on their own
Dave MontrealCan - Fran did this student not ask for help when they needed it?
Candy... - Dave,exactly what constitutes a visual impairment?
fran - No Dave I noticed his eye hand was weak but figured this could be developmental and the parent was not concerned
Candy... - I mean it goes beyond just the need for glasses, right?
Edward - Hello everyone
Edward - I prefer to be here rather than the crowded room 1
Dave MontrealCan - Candy if the student has any difficulty be it near sightedness or tunnel vision or basically anything that hinders them from seeing 20 over 20
Dave MontrealCan - Welcome Edward
Candy... - Oh..Okay...I understand now...
Dave MontrealCan - Fran when I was in elementary school I sometimes used to be shy to ask for help as I did not want to appear different so sometimes I would just struggle along and try to do everything on my own now I realize that it is ok to ask for help when you need it
Dave MontrealCan - Fran did this student do well in your classroom?
Edward - Dave, we have an ADD pupil in our school once, he seems to be quite "rowdy" , I heard he was a adopted child. I wonder if the family backgroung would affect his behaviour?
Dave MontrealCan - Edward possibly some kids when they are moved around from home to home tend to become aggressive and act out anyone else have any ideas on this?
Candy... - Dave I think that is a true statement to a degree...I have seen this kind of acting out with my own child...
Candy... - He is agressive toward me but not in the classroom and not with other family mambers..
Dave MontrealCan - Edward also if the child is Add or ADHD they often see others around them doing things that they may have difficulty doing and then they feel left out again prompting them to act out
Dave MontrealCan - Fran are you still there?
Edward - Yes, most of the teachers including the head teachers knows about it... as we do not have a special Spe.Ed teachers to care for the special needs children....we just to tolerate and take care of these children...we try our very best to teach them.
Candy... - ALthough last year when he changed schools the new school had trouble with him for about the first 9 weeks...
fran - yes Dave
Dave MontrealCan - Fran did the student you mentioned do well in your classroom or poorly
fran - auditorially well dave
Dave MontrealCan - Fran did anyone try to encourage the parents to look into gettign him glasses or adaptive aides to read with
fran - glasses and an eye patch were prvided he was ubder a doctor's care at the time
Dave MontrealCan - Fran I have heard of situations in the past where a teacher may get a student and not even be told that they have a visual impairment it may not even be on the record and if the child is young they may not even have adaptive aides or glasses and no one realizes they have a visual problem
fran - Dave pm coming
Edward - Anyway, Dave, I guess the best way is to have patience and tolerate with these children . Thanks Dave . I have to go now Bye everyone.
Dave MontrealCan - Edward thanks for comming tonight
Dave MontrealCan - Fran i did not get it yet
fran - I 'll resend
Edward - Dave did you get the pm?
Dave MontrealCan - Fran where you really may notice a sight impaired child having difficulty is when you are using an overhead projector and asking the children to take notes this can often be a problem for a sight impaired student
Dave MontrealCan - Edward yes just sent you one wiht the info
Dave MontrealCan - Fran still no pm here
Dave MontrealCan - oops fran i got it but it was such a long pm it did noy stay unfortunately
Dave MontrealCan - Fran ca you simmarize it to about 3 lines then it does not leave the screen
fran - oops!!
Edward - No, Dave, I did not get anything yet.
fran - Sorry Dave.
Dave MontrealCan - hold on edward i will resend
fran - had child in jk and sk parent seemed to think everything appropraite according to doctor
Candy... - I am still observing...
Dave MontrealCan - Fran did you notice anything different though that could signify a visual impairment ?
Edward - Got it! Dave
Dave MontrealCan - Fran interestingly though sometimes poor motor skills can come from the child not seeing visual ques and knowing what is happening around them visually so they fail to respond appropriately
Edward - Have you recived mine, Dave? The system here is very,very slow
fran - child showed age appropriate beginning book handling skills
Dave MontrealCan - Fran I remember for example when we would do active participational activities in the classroom and I would not always see what was happening so I would just not do anything because I did not want to look like I was the only one not understandign what was happening
fran - also good number recogntion
Dave MontrealCan - Yes Edward got it here
Edward - Dave ,got it?
Edward - Bye then
Dave MontrealCan - Fran did the child who had the lazy eye make friends easily in the classroom or was he more of a loner
Edward - Dave ,got it?
fran - average
Dave MontrealCan - Edward yes i got your last pm wiht your info
Dave MontrealCan - Fran did you find that he improved though as the year progressed
Dave MontrealCan - Hello Diane welcome to the session tonight
fran - Dave as early years teacher what should I be looking for if i suspect a child may have visual problems
Candy... - Dave other than making sure the student isn't dealing with glare or lighting issues are there other special seating arrangements required for viasually impaired children?
Dave MontrealCan - Fran the child may not socialize as much with the other children they may wander off and be aloof from the others because they cannot see who is around them, they may also appear not to be following along with active participational activities such as exercise period may i share with you a situation that happened 3 years ago here in Montreal wiht a sight impaired K student
fran - Please Dave
Dave MontrealCan - Fran there was a young K student who took the school bus every morning out in Hudson just west of Montreal, when he would get on the bus he would walk down the aisles and as he passed each seat he would come in close to the childrens' faces to see who they were as he could not see them
Dave MontrealCan - the childrne would slap his face and tell him that he looked funny to them and to leave them alone
Dave MontrealCan - The school tried very hard to sensitize the childrne and by the middle of the year things got better but the only reason th echild was doing that was he wanted to see who was on the bus and most of the kids were too young to understand that he could not see very well
Dave MontrealCan - Candy it depends on the severity of the sight impairment some children may need to sit right up at the front of the classroom when a movie or slides are being shown for example or depending on the glare they may need to change seats at different times of the day due to the sun and lighting
fran - Thanks Dave especially for the comments about socialisation and phsical activities
Candy... - I see...I know I am afront row person because I amn nearsighted and wear glasses...but I wondered about other types of impairments...
Dave MontrealCan - Fran those are very important ways to see if the child has some form of visual impairment active participation is the key there to seeing if they are aware of what is going on around them
Candy... - Thank you for answering my questions tonight Dave...
Dave MontrealCan - At this time i would like ot thank teachers net for allowing me to give this session tonight
fran - See ya later Dave!
Dave MontrealCan - Fran wait for pm
Dave MontrealCan - Thank you everyone for comming tonight
Candy... - Thank you for giving the session Dave...
Dave MontrealCan - I hope this session was informative and interesting for everyone good night all
