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Kathleen - Hi Dave!
Dave MontrealCan - Good evening Kathleen
Kathleen - Well, let's begin our chat with author Dave Melanson of Montreal. His manual, Integration: A Rewarding Experience is now available to help teachers of the sight impaired student.
Kathleen - Dave, in what way is integration of the sight impaired student a rewarding experience?
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen it is a rewarding experience for all involved for the classroom teacher, it is a learning experience because it helps the teacher to understand how to assist a student who is sight impaired or blind it helps the teacher to learn new techniques in teaching special needs students. For the other students in the classroom it teaches them tolerance and acceptance of others who may be a little different from themselves and also teaches them how to help the sight impaired or blind student. For the sight impaired student it allows them to be fully integrated in a regular classroom environment and prepares them for the later years when much more will be expected of them in the workplace exc.
Kathleen - Dave, what caused you to realize that a manual about integrating the sight impaired student in the regular classroom was needed?
Kathleen - David Melanson, frequent contributor to the Teachers.Net Gazette, has self-published Integration: A Rewarding Experience, a manual for educators on the topic of working with sight-impaired students.
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen I had researched this topic and found that there was very little literature written for the elementary schoolteacher who had a sight impaired or blind student mainstreamed into their classroom and especially a manual written from a sight impaired person's point of view who had experienced the regular classroom environment first hand I felt that a book like this was definitely needed out there to assist teachers.
Kathleen - Dave, how much of your own experience in school as a sight impaired student was difficult?
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen my early years of elementary school were especially difficult I did not have the adaptive technical aids to assist me at that time and also the teachers were not used to having a sight impaired student there were many challenges in my early years but as I got up into high school the advancements in technology allowed me to overcome many of these challenges
karma - Dave, I have a student in my classroom with vision problems.....he is not receiving any special help in my classroom...what suggestions can you give me to help him? any tips!
Dave MontrealCan - Karma I can give you the toll free number to the American Council of the Blind in Washington DC they will be able to give you some direction as to where you can go for help are you ready to copy?
karma - Dave, in the meantime.....what helped you most when you were in school?
Dave MontrealCan - Karma the toll free number for the American Council of the Blind in Washington Dc is 1 800 424 8666 you can explain your concerns and also let them know where your school is located they can put you in touch with local services in your area that can help I am sure
karma - thanks Dave!
Kathleen - Dave is a frequent contributor to the Teachers.Net Gazette http://teachers.net/gazette and hosts monthly chats on the topic of working with sight impaired students.
Kathleen - The cost of the manual in the U.S. is $10 plus $2 .45 for postage. In Canada: $15 Canadian plus $1 .45 postage. Money orders are preferred. To order the manual, contact Mr. Melanson by e-mail: melanson@teachers.net.
Kathleen - Dave's manual is easy to read and interesting, even if one does not currently have a sight impaired student.
Kathleen - Dave, karma asked: Dave, in the meantime.....what helped you most when you were in school?
Dave MontrealCan - Karma well some of the excellent devoted teachers I had in elementary school made the world of a difference for me I dedicated my manual to Kathy Inniss my former 4th grade teacher and Louise Smith my former 6th grade teacher they helped me tremendously and also made sure that the other students accepted me as an equal in the classroom
fran - Dave as a kinder teacher and sometimes the first educational contact a child has what are the significant signs we should be looking for?
Dave MontrealCan - Fran often a sight impaired Kindergarten student may on the first few days of school stand off to the side shyly or even cry a lot as they cannot see who is around them in the classroom and they may not have many friends they often need comforting from the teacher to let them know that they matter that they belong in the classroom like the others and it is a good idea to encourage the sight impaired child to play with the other children and to not be shy to make new friends and to be included in the activities of your classroom as much as possible
Kathleen - Dave, would you tell us about your vision, how much vision did you have as an elementary school student?
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen as an elementary student I only had just under 10% vision in my left eye and was totally blind with only light and shadow in the right eye
rob - Hello, I'm just observing for now. I edited Dave's resource manual.
Dave MontrealCan - Welcome Rob
Kathleen - It's a pleasure to have you here, rob. Dave has told us wonderful things about you.
rob - Thanks Dave.
Kathleen - Dave, what caused your vision impairment?
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen I was born premature in the 7th month and as a result was placed in an incubator for 24 hours it was the bright lights combined with excessive amounts of oxygen which damaged the nerve tissue in both eyes
Kathleen - Dave, was there any difficulty in getting you enrolled in the public schools?
