Week Ten

Well, today I officially reached the 50 hours required for my orientation and mobility practicum this semester.  Didn't seem as hard or take as long as I expected it to, and to top it off, today was a good day.  I was able to observe and work with some students that I haven't seen in a couple weeks, and the progress for some of these students was impressive!

Margaret and I started out at Stacy's preschool class, where Stacy was drawing on a whiteboard with an orange marker.  As we came in the room, one of the teachers approached us and said that Stacy mentioned that the purple marker looked black.  This teacher was surprised, because she didn't think Stacy had any really usable vision and didn't fully understand what her vision loss looks like.  Margaret took the time to explain how Stacy might be seeing shapes and outlines, or saturated colors with high contrast.  Because Stacy is only four years old and has only learned English within the past year, it's difficult to know what exactly she is seeing.  For Margaret and I, it wasn't really surprising to hear this, but just another useful piece of information.

Margaret and I were able to do quite a few activities with Stacy today.  The students had free time, so we all went to a center that had pictures of emotions (happy, sad, shy, bored, excited, etc).  Margaret had already showed Stacy this poster and explained the facial expressions to her.  We used this time to practice the facial expressions again (what fun!), and then we went to the class gymnastics lesson.  Stacy needs some assistance navigating through the gymnastics activities and supporting herself, so I walked with her through the activities.  

Next the three of us when on a mini-lesson where Margaret had Stacy show me a new route she learned.  After that, Stacy decided that she wanted to start spinning around, so Margaret called out if Stacy made a full turn, half turn, quarter turn, or three-quarters turn.  She also mentioned the degrees on several of these.  Stacy was very interested in the feedback Margaret was giving, so she kept turning to different degrees.  To me, this was such a great "teachable moment", something that Margaret seems very good at seizing on.

Next Margaret and I went to the middle school to see Jacob (student with low vision who uses a power wheelchair) and Joe (student who is totally blind and has balance issues).  Jacob has problems with depth perception, so the goal today was to find a cane that he could use from his wheelchair to detect drop-offs.  This was an interesting effort in collaboration.  Both Jacob's mother and his PT happened to be there, so all of us were involved in this process and put in our opinions.  We ended up with a Frankenstein solution (cane tip from one cane, grip from another, and shaft from yet another).  Needless to say Margaret will be ordering a cane with the specific features we decided upon.

Then Margaret and I went for a walk with Joe.  This student has been using a cane for less than six months, and he is already to the point where he needed only one prompt to sweep his cane during a half-hour lesson.  He was also able to recall the steps to a route that he learned several weeks ago.  Joe is definitely one of those students that teaches you the importance of having high expectations and of not making assumptions about a student's abilities.

To end the day, we did several street crossings with Mike, a high school student who is totally blind.  He is probably one of those model students, but his one downfall is his over-confidence.  I would definitely call him fearless, but that also means that he has a tendency to disregard input from Margaret or to not pay as much attention as he should.  But at the same time, Margaret is trying to encourage Mike to make his own decisions about routes to use, etc. so that he'll be ready when he graduates from high school.

The nice thing about a student like Mike (who is such a proficient traveler) is that you can get his perspective as a cane user on things related to O&M.  Today I asked him about his opinions on different types of cane tips and cane materials.  He pointed out things that I had never heard of, like the fact that aluminum canes can rust in a saltwater environment like the Tampa Bay area.  He also mentioned that the joints of a folding graphite cane can splinter, but a graphite cane is less likely to break than an aluminum cane.  To me, these are things that an O&M instructor can only learn from people who actually use O&M skills in their daily lives.

Extra Post

Didn't observe Margaret last week because of scheduling conflicts etc, but I will be observing her tomorrow.  I realized that while I mentioned the tactile map I made for Stacy previously, I didn't post any pictures of it!  The last time I worked with Stacy we looked at the map together, and I believe she still has it in her classroom.  Will find out tomorrow if she's still using it.

The first picture is of the actual map, with the top being oriented to the North, etc.  The bottom piece of cork represents the school and has the letter 's' on it in braille.  The top piece of cork represents the church and has the letter "c" on it.

This is the key, which I put on a separate page.  That wasn't fully intentional, but I think it worked well for Stacy's small hands.  At the time, not putting the church and school in the key seemed logical, but now I feel like I should have included those two things as well.  Oops!  At any rate, she seemed to be able to tell what each material represented.

Week Nine

What a day!  I chose to observe Margaret today because she was doing several community outings, and I wanted to see what those are like.  They are in a word, exhausting.

