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Dave MontrealCan - Good evening Nancy welcome to the meeting on mainstreaming and integrating sight impaired children
Nancy - I am a principal in GA and we have just hired a parapro to work with a mainstreamed vi student
Nancy - he is doing wonderfully
Nancy - has a computer to enlarge- scanner and printer
Dave MontrealCan - that is great to hear Nancy I was a student who was mainstreamed in the regular system from K right through university I have just under 10% vision in my left eye and am totally blind in the right eye
Nancy - very similar to this student-he is in 3rd grade
Nancy - he has to do more work now that he has a pp but he is adjusting to that - got used to not having to do as much work as others
Dave MontrealCan - Nancy I went to public school in the 1970's when it was actually very unusual for a sight impaired child to attend regular school I had adaptive aids to assist me in the classroom at that time
Nancy - in Canada?
Dave MontrealCan - nancy yes I am in Montreal Canada
Nancy - didnt think that would be us in the 70's
Joe - I'm a spec ed teacher in Cleveland OH
Joe - I'm at the high school level
Dave MontrealCan - Joe do you have a sight impaired student in your classroom?
Nancy - it took the school all of last yr to get this student in to sp ed so that he could get the equipment and the pp
Joe - yes, I have 4
Joe - and a para also
Dave MontrealCan - Joe how are they all doing
Joe - the para provides info on the students
Joe - and I provide the materials and instructions
Dave MontrealCan - Joe do these students use adaptive aids in the classroom?
Joe - they're doing great. It's their first year in high school.
Joe - I have a student in my homeroom who uses cctv plus a magnifier
Dave MontrealCan - Joe do u feel u may have any questions about how to improve the classroom for these students?
Joe - for 3 of the 4 not really for the 4th definitely
Dave MontrealCan - Joe what do u feel u need to improve for the 4th student/
Joe - she is 16 and is definitely lower functioning than the other 3 students. She is totally blind ...
Joe - and displays autistic like behaviors at times
Dave MontrealCan - Joe have u thought about pairing this student up with a model student who is doing well who may be able to work with her?
Joe - that's one of my usual strategies
Dave MontrealCan - Joe also there is a number ofr the American Council for the Blind in Washington toll free if u want it?
Joe - I've worked with students with a variety of severe disabilities and feel that this young lady had been written off w/regard to what she might be able to do ...
Joe - yes please
Dave MontrealCan - Joe that is always a problem many times these students are ot always given a fair chance to prove themselves
Joe - this year I am teaching all technology cocurses so I believe I can approach some areas that will help her but I want to be realistic
Joe - you are correct when you say they are not always given a fair chance ...
Dave MontrealCan - Joe the number for the
Joe - I do a lot of collaborative projects, epals, that sort of thing and I have included her. In her case, I have to always verify the responses that I do get from her.
Joe - I will write the number down ... and contact them tomorrow.
Joe - Leigh where are you located?
Dave MontrealCan - Here is the number for the American Council of the Blind it is 1 800 424 8666
Joe - Thanks
Dave MontrealCan - Joe they can help u I am sure if you need materials for your students
Joe - what's your e-mail so I can keep in touch
Dave MontrealCan - Joe email here is : ve2mpd@axess.com
Joe - Thanks for the info
Dave MontrealCan - Joe where are u located/
Joe - Cleveland, Ohio.
Dave MontrealCan - Joe I guess not all of your students are sight impaired/
Joe - most have physical or medical impairments
Joe - plus some have development disabilities
Barb/2/NE - Dave, just popped in to ask if you were able to find out any information to help my color blind student
Dave MontrealCan - Joe do the sight impaired children use tape machines to take notes or can they see well enough to use a monocular aid to read the blackboard in the case of the 3 students/
Joe - 1 can read the board and computer screen quite well the other 2 cannot. One sees shades and shadows only.
Joe - I use tapes with them and live tutorials
Dave MontrealCan - Barb one idea I have is that you could user various descriptions to describe colors to that student for example red would be a warm color pink soft exc describe senses in place of the colors
Joe - I will get voice-activated software for them also
Joe - Dave, I will be touch. Thanks for the phone #.
Barb/2/NE - Oh, good suggestion! Dave, I'm so sorry, I've got to go. My son needs the computer. I'm sure I'll run into you again. Thanks! Take care!
Joe - How often is forum available?
Dave MontrealCan - Joe u may want to check the meeting list schedule in teachers net they have many meetings and conferences scheduled
Joe - Thanks, I found this site quite by accident
