American Foundation for the Blind. (2016). Key employment statistics for people who are blind and visually impaired. https://www.afb.org/research-and-initiatives/statistics/archived-statistics/key-employment-statistics Bina, M. (2005). Mainstreaming, schools for the blind, and full inclusion: What shall the future of education for blind children be? In J. M. Kauffman & D. P. Hallahan (Eds.) The illusion of full inclusion: A comprehensive critique ofContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part IX: References”
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The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part VIII: An Inclusive Society
Although inclusion still remains an elusive dream, it is most definitely a right worth fighting for. Right is the operative word here. Inclusion is a civil right; it is not a place. In fact, social ostracism, inaccessible instructional materials/activities, poor blindness skills, and limited opportunity can make any educational setting the most restrictive environment forContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part VIII: An Inclusive Society”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part VII: Specialized Schools
While Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954) is right that separate is not equal, separate is not inherently inferior. Having professional experience with different schools for the blind, I can attest to many advantages their blind students have over sighted students attending public schools. These include smaller class sizes, community-based instruction, after-school tutoring, specialized equipment andContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part VII: Specialized Schools”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part VI: Acceptance of Disability
I like to think of myself as a diamond in the rough. As a kid though, I felt like a lump of coal. People did not generally see me as the Super Blind (Tuttle & Tuttle, 2004) but rather as the fumbling, bumbling Mr. Magoo®. I was the quintessential Ugly Duckling®. I was different, defective,Continue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part VI: Acceptance of Disability”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part V: Social-Emotional Development
My “privilege” includes having attended a high school that consisted of a predominantly white, able-bodied, middle-to-upper-class student body rife with the stereotypical cliques of the 1980s. I was one of only three mainstreamed students in my graduating class who had visible disabilities. As such, I was often ridiculed and ostracized. I was called names likeContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part V: Social-Emotional Development”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part IV: Self-Sufficiency
As the oldest child in a single-parent household, my mother relied on me to babysit, cook, and clean while she worked multiple jobs. Mom, who could be Martha Stewart’s long-lost twin, had an exacting standard for managing household demands. As such, she constantly critiqued my work, providing a barrage of suggestions. Blindness was never anContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part IV: Self-Sufficiency”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part III: Knowledge and Skills
Like many students with visual impairments, I too, struggled in the subjects of math and science because of the highly visual instructional methods. Since I was the only student with a visual impairment in my school at any given time, I did not know that these were common struggles. Instead, I erroneously attributed it toContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part III: Knowledge and Skills”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part II: The Benefits of Inclusion
LRE, a fundamental element of EHA, requires that “to the maximum extent appropriate, school districts must educate students with disabilities in the regular classroom with appropriate aids and supports… along with their nondisabled peers in the school they would attend if not disabled” (Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, 1994, para. 5). This requirementContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part II: The Benefits of Inclusion”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part I: Introduction
Sandwiched between the hippies and the yuppies, I was a child of the groovy 1970s. While I was born during the tumultuous times of Watergate and Vietnam, I was also a direct beneficiary of the aftereffects of the Civil Rights Movement. Thanks to Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954), segregated schools were deemed “inherently unequal.” ThisContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services Part I: Introduction”
The Gift of the Continuum of Services
This nine part series expores the benefits and challenges to the opposite ends of the continuum of services for students with disabilities from the perpective of a person with a congenital visual impairment who was educted in inclusive settings but who as a blindness and visual impairment specialist has taught in both inclusive and specializedContinue reading “The Gift of the Continuum of Services”
The VIP Experience 