Margaret and I first went to see Jim at his elementary school and check on how things were going there.  He had a mishap on the playground the day before; he was running and body-slammed a little girl.  Fortunately the girl was ok but Jim ended up with a bruised eyelid and scratches below his eye; Jim wears tinted sunglasses at all times for glare, like these:

Margaret's suggestion was for Jim to not run any faster than his eyes can see.  This definitely made sense, but considering that Jim struggles with his weight it almost seemed wrong to discourage him from being active/running.  At any rate, I also got to see a fun a little lesson on how to swing on swings (something that is harder to explain in words than you would think).

Next the plan was for Margaret and I to pick up Daniel (who has albinism) at his elementary school, take him to his neighborhood to evaluate his O&M skills there, pick up Ralph and Todd (twins who have retinopathy of prematurity), go to a nearby Corvette dealer (???), then Walgreens to pick up some wall hooks for Ralph's cane (those 3M adhesive/removeable plastic thingies), and finally Steak and Shake for a snack.  And somehow this all took place in the space of four hours.

The highlight of this experience was probably the Corvette dealer.  This was actually a small dealership with about 2 dozen used Corvettes.  The owner was there and was kind enough to unlock one of the cars so the boys could take turns sitting in it.  I must still be getting used to the idea of having our students into everything, because I was internally cringing every time the boys touched one of these shiny cars or bumped their canes and/or monoculars into them (and hoping the owner didn't kick us out).  But despite my reservations, I think it was a great experience for the boys.

The hardest part of the day was probably corralling the three boys and managing their behavior as we went through the activities.  I think if we had just one or two of the students, it would have been less difficult, but with all three there they seemed to feed off of each other.  All I know is, Margaret was definitely grateful to have a helping hand!

Week Eight

Today I got to go back to a local elementary school and see Jim, a first grader that I have observed several times in the past.  This kid has a great sense of humor and is so creative.

Margaret and I were standing in the cafeteria waiting for Jim to finish his lunch and noticed that Jim's long cane was hanging on the fire extinguisher by the exit (eek!).  There had been an adhesive hook for his cane on the wall by the fire extinguisher, but the hook was missing so apparently the fire extinguisher was now the best alternative.

Margaret was looking at this and trying to come up with a different place for Jim to keep his cane while he ate lunch.  The fire extinguisher is on the right side of the entrance doors, which is also where all of the students line up to leave after they finish eating.  So I suggested, "why not put a hook on the opposite side of the double doors, away from where all the kids stand so they're not tempted to pick the hook off the wall?"

Margaret didn't want Jim to have to cross this heavy traffic area, so we thought some more.  Then I thought of Stacy's (Margaret's preschool student) cane and how it has a rubber hook on it so you can hang it off of a  desk.  It basically allows the cane to defy gravity:

http://www.ambutech.com/product-catalog/accessories/cane-hook-small/

Aha!  I mentioned this to Margaret.  It seemed like the perfect solution.  Jim could just hang his cane off of the lunch table and keep it near him.  We got one of these handy contraptions out of Margaret's car and attached it to Jim's cane.  It took some explaining to show Jim how it works and how to place it on things so that the cane is stable.  Margaret placed the hook on several things (a car bumper, the push bars on the cafeteria doors, and a lunch table).

Apparently we opened a can of worms.  Jim now wanted to hang his cane from any possible spot (his glasses, the back of someone's shirt).  The winner was definitely getting it to hang off the bark on an oak tree (really??).

Margaret was concerned that this was going to become a distraction for Jim, but I think he was getting a chance to learn and satisfy his curiosity.  I'm assuming that after a few days the novelty will wear off and he'll stop using it as an oversized ornament (hopefully).  This whole experience also allowed Margaret to talk to Jim about "problem solving" and "trial-and-error" (I love how she always goes back to skills like this in her lessons).

Next we went to the middle school to work with Ralph (who has light perception) and Jake (who has CP, low vision, and uses a power wheelchair).  I made a tactile map of the school campus for Ralph using the Wheatley Picture Maker.  At first I thought maybe the map was too large or that I needed to add a key, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to incorporate a key onto the Wheatley Picture Maker (probably not something it's intended for).  The white lines are the corridors the classrooms are in, and the yellow lines are the main hallways:

I sat down with Ralph on a couch and Margaret had me show him the map.  At first it was hard to direct his attention, but by the end he was able to say what the different shapes/textures on the maps represented (yay!).  He did have a hard time answering some of my questions though, which might have been because of the way I worded them ("which hallway is the teacher's lounge across from?").  Overall I thought our mini-lesson went well.

