A sweet friend of mine recently contacted me via email. She was concerned about how to educate her little boy on people with disabilities. How should she explain things? What questions should she answer? What does she say to her little boy?
I am SO grateful when I get emails like this. It's refreshing to know there are parents out there who want to teach their children and educate them properly.
I find that when I am out and about, travelling from place to place, there is one general common occurrence. Kids are always curious about my cane and why I use it. I love kids in that they are so hungry for information and want to know all about everything going on around them. It's in their nature to want to know why and how, I love this.
So how does a parent go about addressing people with disabilities to their children?
1. Always, always be willing to answer their questions. Something that bothers me tremendously is when I hear a child ask their parent about my cane or why I use it and then mom/dad just shushes them. You know, "Shhh...we'll talk about that later (in hushed tone)." It's understandable parents can feel awkward in moments like this especially when they know I can hear them. BUT, the worst thing a parent can do is hush their child. Don't be afraid to answer the question right there on the spot. You may go into a longer, more in-depth conversation later but it's important for them to know it's ok to ask. If I hear the child, I'll sometimes answer myself but the parents are the best people to answer because then the child isn't afraid in the future to ask questions.
2. If you don't know the answer, it's okay. You are not expected to know everything about everything. Answer what you can then later do your own research and find the answers. The Internet has become an excellent resource for information that is easily accessible (still be careful where you get your information from). It's ok to say, "I don't know, but I will find out!" THEN go back to your child with the answer, don't leave them hanging, wondering and speculating.
3. Not every parent will want to do this but it's another option. Sometimes children will come up to me directly and ask me questions like, "Why do you carry that big stick around?" Or, "Why are you looking so closely at that package?" I personally don't mind this at all. It's easy for me to explain and I am totally aware that the child is just curious. If they have a question about me, or the person with the disability, let them ask them. Again, this might make some parents cringe, not knowing what the child may ask, but it's good for them to talk to others and learn things on their own as well.
4. Educate your child. There are so many great stories, books, articles, etc. about people with disabilities most are great, some are not, but check them out yourself first and then share them with your child. For example here are some really fun articles, about blind people, that are fun to read AND are great for educating your kiddos:
I Can't See...But I Can Imagine
Freedom
Beyond the Funny Tree
Celebrate
Imagine
The Lessons of the Earth
To Reach for the Stars
The Car, the Sled, and the Butch Wa
Not Much of a Muchness
Safari
Reaching for the Top in the Land Down Under
I Can Feel Blue on Monday
Oh, Wow!
Reflecting the Flame
Remember to Feed the Kittens
To Touch the Untouchable Dream
Gray Pancakes and Gold Horses
Wall-to-Wall Thanksgiving
The Journey
Making Hay
As the Twig Is Bent
The Freedom Bell
What Color Is the Sun
5. Don't be afraid to ask for help! Like I mentioned before if you don't know the answer to a question or you're not sure how to answer it. Don't hesitate to reach out to someone who can help. I'm always right across the internet-o-sphere at deja.powell@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading this and for being such AWESOME parents!
And HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!
Showing posts with label QandA Today. Show all posts
Showing posts with label QandA Today. Show all posts
11/12/12
What is it you do?
Many people ask, or wonder, what it is I do for a living. Right now,
I'm working on a starting a new career in the southern part of Utah but
what I do is teach blind people to get around effectively and independently
using a long white cane.
I teach a method called Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT). My
former place of work, the PDRIB just released a great Q&A about what
it is I do and what many others are doling. It's a method I fully believe in.
Q: What is the written or working definition of SDCT?
A: In short, Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT) ™ is defined as the consumer-based model of orientation and mobility instruction that is derived from the collective knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and expectations of blind men and women. A full and complete description of the methods and principles that comprise SDCT take months to convey as graduate students or those pursuing an apprenticeship will attest. SDCT is not simply a strategy that can be incorporated into lessons being taught by those conventionally trained because it is a “whole paradigm” and to adopt only specific elements negates its entire premise.
Q: Why such a long cane? If SDCT promotes staying "in-step" and "in-time" but cane tip is beyond stepping area, how is coverage ensured?
A: Walking in-step with the longer, white cane provides for adequate coverage when the person is walking with his/her back straight and effecting a normal gait. Experience has shown that walking at an individual’s natural walking stride while using a short cane all too often results in not enough reaction time to stop before overstepping a drop-off or hitting an obstacle. Hence, the length of the cane allows the person to walk at a normal pace and to have the confidence that he/she will have sufficient reaction time to respond to changes in the environment.
Q: Do SDCT instructors teach pre-cane devices or AMDs?
