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?
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