Margaret and I also went for a walk with Jake to the teacher's lounge.  One of his aides gave him the key to the lounge, so when we got there Jake had to put the key in the lock and open the door on his own.  This was definitely a challenge for Jake, but Margaret just waited and gave him some verbal reminders.  We talked some more about the challenges of teaching students in wheelchairs and how a lot of it is just learning as you go.  Still, it would be nice if there was a training that I could take on this subject!

Week Seven

Today was another lesson in flexibility.  Margaret (the O&M instructor) and I met at a local grocery store so she could teach a lesson to a student who has a new power wheelchair.  Unfortunately, that student's class never showed up, so Margaret and I missed out on an hour of instruction.  

At any rate, Margaret explained that this student (who has low vision) recently had surgery and had gotten a new power wheelchair.  The new wheelchair is bigger than the previous one the student had, so it meant that he needs to get used to driving it.  I likened it to when you drive a new car; it takes awhile to figure out the car's dimensions, turning radius, etc.  

We talked some more about how much more common power wheelchairs are becoming for students that need wheelchairs, how difficult it is to decide if the student can take on that responsibility, and then the challenge of teaching O&M with these chairs.  Wheelchairs haven't been covered much yet in my coursework, let along power wheelchairs!

Next Margaret and I headed to a local planetarium to meet some of her middle school students that are in a supported varying exceptionalities class (I think going to the planetarium made up for missing out at the grocery store).  It was interesting, because two of Margaret's students in this class have light perception at best and the third student has CP as well as low vision.  This third student uses a power wheelchair and has difficulty keeping his trunk upright in order to look straight ahead (or up in the case of viewing the dome in the planetarium).  

Clearly the two students with light perception were not going to be able to see everything that was going on in the show.  Margaret decided to sit next to the student who has low vision, so that she could help him look in the right direction and provide more descriptions.  

One thing that stood out to me here was that because Margaret had three students at the outing and she couldn't possibly sit with all of them, the other two students were basically just listening to the lecture and probably not getting all of it.  Both of these students had their aides sitting with them, but the aides definitely didn't do anything to help their students understand what was going on (not that I expect them to; that's not what they're trained in!).  

But now that makes me wonder, do these students have a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) working with them?  I don't think I've actually heard of them having a TVI and certainly haven't met one at their school.  Must ask Margaret about this later. 

But even with all of this, the guy who gave the lecture did a good job of keeping things simple and providing descriptions as best he could, and it was probably a good experience for the students.  Margaret also took the opportunity to teach some elevator travel to the two students who have light perception.

After that, Margaret and I went to work with Stacy, the preschool prodigy (ok, maybe not, but she does use words like petrol and diesel).  We had a great time going for a walk in the neighborhood, letting Stacy tell us which way she wanted to go and pointing things out to her on the way.  

One problem that came up though is that Margaret wanted me to lead more of Stacy's lesson.  I started the lesson, but then Margaret jumped in.  I taught some more as we moved to another activity and then Margaret took over the lesson.  This didn't really bother me much, but afterwards Margaret more or less apologized, saying that it's her personality to jump in so I need to speak up.  

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a personality conflict for me.  Margaret definitely has a more dominating personality (plus she has more knowledge than I do), and I tend to defer to people like this.  Apparently I need to figure out how to be more assertive...

Week Six Part Two

My last post was pretty off topic because of the subject matter, but today I'll try to get back on track.  Margaret and I spent most of our time today with the group of middle school students that have multiple disabilities (Joe, Ralph, and Todd).  Ralph and Todd are twin brothers who have retinopathy of prematurity, and Joe has light perception and balance issues.  

Margaret and I started our day with Joe.  I've mentioned before how his hand preference seems to be in question and that he requires "spotting" when he walks.  I haven't seem him in a little over a week, but it's amazing to see again how much he's progressed.  When Margaret handed Joe his cane, he grabbed it with his right hand, put his left hand through the wrist strap, and transferred the cane to his left hand (no hesitation, no questioning!).  The last time I saw Joe, Margaret was just showing him how to put the wrist strap on, which was something he had difficulty with.  

Joe's PT also told us some of the awesome things he did during her lesson with him (picked up a dropped book, went down stairs, and found a doorway).  Did I mention that this is a student who only used a walker up until about a year ago?  Which brings up the next point.  

Margaret talked to the PT about the fact that when she sees Joe's class about on campus, Joe is usually using his walker with one of the aides towing him along.  In Margaret's words, seeing this makes her blood boil.  So while Margaret is working on all of these cane and travel skills with Joe, the other teachers don't seem to be giving him the opportunity to practice these skills when Margaret is not there.  

Hmm, I wonder how often that kind of thing happens with this population?  