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen yes in 1972 when I started Kindergarten the Principal did not think I would be able to cope in my local school and he tried to encourage my parents to send me elsewhere to a special class for the visually impaired children
Number404 - Dave, in what ways did your teachers help you keep up with the class?
Dave MontrealCan - 404 some of the teachers would enlarge the "stencils" I am aging myself here lol lol and they would give me extra time to complete assignments and would also use a dark black pen when writing notes for me on paper
Shelli - Thank you...I am interested in this, as I have a visually-impaired child in my first grade class.
Kathleen - Dave, Shelli has a sight impaired student in her first grade classroom. Shelli, what special challenges are you and the child encountering?
Shelli - I am very lucky in that I have a vision specialist every day for 2 hours who works with my student on Braille and many other "life-related" issues. I think my biggest challenge is remembering the little things that make such a difference with him.
Kathleen - Shelli, it must be difficult to anticipate the child's special needs.
Shelli - You're right, there are so many things I take for granted...I am so glad to have the vision specialist as she helps so much with things like that.
Kathleen - Shelli, is that 2 hours per day with the specialist?
Shelli - Yes it is, Kathleen, in the mornings.
Kathleen - Shelli, does he have a paraprofessional assigned to him the rest of the day? I would think that would be necessary.
Shelli - Yes, I have an instructional aide to help him and another child I have who has a vision-impairment, not as severe as the other student.
fran - Dave I have previously had vision impaired pupils in my class and I found one of the greatest challenges was to get him to use his aids consistently
Dave MontrealCan - Fran one of the reasons for this is because visually impaired children at that age are very conscious of "appearing different from the others" and they often may try to hide their visual impairment as many of them may have experienced teasing or taunting by other children in the past so it may be a good idea to encourage the student to use their aids and also keep a watch on the other students and if necessary explain to them that it is ok for this student to use their aids that they help them to succeed like the others and that without them they would not be able to succeed successfully
Kathleen - Read more about the manual and its author, Dave Melanson, at http://teachers.net/gazette/NOV01/melanson.html
karma - Dave, my student is always up and out of his chair....in great excess......he seems to get up to touch things. I have told the parents of this behavior and explained to them that I am not sure if it is a visual problem or maybe a sign of hyperactivity. Is this type of behavior normal for visually impaired students?
Dave MontrealCan - Karma he may want to touch certain objects to get both an idea where they are located in the classroom and also what their shape and size are since he cannot see them often visually impaired or blind children may want to touch and feel as these are the senses they use rather than their eyes it may be a good idea for you or another student to bring the objects to him so that he does not wander around the classroom and disrupt the class whenever possible
Shelli - Dave, my biggest problem is finding books and reading material for my student.
Dave MontrealCan - Shelli there are large print books as well as books available on tape for students what state are you in?
Shelli - I'm in Ky...we have books on tape but would like to have more Braille material to give him opportunity to practice.
spedtchr68 - Shelli are you a VI teacher?
Kathleen - Shelli, I'm surprised it falls upon you to find the books. Could you prevail upon the specialist to obtain the books?
Dave MontrealCan - Shelli please take down this number of the American Council of the Blind in Washington Dc Toll Free 1 800 424 8666 please call them and explain your situation to them and someone will be pleased to assist
Shelli - She has gotten several for us, we do so much reading in first grade, he has read his books over and over. The specialist has even Brailed his reading basal book for him.
Shelli - Thank you for the number, Dave. I'll definitely use it!
Kathleen - Shelli, it sounds as though he's doing well!
Dave MontrealCan - Shelli I will post my email as well at the conclusion of this session please keep in touch with me
Shelli - Dave, thanks.
Kathleen - Dave, what is the newest technological aid available for a sight impaired student?
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen there are some new computer programs out one called Window eyes and the other jaws for windows window eyes helps the visually impaired and jaws for windows the totally blind to use a computer
Kathleen - spedtchr68, what grades/ages do you work with?
spedtchr68 - Don't forget about Zoomtext.
Dave MontrealCan - true lol I almost forgot about that one
spedtchr68 - I teach middle school
Kathleen - Dave, was school an especially frightening environment for you during the early years?
spedtchr68 - I am a previous teacher of the visually impaired.
Dave MontrealCan - Shelli could you remain for a minute after the session so I may exchange emails with you please?
Kathleen - ah, spedtchr68, then you are especially well-informed about Dave's topic.
Shelli - Yes, thanks
Kathleen - Dave, what is the second thing a teacher should do, after welcoming a sight impaired student to the regular classroom?
