Week 5

Sept. 9-13, 2013

Sept. 9 - My very first "real" IEP meeting - (ahem!) soo much different than the actors made it to be in the classroom. It was professional, yet inviting and welcome to the family that represented the little boy we serve at Curlew Creek Elementary. I really appreciated Bryan's input at the meeting (especially when he started to make the information more personal by verbally sharing his purposes in working with the student).

One of the students I really enjoyed working with this week is this kid, named Jon at Forest Lakes Elementary. We got him excited about Cane Quest and this seemed to encourage him to perform better during O&M lessons. Bryan hid the coins that the leprechaun left behind and set them next to a metronome. Jon had to listen intently to where the sound of the metronome was coming from and use proper techniques to find it and the coin(s). This was really fun, too, when he and Alex competed for the coins. It was so adorable to see the two of them like 2 blind mice in the dark with their little canes, practically about to push each other over to get to that ticking metronome. It amazes me the ability of Jon to locate the source of the sound and walk directly (for the most part) to it. What was also interesting about Jon this week is his persona in general. He was caught being off his meds the past couple of weeks and this made him very edgy, unstable, and regressive. Since he's been back on his meds this week, I can tell a huge difference and it is so much easier to work with him this way. He is so much more compliant.

Grace L. - student with extreme photo sensitivity; great lack of distance vision; uses a telescope; always appears fidgety (like she has to pee!). This was my first time working with Grace. She amazed me all the way. We took her to the mall and Bryan challenged her to find specific locations in the mall while we were at the directory (downstairs). She did everything independently. I was impressed by all of her abilities.

Grace B. - Bryan conducted an in-service in her class this week. On this particular morning, I walked into a kindergarten room of little children with blindfolds on, being led by their classmates. It was a big melt-my-heart moment to see this. I also really appreciated Bryan's instruction to the class after this experience. He taught them about the long cane and the meaning of visual impairment and blindness.

Morgan - completely missing her lower field of vision; has good contrast vision; needs to regularly exercise her cane skills (she seems really weak in this area); needs to exercise crossing streets and looking both ways before crossing. We took Morgan up the pedestrian bridge just outside the school grounds and watched the cars drive under us on the highway. That was really neat. I'm beginning to see more of what Bryan was telling me in the beginning about how he thinks this job is more of like an art form. You have to be really creative and think on your feet to teach these kids.

This week, I'm getting a lot more independence with the kids. Bryan is beginning to allow me to work 90% independently with them. In fact, I love it when he lets me run ahead of him and grab the kid out of class and begin working with him. It makes me feel useful and I'm really putting into action all of the things I learned these past few yrs (or weeks even). I also appreciate when he trusts me enough to let me have the kids and then he tells me he will meet me at the final destination. This allows me the space to develop my own teaching techniques along with the private recollection and practice of what I've been taught without the pressure of his opinion about what I'm doing.

At the end of this week, we had a teacher work day and this turned out to be really refreshing. I needed it so bad! I was able to catch up with the other 2 O&M specialists in the county, get to know them better, and observe how they work together. Bryan showed me how Nancy orders all of the O&M equipment and keeps it in her office and that is where he gets all of his equipment (which is stored in his van). Steve showed me how to put red tape on a pre-cane device. At the end of the day, we ate at a Greek restaurant and troubleshot how we could share the ever-increasing case load of ours (about 30 now). Steve and Nancy only have about 13 each while we have close to 30 (max).