So Margaret told both the PT and Joe's assistant that she would like to see Joe use his walker less, or not at all (apparently this is one of his IEP goals).  It will be interesting to see how successful she is getting the teachers to change.

Margaret and I also talked about me taking over some of Ralph's instruction.  Ralph has some light perception and uses a cane.  He gets distracted sometimes, but he actually seems to do better with his travel skills when he has to concentrate (if there's a lot of noise around, he's in an unfamiliar setting, etc). 

I'm comfortable with teaching him (I think), but I find myself wondering how you know when to give these students additional help and when to back off.  He has an intellectual disability, which makes some concepts more challenging for him.  But at the same time, I don't want to sell him short!  

At any rate, I'm making a tactile map of his school campus for him so we'll see how that turns out...

Week Six Part One

Went to an IEP meeting today with Margaret.  I haven't observed the student the meeting was for, but I've never been to an IEP meeting so I wanted to see what it was like.  The experience was educational, but even more so it made me feel connected and part of the field.  I'll explain.

I met Margaret at the front office of the school (which happened to be the elementary school I went to; some of it looked the same from 20 years ago and some of it looked different).  We passed one older lady (was she one of my teachers?  I'm so bad with faces and names, or maybe it's just my memory).  We finally got to the Vision Room, and the first person we came across was one of my current classmates.  She and I took a few minutes to gripe about the travesties of it all and our slave-labor professor (ok, maybe not so much).  

Then the teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) showed up, who I also knew.  I'd never met her formally before, but I'd seen her on numerous occasions.  Next the mom arrived, and then a woman who looked incredibly familiar to me came in the room.  She looked at me but didn't seem to recognize me.  When I introduced myself to the mother I looked at this familiar woman and said "I know you...." (what the heck is your name?)  She asked my name, I told her, and she immediately said, "Oh, Lizzy!".  Definitely a childhood name I do not hear very often anymore, unless I run into someone who knew me then.  

It was such a sweet moment; this woman had been my speech therapist and knew all of my teachers in the small program I attended as a child.  She even told me that my kindergarten teacher (the one teacher whose name and face I'll never forget) had stopped by to visit the school earlier that day, so I just missed her.  

At that point, I felt bad about drawing too much attention to myself and away from the purpose of the meeting.  By the way, the mother didn't even know I was going to be there (yikes!).  Anyhow, the speech therapist was acting as the LEA representative, and she did a great job of reassuring the mother and helping her follow the meeting.  The mother looked uncomfortable from the moment she arrived; at the end of the meeting she even said how hard IEP meetings are and started to cry.  My heart nearly broke for her, and I wanted to say something to reassure her ("No one here is judging you; we're all on your side!")

As the meeting progressed I found out that the student has a degenerative eye condition, which is part of what made this meeting so emotional for the mother.  The student's father has the same disease but doesn't seem to have accepted it (from my interpretation of what was said).  All of those at the meeting did a great job of saying how well the student was doing and were also sensitive when talking about her visual impairment.  

The mother asked some hard questions about whether the teachers thought her daughter's vision was getting worse or not.  I am sure TVIs get asked these kinds of questions a lot, and there doesn't seem to be any easy answer.  There were also several things said during the meeting that I felt might have been confusing or hard for the mother to understand (jargon, etc).  At those points, I was hoping that someone would explain what was said or make sure the mother got it.  But overall, the meeting felt so comfortable and everyone was so considerate.

When the meeting ended, my former speech therapist took me to see another one of my teachers that I had way back then (does anyone ever leave this school?)  That was a lovely encounter too.  When we all parted, I headed back to the Vision Room to check in with Margaret about my observations with her tomorrow.  At that point, another teacher showed up who happened to be the first teacher I observed before starting the Visual Disabilities program.  I also worked for this teacher last year at the Lighthouse.  What a small world!

The field of visual impairments really is such a small one, but it's almost nice in a way.  It's so comforting seeing people you know no matter where you go.  Even the other teachers at my elementary school knew the visually impaired staff.  This whole experience felt like going home, and it also helped me remember why I chose this career path.  

Week Five

This was a short week; only did 1.5 hours of observation at a different school than the ones I've been visiting on Fridays.  Due to scheduling issues, Margaret (the O&M instructor) and I settled on just doing a couple of hours.  Which worked out well, as I just found out yesterday that my student teaching application for the fall is due on Thursday.  Which means I should be writing an autobiographical statement right now as opposed to a blog, but I digress.

I've observed the student (Jim) that I saw today several times in the past year or so, which made it interesting to see how he's progressed.  He used his cane everywhere we went on campus (which was quite a few locations), and he didn't bump into anything.  The last time I observed Jim, he unwillingly used his cane and usually chose to use sighted guide instead.  It was great to see him travelling independently and confidently on his campus.