A: Because the structure of many pre-cane and AMDs serve as a barrier to surroundings, they limit the exposure that blind children have with their environment. With a toddler, we would advocate the integration of an appropriate size cane for general mobility. During play we also promote the use of push toys that can be used out in front of the child. We strongly encourage children to freely move, explore, and to thoroughly engage with their environment and pre-cane and AMDs devices are not conducive to these ends.
Q: Where does low vision fit into SDCT?
A: This question has partially been answered with the responses to Question 10 and 21. When a consumer indicates interest in utilizing low vision devices, he/she would be referred to appropriate sources. The role of the SDCT instructor is primarily to teach students that they can go when and wherever they want to go without fear the they might not be able to see something. Once they have developed true confidence in the cane and nonvisual techniques, then they can use low vision devices at their own discretion.
Q: When is SDCT taught to children?
A: SDCT principles can be used with children regardless of age. Clearly, the skills taught will not be the same for a toddler as they are for an adult just as with traditional training.
Read the full article here: www.pdrib.com
I'm working on a starting a new career in the southern part of Utah but
what I do is teach blind people to get around effectively and independently
using a long white cane.
I teach a method called Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT). My
former place of work, the PDRIB just released a great Q&A about what
it is I do and what many others are doling. It's a method I fully believe in.
Q: What is the written or working definition of SDCT?
A: In short, Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT) ™ is defined as the consumer-based model of orientation and mobility instruction that is derived from the collective knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and expectations of blind men and women. A full and complete description of the methods and principles that comprise SDCT take months to convey as graduate students or those pursuing an apprenticeship will attest. SDCT is not simply a strategy that can be incorporated into lessons being taught by those conventionally trained because it is a “whole paradigm” and to adopt only specific elements negates its entire premise.
Q: Why such a long cane? If SDCT promotes staying "in-step" and "in-time" but cane tip is beyond stepping area, how is coverage ensured?
A: Walking in-step with the longer, white cane provides for adequate coverage when the person is walking with his/her back straight and effecting a normal gait. Experience has shown that walking at an individual’s natural walking stride while using a short cane all too often results in not enough reaction time to stop before overstepping a drop-off or hitting an obstacle. Hence, the length of the cane allows the person to walk at a normal pace and to have the confidence that he/she will have sufficient reaction time to respond to changes in the environment.
Q: Do SDCT instructors teach pre-cane devices or AMDs?
A: Because the structure of many pre-cane and AMDs serve as a barrier to surroundings, they limit the exposure that blind children have with their environment. With a toddler, we would advocate the integration of an appropriate size cane for general mobility. During play we also promote the use of push toys that can be used out in front of the child. We strongly encourage children to freely move, explore, and to thoroughly engage with their environment and pre-cane and AMDs devices are not conducive to these ends.
Q: Where does low vision fit into SDCT?
A: This question has partially been answered with the responses to Question 10 and 21. When a consumer indicates interest in utilizing low vision devices, he/she would be referred to appropriate sources. The role of the SDCT instructor is primarily to teach students that they can go when and wherever they want to go without fear the they might not be able to see something. Once they have developed true confidence in the cane and nonvisual techniques, then they can use low vision devices at their own discretion.
Q: When is SDCT taught to children?
A: SDCT principles can be used with children regardless of age. Clearly, the skills taught will not be the same for a toddler as they are for an adult just as with traditional training.
Read the full article here: www.pdrib.com
10/26/10
College Kids Say the Darndest Things
I just love going to give presentations on blindness and last night wasn't any different. I had a really great time talking to a group of college students and found myself laughing quite a bit.
A low-light was when I started joking that my travel instructor was a sighted guy and that at first I was disappointed because I wanted at blind guy and this guy says, 'Hey are you talking about Derick!?! I know he was your teacher!" Oh, crap! I forget everyone knows everyone in this town. All my love to Derick.
I always throw it out there that there are NO comments or questions that ruffle my feathers, I've heard it all. But yet, every time, without fail, I find myself scratching my head over a few questions/statements...(an no I don't have lice, gross!)
Last night I asked the group to tell me their name and one thing they knew, or had heard, about blind people. Such a fun question! This is what I got...(I hate typing quote marks so consider each statement below duelly quoted, thanks).
-I hear blind people have really, really good memories. I knew a blind guy once and he could remember everything, I mean everything!
-I have heard that blind people don't decorate their houses and have very few pieces of furniture.
-I know a lot of blind people and they use "weird things" to take notes in class.
Wouldn't you say I got some good stuff!?! I'm not making fun of these answers at all, although a couple make me snicker a bit, but what I loved was how open this group was with me and they weren't afraid to talk and ask questions.