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen yes at times it was especially in the younger grades my first day of Kindergarten was very frightening as i was an only child and was not used to all of those active children around me and i did find it very intimidating sometimes when i was teased or taunted in the younger grades by other children
Kathleen - Dave, very much the way a kindergarten teacher feels on the first day of the school year! LOL
Kathleen - Read more about the manual and its author, Dave Melanson, at http://teachers.net/gazette/NOV01/melanson.html
Dave MontrealCan - Kathleen another important thing would be to take the student aside and to tell them that they "matter" in your classroom and that if they feel they are having a hard time that they should talk ot you as their teacher the student needs to know that they can have someone to turn to if they are having difficulty
Kathleen - Are there any other questions?
fran - Thank you Dave and Kathleen. Bye
Number404 - I have been searching online just now for Braille children's books. I found some resources.
Kathleen - fran, thank you for attending!
Kathleen - Number, can you post them here?
Kathleen - (I should have known Number404 was out combing the Internet for helpful resources
Number404 - Yes. http://www.seedlings.org/ catalogue of children's books.
spedtchr68 - I have bought books from Seedlings and a place in Massachusetts
Number404 - Translation services: http://www.lighthouse.org/text_only/t_print_access.htm
Kathleen - Number, thank you for doing that! Anything you post within the next 15 minutes will be collected with the transcript.
spedtchr68 - I like the twin vision books best of all.
Kathleen - I'll post the official close of the chat, but keep posting if you have more, Number404
Number404 - Low vision and blind aids: http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Health/Disabilities/Assistive_Technology/Low_Vision_Aids/
Shelli - Thank you Number, I have jotted the addresses down.
Kathleen - sped, do post your recommendations too, thanks!
Kathleen - The hour has flown! Dave, thank you for sharing your information and for making available to educators a helpful manual for working with sight impaired students. Thank you to all who participated. Contact Dave for information about ordering his book or with questions about the topic, by writing to melanson@teachers.net. Goodnight!
Number404 - shelli, if you click on them here, they will open in a new window, and you can bookmark them.
spedtchr68 - Seedlings is good
spedtchr68 - There is a Braille book of the month club
Kathleen - Watch the Archives for the transcript of this chat http://teachers.net/archive
spedtchr68 - I used to always have my Braille students participate in the Braille reading contest sponsored by the National Federation for the blind
Dave MontrealCan - Thanks for being here Kathleen
Shelli - Thank you Dave and Kathleen
spedtchr68 - I would order them books in Braille from the Library for the blind.
Dave MontrealCan - Shelli pm coming please wait for it
Number404 - Braille Institute of America http://www.brailleinstitute.org/
Kathleen - Thank you for attending, Shelli and all! Goodnight!
Dave MontrealCan - Thanks 404 for posting those resources
Dave MontrealCan - Shelli please email me at melanson@teachers.net and let me know how the student progresses
Shelli - Well, so much for pm...!!! lol
Dave MontrealCan - Shelli I would like to thank you for being such a devoted teacher and for caring so much
Dave MontrealCan - Hi (((((((((((((((((((Nan)))))))))))))))))))))))
Shelli - Thanks again for your help....good night!
Dave MontrealCan - Night Shelli take care
nan - (((((((((((((((Dave)))))))))))))))How are you?
Dave MontrealCan - Nan not bad I am preparing for this Friday's workshop I am giving at the Montreal Teachers' Convention
nan - I know you will be great!
Dave MontrealCan - Nan and the teachers need to know that I care very much they are having work to rule problems with the government right now
nan - If I understood things right we will be getting a sight impaired child in January
nan - Dave, You do care! That's why I know you will do a wonderful job!
Dave MontrealCan - Nan ok how many books did you want for your school?
nan - Dave, still collecting orders. will probably know for sure Friday. okay?
Dave MontrealCan - sounds good
nan - 5 so far
Dave MontrealCan - wow
nan - Thought that would make your day.
Dave MontrealCan - ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Nan)))))))))))))))))))) it sure did I see this book will be a success
nan - ((((((((((((Dave))))))))))))))anything that helps me and my coworkers become better teachers it worth it.
Dave MontrealCan - Nan and you are a devoted teacher
nan - Dave, As soon as I heard you had written a book I knew it would be a success.
nan - Thanks Dave
Dave MontrealCan - Thanks Nan well I have to go here but I hope to hear from you soon
nan - Take care Dave, talk to you later
Dave MontrealCan - bye Thank you to teachers net for allowing me to have such a wonderful session tonight
nan - bye