Jim has achromatopsia, which means that he sees varying shades of gray with a total absence of color.  His TVI and Margaret both already knew that Jim sees better in low lighting (more lighting is not always best for students who have visual impairments!), but Margaret recently discovered something else interesting about Jim's vision.

Jim was having difficulty seeing cones during PE, so Margaret put out several different cones and had Jim tell her which ones he could see best.  He chose the green and purple cones (which were on green grass).  This basically meant that Jim was seeing the objects that had the lowest contrast. So then Margaret put out a variety of folders in different colors on a black background, and Jim chose the purple and black folders.  Finally, she put out a variety of plastic cubes on a dark background, and again Jim chose the black and purple cubes.

Jim's vision seems to be the total opposite of what we assume for students who have visual impairments.  Typically, the more contrast the better. But with Jim, he might be seeing a washed-out world that makes saturated colors (green, black, purple) easier for him to see.

Did I mention how heterogeneous this population is? No assumptions are safe here.

Margaret is also doing a great rewards system with Jim.  If his teachers report that he has been using his cane and having good behavior overall, he gets to choose a sports related bead (football, soccer, baseball, etc), which is then put on a string that is attached to his cane.  When he gets four beads, he can trade it in for a charm.  When he has four charms, he gets to go on a community outing (McDonalds for ice cream!).  Of course he gets to keep the charm bracelet, which adds a little flair to his cane.

Jim has been at his school for about two years so he is very comfortable on campus.  In order to challenge him more, Margaret is planning to change his service hours to include more community outings.  It definitely seems like when a student has been at a school for awhile and has mastered its layout, the number of opportunities for O&M instruction dwindle.  If we want to continue developing the child's O&M skills, going off-campus becomes a necessity.

Week Four

For this week’s lesson with Stacy, I brought home a DRAFTSMAN Tactile Drawing Board which consisted of a rubber mat, plastic paper, and a stylus with two ends.  The goal was to make Stacy a basic tactile map of her school’s campus.  It was to include the school, the parking lot, the church across the street, the memorial garden, and the spiral staircase.  

Having made several tactile graphics already, I was feeling confident and hopeful that I could create a decent map with this kit.  Well, I was wrong.  I planned out the map on a piece of paper first and then proceeded to copy it on the plastic paper using the stylus provided.  As I worked, I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right.  

Once the map was finished, I closed my eyes and felt the page with my fingers to test its legibility (or lack thereof).  Well, apparently this tactile drawing kit is not meant to be used for tactile maps, because what I created felt like a bunch of lines with no distinct areas or borders.  I even tried adding extra lines to some of the shapes (diagonals, verticals), which seemed to make it even worse.  Either that, or I need to go back to Tactile Graphics Drawing 101.  

So I decided to go back to the tactile graphics kit that I made for one of my classes.  It’s full of fun things like felt, cork board, bubble wrap, and popsicle sticks.  I chose three of these textures to use for Stacy’s map, and kept the overall size to half a page to make it easier for her small hands to read.  Unfortunately, I didn’t leave enough room to fit the key on the same page, so I made a second small page for that section (for some reason I always forget to leave room for the key on these tactile graphics). 

I brought my creation with me this Friday, hoping that Stacy would be able to read it.  Margaret sat down with Stacy and one of her classmates and showed them all of the features on the map (she guided Stacy’s fingers using hand-over-hand).  It wasn’t until then that Margaret mentioned that this was Stacy’s first map (yikes!).  But when Margaret asked Stacy what one of the features on the map was, Margaret gave the right answer (yay!).  

Stacy’s classmate was even able to point out which square was the church and which was the school (seems to me all preschoolers would have fun reading a map like this…).  I was feeling quite happy that I stuck with the “keep it simple, stupid” motto, and it looks like Stacy will continue to use the map as she learns more about map-reading and cardinal directions. 

Basically the rest of the day was all about managing off-the-wall behavior and keeping ourselves sane.  Margaret and I convinced ourselves that there was either a full moon/no moon and that getting through the day with our lives would be a bonus: During gymnastics at Margaret’s school, three of the boys were a little "over enthusiastic" about the activities.  At the middle school, we took three of the students for a walk and one was moving like a bull in a china shop (and he’s capable of much more!).  I therefore spent most of the lesson keep this student from knocking another student over or from falling into a pond that we were standing by.  We took Mike (the high school student) out for a community lesson, but he managed to miss his bus and then talk his way out of walking the entire route from the bus stop to his house.  

But even with all of this craziness and a near accident, it was still a great day. 

