Visions of the Blind

In a presentation given by the mother of one my students, she describes the process her family experienced as they discovered her youngest son was diagnosed with a  degenerative eye condition which would eventually lead to total blindness. As a professional in the field of vision impairments, listening to her experience helped me gain a deeper understanding of the tragedy a family experiences when a child is diagnosed as blind. In my mind when I hear a student has a vision impairment, I immediately look at ALL THE POSSIBILITIES and get super excited to teach "blindness skills". On the other hand, I have to take a step back and respect the journey of the family. After all, my time with the child is simply a fraction of his/her life. As I continued to listen to this mother pour out her family story she made a profound statement that will forever be etched in my memory and holds extreme power. "My husband and I decided we were not going to assign our fears about bl...

The beginning of the school year is right around the corner! As teachers of children with visual impairments and orientation and mobility specialists, we always want to start the year off on the right foot. Starting the school year successfully will allow everything to flow in to place easier. Scheduling will be easier. Teaching will be easier. Your October-self will thank you for the work you put in now. When I first started teaching Orientation and Mobility 12 years ago, I was so flustered at the beginning of the school year. On one hand, it felt exhilarating to get back into the swing of the school year. On the other, there is SO MUCH to do. Between the mandatory meetings that have little to do with students with visual impairments and the desire to start the school year off on the right foot, I ended up stressed out every single year. For the first five years of my teaching career, I worked 14 hour days from August through mid-October. You don’t have to do that. I am going ...