From: Mike.Freeman@f126.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Mike Freeman)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Acb/Nfb Feud
Date: 10 Sep 92 16:41:19 GMT
Reply-To: Mike.Freeman@f126.n105.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:105/126 - Lawson & Reay, Vancouver WA
X-Fidonet: Blink Talk Conference

Index Number: 24503

[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi, Chris!

In our last exchange, I stated that I thought -- but had no proof
-- that combined schools for the blind and deaf had worse
problems of students being abused than separate schools.  You ask
why.  It's simple; the blind and deaf, public perceptions to the
contrary notwithstanding, have rather little in common.  They
communicate entirely differently; the blind are, by and large,
word-oriented; the deaf (at least those who sign using ASL) are,
IMHO, symbol oriented.  We live in different cultural worlds.  In
most cases of which I am aware, in combined schools for the blind
and deaf, the blind and deaf often fought continually.  Even in
separate schools, wherein the students go home each weekend and
wherein the blind and deaf students are taken to drop-off points
on the same bus, there is much tormenting of the blind students
by the deaf students, despite the best efforts of those in
charge.  I think this is ultimately due to the overwhelming fear
of blindness (with good reason, of course) by the deaf.  NFB
philosophy or no NFB philosophy, being deaf-blind ain't just a
nuisance!  The tragedy is that this fear tends to color the
relationship between the blind and the deaf, even putting asside
cultural differences.

You ask whether schools for the blind are like English public
schools or American public schools in other respects, such as
grades covered, length of school year, etc.  In my experience,
schools for the blind kind of run the gamot; I knew of some that
took students clear thru high school, such as our local school
for the blind; I knew of some, such as the Oregon State School
for the blind, which took students thru ninth grade, whereupon
they went to their local high school.  I suppose there are other
ways of doing things.  Until recently, many schools for the blind
either had a predominance of multi-handicapped students or
operated on  what might be called the "failure model".  That is,
kids had to fail in public schools before they were sent to the
school for the blind.  In our school for the blind, this is no
longer the case; parents are guaranteed the right to choose where
their blind children will go to school by law.

Schools for the blind generally have a normal school year; some
operate summer programs either for their own students or for
public school blind students in order that they (those students)
can brush up on their blindness skills (such as Braille and the
use of the white cane).

Our school for the blind sends its students (except for those who
must go clear across the state) home each weekend.  This has
virtually eliminated abuse.  Our school is now a happy place.
While its academics could use improvement and it could do a
better job of teaching Braille and O&M to all its students, it is
doing much better than in previous years.  It is one of the few
academically-oriented blind schools left.

So much for schools for the blind.  You say that it's almost as
if people equate sensory perception with intelligence,
specifically visual perception.  That is precisely the case!
I've read learned treatises on blind children within the last two
years that maintain that **all** blind children have cognitave
deficits.  Certainly blind students must be shown more things
hands-on; that's common sense.  But equating vision with
intelligence is poppycock!  But then you knew that.  My point is
simply that there is actually literature in the field of special
ed masquerading as scientific which purports to be objective
which peddles such drivel.  Luckily, the nationwide organizations
of the blind are making inroads into this nonsense, though.

Ciao for now!
Mike Freeman
... ** Sevareids law:  The cause of problems is solutions. **
___ CRR QWK 1.40

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