Week Three

Margaret and I are into a pretty good rhythm now on these Fridays.  I settle into her van with my lunch, water bottle, notepad, and purse.  We catch up on whatever is new and head over to Stacy's school.  When we arrived, we quickly found out that Stacy had a meltdown that morning which resulted in her parents deciding that she would not participate in gymnastics that day.

Margaret once again took this opportunity to give a different perspective on Stacy's behavior; being visually impaired can mean that disruptions to Stacy's routine will upset her more, because it is so difficult for Stacy to control her environment.

We went to where Stacy was painting on paper at a desk.  Margaret briefly talked to Stacy about what happened that morning and quickly seized some learning opportunities.  Stacy had painted two green blobs on her paper, so Margaret had her feel where they were and incorporated concepts like top/bottom, left/right, big/small.

Margaret even managed to compare the blobs to dots in a braille cell (where does this woman get her creativity???).  When she discovered that Stacy had been painting on three sheets of paper so that the ink had bled through, she showed Stacy how the paint blobs were small/medium/large and were a little smaller on each page.

It had rained all night and morning, which meant there puddles all over and the cars were wet.  Stacy mentioned that her mom used the windshield wipers on the way to school, so Margaret decided to take Stacy out to her car to let her feel the windshield wiper and her windshield.  Stacy was very hesitant to touch  the wipers and the wet windshield (seems like things that make noise bother her), so Margaret encouraged Stacy to ride on her hand as Margaret touched the moving wiper.

What was truly amazing was that this little three-year-old made a connection between the wipers and her cane: "It sweeps like my cane".  To me, this was a serious YES! moment because it showed that Stacy understands the concept of sweeping to the point that she can compare it to other things (I mean, wow).

After that we took a nice leisurely walk around the school/church grounds which again made me wonder how people get paid to do this.  The church sign was explored, puddles were splashed in, and a one-story tall spiral staircase was climbed.

When we left the school, Margaret and I talked about making a tactile map for Stacy; it was clear that it should be small, simple, and focus more on shapes than textures.  I'll be making a tactile map for Stacy this week, so there'll be an update next time on how that worked (or not!).

Before I move on to the other students, it really is interesting how many more concepts and skills Stacy has to learn than the older students.  This is probably stating the obvious, but just from an observing/writing point of view there seems to be a lot more learning taking place with Stacy.  I'm not sure if it's the specific students that Margaret works with for the rest of the day, but the others seem to either already know it all (at least of what I've seen) or be focusing on very specific skills/routes.

At the middle school, we found out that Joe's (previously called student A) hand preference is still in question.  When his PT and OT work with him, he seems to prefer his right hand.  Yet for some reason every time Margaret asks him which hand he wants to hold his cane with, he always reaches with the left.  Interestingly, Joe also has better control of the cane with his left hand too.

It seems like for now Margaret, the PT, and the OT have settled for Joe having different hand preferences depending on the activity.  I personally didn't understand the controversy over it; my boyfriend is right handed in many activities but very much left handed in others, and I'm pretty sure he's not the only human being like that.

We worked with Joe on walking up and down steps with his cane while his PT watched.  From what I've been told, PTs focus on safety whereas O&M specialists focus on independence.  This might be a potential source of conflict but probably also provides balance.  It will be interesting to see what other conversations the PT and Margaret have about the students.

Next we went to pick up Mike for his lesson.  First we went to a restaurant to get some food, and then he practiced a route in his neighborhood.  One of the first things I noticed is how much more he uses his cane outdoors than indoors.  I didn't get it until Margaret pointed out how much Mike uses echolocation.  Then I remembered how much more sounds echo in buildings than outside.  Definitely something to keep in mind for my future students!

Week Two, Part Two

During the first week of my observation, Margaret (the O&M instructor) taught Mike (the high school student who is blind) a college campus route in preparation for Mike's class starting the next week.  All went well and Mike was able to find the classroom on the first day of classes.  He sat there for approximately half an hour, but no one showed up.  Eventually he called his mother to say the class must have been cancelled or moved, and she came to pick him up.  The two of them found out that there was sign on the door to inform students that the classroom was changed; how is a student who is blind or has low vision supposed to get this kind of information?

What should Mike have done instead?  Maybe he could have been taught how to find the admin building, just in case.  Or, he might have walked out of the classroom and asked someone if they knew where the class was located.  His solution to the problem was probably typical for a junior in high school, but he will not always have his mom, TVI, and/or O&M instructor there to help him.