I ran out of time last night to respond to all the above statements so I will attempt to do that briefly now.
But first, can I vent? GQ tells me I have the memory of an old woman, rude huh!?! I mean seriously just because the most common sentences in my vocabulary are, "Where the heck is my cell phone?" "How old am I again? Wait...one, two, three..." "I was supposed to be at that meeting TODAY???" "I forgot to pay my bill so I'm going to have to pay a late fee? Dang, again!?!" "Wait, what are we even talking about, I can't remember!" "What was the first thing on the menu again?" doesn't give him the right to say I have a bad memory! Sheeesh!
Oh and another thing I wanted to run past you guys, do you think there's something mentally malfunctional with my head if I go through my house and check to make sure the pictures on my walls are straight at least twice a week, re-arrange my living room when I'm bored and repaint the same frame 80 times because I keep changing my mind on the best accent color for my living room? I am really hoping that's all normal, come on guys tell me the truth!?!
Oh yeah and what's weird about using a metal plate and a sharp pointy metal poker thingy to write notes? As if pencils aren't weird!?! Seriously.
Wait...what was I supposed to be writing in this post? Craaap, I don't remember!
A low-light was when I started joking that my travel instructor was a sighted guy and that at first I was disappointed because I wanted at blind guy and this guy says, 'Hey are you talking about Derick!?! I know he was your teacher!" Oh, crap! I forget everyone knows everyone in this town. All my love to Derick.
I always throw it out there that there are NO comments or questions that ruffle my feathers, I've heard it all. But yet, every time, without fail, I find myself scratching my head over a few questions/statements...(an no I don't have lice, gross!)
Last night I asked the group to tell me their name and one thing they knew, or had heard, about blind people. Such a fun question! This is what I got...(I hate typing quote marks so consider each statement below duelly quoted, thanks).
-I hear blind people have really, really good memories. I knew a blind guy once and he could remember everything, I mean everything!
-I have heard that blind people don't decorate their houses and have very few pieces of furniture.
-I know a lot of blind people and they use "weird things" to take notes in class.
Wouldn't you say I got some good stuff!?! I'm not making fun of these answers at all, although a couple make me snicker a bit, but what I loved was how open this group was with me and they weren't afraid to talk and ask questions.
I ran out of time last night to respond to all the above statements so I will attempt to do that briefly now.
But first, can I vent? GQ tells me I have the memory of an old woman, rude huh!?! I mean seriously just because the most common sentences in my vocabulary are, "Where the heck is my cell phone?" "How old am I again? Wait...one, two, three..." "I was supposed to be at that meeting TODAY???" "I forgot to pay my bill so I'm going to have to pay a late fee? Dang, again!?!" "Wait, what are we even talking about, I can't remember!" "What was the first thing on the menu again?" doesn't give him the right to say I have a bad memory! Sheeesh!
Oh and another thing I wanted to run past you guys, do you think there's something mentally malfunctional with my head if I go through my house and check to make sure the pictures on my walls are straight at least twice a week, re-arrange my living room when I'm bored and repaint the same frame 80 times because I keep changing my mind on the best accent color for my living room? I am really hoping that's all normal, come on guys tell me the truth!?!
Oh yeah and what's weird about using a metal plate and a sharp pointy metal poker thingy to write notes? As if pencils aren't weird!?! Seriously.
Wait...what was I supposed to be writing in this post? Craaap, I don't remember!
3/21/09
Q&A Today: Of Capes and Thigh Highs
Would you say that your other senses are heightened because you can't see?
It’s a common misconception that blind people have “super-hearing” or “super-smelling” powers but that’s very untrue (although would be a fanstastic thing to have...maybe...). There is nothing “super” about my hearing, however I do use it a lot and rely on it for the majority of my information gathering. For example, when I am under a blindfold and not using my vision at all, I find myself paying much more attention to what I hear in my environment. Although I'd love to flaunt a cape, some tights and some sassy red thigh-high boots I won't be anytime soon...or maybe I will, hmmm might be kinda stylish! Wink!
It’s a common misconception that blind people have “super-hearing” or “super-smelling” powers but that’s very untrue (although would be a fanstastic thing to have...maybe...). There is nothing “super” about my hearing, however I do use it a lot and rely on it for the majority of my information gathering. For example, when I am under a blindfold and not using my vision at all, I find myself paying much more attention to what I hear in my environment. Although I'd love to flaunt a cape, some tights and some sassy red thigh-high boots I won't be anytime soon...or maybe I will, hmmm might be kinda stylish! Wink!
This would however be my emblem...but in pink of course...if I were indeed a super here (I'm going too far with this aren't I!?!)
(Description: Blue triangle with a capital letter "D" in it in blue).