This entire scenario highlighted the importance of so much of what is taught to students with visual impairments. They must learn how to self-advocate, they must be able to problem solve, and they should come up with back-up plans.  Margaret informed me that she and Mike had gone back to the college campus the day before his class started to review the route again.  Margaret saw that one of the professors was in his office and wanted Mike to introduce himself to this professor.  Mike declined and the two left.  

The point was that Margaret knew that talking to this professor might provide useful information about the class, but the decision of whether or not to do so was up to Mike.  Mike is at the point in his O&M instruction where it is primarily based on teaching him to learn from mistakes, plan ahead, and ask for assistance in an assertive manner (and not demanding it!).  

To me, this is a hard lesson to teach because it requires a lot of hands-off and letting the student get into difficult or uncomfortable situations.  However, it is absolutely necessary in order for these students to be able to get things done on their own once they graduate from high school.

The goal of this week's lesson was to teach the route to Mike's new classroom and to the admin building, where he wanted to double check that the electronic file of his textbook was being delivered.  As we walked, I paid closer attention to how Mike traveled.  Interestingly, Mike has great travel skills but hardly uses his cane.  He tends to hold it slightly in front of him without tapping it on the ground or having much of an arc.  

Instead, Mike travels mostly with echolocation; he is able to locate doorways, hallways, and stay on a sidewalk mostly with his hearing.  I have heard about these kinds of skills before, but never saw them up close.  Apparently Mike developed these skills naturally and with little help from O&M instructors.  To me, it is very fascinating to watch because I had such a difficult time travelling in a straight line when blindfolded and using a cane.  

Anyhow, Margaret seems to let Mike decide how to travel and has not given him prompts to use his cane, probably because she respects his ability to make that decision.  If Mike was one of my new students, I would be tempted to have him use his cane more.  But as I am learning, every student is unique and has different strengths and needs.  There is no cookie-cutter answer.

Week Two, Part One

It's interesting how what we think we know about ourselves turns out to be wrong, but more on that later.  Anyhow, despite my first day with the O&M instructor going well, I was still nervous about this second day. Why? I'm really not sure, but I think it has something to do with not wanting to look like a fool in front of a potential future coworker.

Today started at the preschool again, which is quickly turning into my favorite school to visit. The classroom was sitting at the big table and playing with flubber. That's right, the green gooey mystery material just like in the Robin William's movie. The mounds of gloop had been pressed, cut, and prodded into all kinds of shapes, which the students were only too happy to show me and let me touch.

 The O&M instructor (who shall be called Margaret) began helping the student we were there to see (who shall now be called Stacy) roll the flubber into different shapes; a snake, a pancake, and a really loooong fork holder. Clearly this was a great activity for Stacy; she could develop her concept of shapes, her hand strength, and her tactile awareness.

When the activity was finished and the students moved on, the classroom teachers mentioned Stacy's reluctance to touch the flubber at first, but that she eventually got used to it. Margaret took the opportunity to explain how sometimes, touching an unfamiliar material to the child's arm or leg first might help them work up the courage to touch the object with his or her hands. She used a great explanation that I've heard before; the hands of a child who is visually impaired are like our eyes, and should therefore be treated carefully.

Margaret tries to take Stacy for a walk every time she sees her so cane skills can be worked on. First, she helped Stacy use protective techniques in the classroom to find a shelf, and then trail a cabinet to the classroom wall. Even though Margaret was telling Stacy to trail the cabinets, Stacy began walking toward Margaret by following the sound of her voice (meaning she is already actively using sound localization).

Eventually we made it outside, with one of Stacy's classmates joining us for the walk. Stacy tends to hesitate in making decisions or not want to take turns with others, so Margaret has decided that in those situations to let Stacy's classmates decide where to go on the walks. This is a great example of how so many other skills can be reinforced during O&M lessons!

After a quick elevator ride and a visit to a small garden space, we went back inside for the class's tumbling lesson.  This is such a great opportunity for Stacy; body parts are mentioned, different body positions are used, and she gets to do things such as hop, squat, walk on her tip-toes, and bounce on a springboard.  At this time, she needs one-on-one assistance to participate in the activities.  This makes sense, but eventually Stacy starts over relying on the adult assisting her through the activities.  I find myself wondering if she would do the activities on her own if we let her (when does a child start becoming a prompt junkie again?).

As we left to go the middle school, I thought to myself, "I could be paid to do this all day?  Go for walks and play with flubber?  Sign me up!"  At the middle school, Margaret started with student A by walking with him to the cafeteria.  Student A is one of those success stories; for the longest time no one thought he could walk unsupported and even crossing a threshold would make him lose his balance.

Now, he can walk with minimal assistance and is working on using a long cane.  This student's hand preference seems to be in question though, so Margaret is experimenting to see which hand is better for him to hold the cane with.  The lesson here is that there is a lot of trial and error in O&M and determining what is best for the student.

The next lesson at the middle school was with two students as we searched for a suitable route to the band room from these students' classroom.  These students are in a varying exceptionalities class.  One is totally blind and one has low vision.  The difference between the two was interesting; the totally blind student had much better cane technique, asked far more questions about the environment, and moved slower.

The low vision student needed frequent reminders to  keep his cane tip on the ground and use his cane.  He also had many more suggestions of how to get to certain locations on the campus.  Overall this was more of a discovery and exploring lesson, but I think the totally blind student might have benefited more from learning the exact route first and then exploring the area around it.

So back to the statement I started with.  I always thought that my preferred population to work with would be middle schoolers, high schoolers, or maybe even adults.  It was nice to be proved wrong and thoroughly enjoy working with the preschoolers as they discover the world (and play with flubber).

Week One

Last Friday was the beginning of my 50-hour journey with an itinerant orientation and mobility (O&M) instructor. The itinerant aspect was expected and prepared for; I met the O&M instructor at a local Panera Bread so I could ride around with her for the day. Because I would be stranded with only the things on my person, I also brought lunch money, my driver's license and student ID, as well as a heavy jacket and a light sweater (note to self: an itinerant teacher should wear layers and keep back-up clothing in his or her car).

The two of us started the day at a church preschool where we spent about two hours with a bright little girl who has a tentative diagnosis of Leber's, which is an eye condition that causes very restricted visual fields. As I watched this little girl, I kept thinking back to my orientation and mobility classes where I navigated through buildings, across streets, and around neighborhoods with a blindfold on and cane in my hand (and not in the most graceful manner).

Some random thoughts that were rapid-firing in my brain as I watched: "How did she find that doorway so easily? She used the cane to get up the stairs way better than I ever did! How long has she been using a cane again? Nine months?! Look at that arc! I wonder what exactly she can see?" Basically, this little girl blew me away, and if she was the only visually impaired child that a person ever came across, I think they would have very high expectations indeed.

The word I took away from this lesson was: Opportunities. Four of us (the O&M instructor, me, the student, and one of her classmates) took a walk around the church grounds to see what could be discovered. As the O&M instructor spoke, I realized that virtually everything we came across was an opportunity to learn. There is so much knowledge and information that I take for granted, which made me realize that I need to peel back those blinders and see from the perspective of one who hasn't seen it before.

After leaving the innocent and wide-eyed preschoolers practicing tumbling, we were transported to the alternate universe of middle school. The difference between these age groups is so great that I likened it to culture shock. Apparently teaching 3-22 year olds every day is going to take some getting used to.

We were here to teach three students that are in varying exceptionalities classrooms, but first the O&M instructor wanted to consult with the PT, OT and classroom teachers: "Is there a better way for this student to hold his cane?", "Do you think this student has sufficient vision and cognitive ability to use a power wheelchair?", "How has this student's behavior been?" For this population especially, collaboration is so important for making sure the students get what they need.

The word I took away from this lesson was: Expectations. The first student I met was in a stander and working with a PT. He seemed to understand what people were saying to him, but he didn't talk at the time. I foolishly assumed that this meant the student must have limited cognitive abilities and be limited to a wheelchair. Well, he does use a wheelchair...but it is a power wheelchair...which he drives...by himself. The O&M instructor even had to remind him to "only" go up to level 3 (do we have a future speed demon on our hands here?)

We followed this student out the classroom, out of the wing, down the hall and to the cafeteria. He opened all of the doors on his own and knew exactly where he was going. Maybe my expectations were too low, and I shouldn't have been so impressed by this, but to me this student's ability to travel were significant for his future independence.

We worked with several other students at this school who took us to the chorus room, the library, the main office, the nurse's station and the classroom. Then the O&M instructor and I moved on and made the less jarring transition to a nearby high school. The student there is very similar to the little girl I started the day with, and what some might call "vanilla blind", meaning that blindness or visual impairment is the only disability they have.

The word I took away from this lesson was: Flexibility. As an itinerant, changes are to be expected, whether a student is sick, on a field trip, or forgets to tell you about a change in schedule (oops!). The O&M instructor had intended to work on a street crossing in the student's neighborhood, but the student needed to be oriented to the local college campus to be ready for a class starting there the next week.

Fortunately, the O&M instructor is allowed to transport students in her own car which allowed us to go to the college campus and make sure the student could find his classroom. I wonder what would have happened if the instructor had to sign up for a district van in advance only to find out that there was a change of plans at the last minute?