3/20/09
Q&A Today: Refrigerator -ator!
How do you find stuff in the refrigerator and cook things? You probably have to be a super organized person...everything in its exact place?
Well I can tell you right now, just like many of you (don’t deny it) my fridge is NOT all too organized. Most items kept in the refrigerator have a distinct shape or smell to them. For example a jar of pickles and a jar of jam may have the same bottle shape but one twist of the lid and the smell easily gives away which is which (unless you like Dill Jelly, then you have problems). As far as things like salad dressings or condement bottles, I may put a rubber band around the Ranch dressing and leave the Blue Cheese rubberband-less. It doesn't take much to be able to decipher things in the fridge.
Well I can tell you right now, just like many of you (don’t deny it) my fridge is NOT all too organized. Most items kept in the refrigerator have a distinct shape or smell to them. For example a jar of pickles and a jar of jam may have the same bottle shape but one twist of the lid and the smell easily gives away which is which (unless you like Dill Jelly, then you have problems). As far as things like salad dressings or condement bottles, I may put a rubber band around the Ranch dressing and leave the Blue Cheese rubberband-less. It doesn't take much to be able to decipher things in the fridge.
Photo description: A jar of dill jelly.
As far as cooking...I can tell you what the Number 5 is at Wendy's, oh and the Number 2 at KFC is devine, both Wendy and Colonal Sanders are super at Cooking! Ok, I can cook if I need to and some of the best meals I've ever eaten were prepared by some of my blind chefy-type friends. For most things in the kitchen, common sense type things should be applied. When you are filling up a measuring cup, you simple stick a finger in to see how high you have filled it. When seeing if a cake is done, you stick a toothpick in it and feel if there is anything on the toothpick. When barbequing, which is one area of cooking I do love to do, you can either cut into the meet to see if it cuts through or you can put pressure on the meets to see if it is still soft or juicy...then you can decide how well done you want it. 
Photo Description: My buddy Colonal Sanders
There's a million tips for the kitchen, I've only listed a few. Feel free to leave a comment if you have a more specific question, I'll do my best to answer it!
Q&A Today: Crossing Shmossing!
Is it scary to cross streets?
Crossing streets used to be very scary for me, especially when I didn’t use a cane. Now that I have good training and have learned to travel with a cane I can’t think of a single street that scares me (don't I sound couragious!)
When crossing streets you use traffic patterns to dictate when it’s time to cross. As soon as I hear my parallel (or the traffic going the same way I'm about to walk) surge I know that it’s safe for me to go. There’s many kinds of intersections but this rule of thumb seems to work in most cases.
With the right training crossing streets becomes a simple, non-eventful daily task and is a lot less complicated than it may seem to some (save the complication for other life events, like relationship and such...no, I'm not bitter, only maybe a little).
Crossing streets used to be very scary for me, especially when I didn’t use a cane. Now that I have good training and have learned to travel with a cane I can’t think of a single street that scares me (don't I sound couragious!)
When crossing streets you use traffic patterns to dictate when it’s time to cross. As soon as I hear my parallel (or the traffic going the same way I'm about to walk) surge I know that it’s safe for me to go. There’s many kinds of intersections but this rule of thumb seems to work in most cases.
With the right training crossing streets becomes a simple, non-eventful daily task and is a lot less complicated than it may seem to some (save the complication for other life events, like relationship and such...no, I'm not bitter, only maybe a little).
Q&A Today: School Struggles
In an academic world designed for "normal" students, which is defined, for the purpose of this question, as students without a disability, be it learning or physical, how did you make it through school?
School never came easy for me, it was something I had to work at constantly. I often used books on tape (later they were on computer disk, a floppy, "yes" that makes me old!). I also hired readers to do just that, read my textbooks for me. For tests I also used a reader to dictate the questions to me and then scribe the answers. I used a computer to type up my class lecture notes and some blind students use a fancier piece of technology (well it's fancy to me) called a Notetaker, which is smaller machine with an electronic braille display that functions much like a computer and also has speech output (did that sound techy enough? Probably not).
School never came easy for me, it was something I had to work at constantly. I often used books on tape (later they were on computer disk, a floppy, "yes" that makes me old!). I also hired readers to do just that, read my textbooks for me. For tests I also used a reader to dictate the questions to me and then scribe the answers. I used a computer to type up my class lecture notes and some blind students use a fancier piece of technology (well it's fancy to me) called a Notetaker, which is smaller machine with an electronic braille display that functions much like a computer and also has speech output (did that sound techy enough? Probably not).
For me, or for anyone that struggles in school it’s important to be creative and find the best method for you to learn, nothing is too outlandish, use whatever works!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)