Blind Education Pioneers In China And India: Contents Elizabeth Alexander, Maria Erhardt, used Moon script to teach blind children in Lateraccounts of the beginnings of formal education for blind people in http://www.socsci.kun.nl/ped/whp/histeduc/mmiles/
Extractions: Blindness and blind people appear in literature from Chinese and Indian antiquity. Legal and charitable provisions existed and blind characters played a role in epic history. Most blind Asians however lived rather constricted lives. The 'official' starting dates for formal blind schools are 1874 in China, and 1886 in India; but in fact there was some well documented educational work with blind people from the 1830s onward in both countries. Two of the key 19th century special teachers were blind young women. In 1837, missionary teacher Mary Gutzlaff integrated several young, blind, Chinese orphan girls in her small boarding school at Macau. One named 'Agnes Gutzlaff' was then educated in London. She returned in 1856 to Ningpo, then later moved to Shanghai. Agnes became the first trained person in China to teach blind people to read, using first the Lucas system, then Moon's embossed script. Agnes was a musician, and also supported herself by teaching English. Meanwhile, in the late 1840s, a class of blind adults had received formal instruction from Rev. Thomas McClatchie at Shanghai. In 1856, Rev. Edward Syle opened an industrial workshop at Shanghai for older blind people.
Advice To Blind Student Teachers From A Professor Of Education Advice to blind student teachers from a professor of education. teach. He or she may well communicate these reservations about the blind student teacher's ability to the education http://www.blind.net/bg340001.htm
Extractions: From A Professor Of Education by Homer Page Editor's Note: Dr. Homer Page is blind and for many years has been a professor in the Department of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is also Chairman of the Boulder County Board of Commissioners and President of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. At the 1993 meeting of the National Association of Blind Educators he had good advice for blind students planning to do student teaching. His remarks were printed in the Spring/Summer 1994 issue of the Blind Educator, the publication of the National Association of Blind Educators. This is what he said: I am very pleased to have a chance to speak to you on this topic. Of course, the blind student teacher must have a good knowledge of the subject which is to be taught, but equally important is mastery of the skills of blindness. The blind student teacher must be literate in Braille, quick with keyboard skills, and experienced in the use of the long white cane. Since sighted student teachers are expected to pick up a list of student names on the first day and read them quickly, the blind student teacher must have the skills to do the same. For most of us who do not see or do not see very well, Braille skills are a requirement. When closed circuit TV or very enlarged materials must be used, so much energy is consumed in decoding the print that the teacher inevitably loses contact with the students. Braille is the solution for such a teacher.
Blind Education Pioneers: Conclusion conventionally assigned for the start of blind education in China The efforts ofsome active blind people to learn they could, and then to teach others, were http://www.socsci.kun.nl/ped/whp/histeduc/mmiles/bpt04.html
Extractions: Brief glimpses have been shown of some educational and vocational activities with and by blind children and adults, mostly between 1830 and 1880, across the vast expanse of the world's two largest nations. Most of this work took place before the dates conventionally assigned for the start of blind education in China and India. It was pioneered by people other than the 'recognised' founders. Some of these newly-revealed pioneers were blind people, who were thus, in a sense, doubly pioneers. Many of the pioneers, both blind and sighted, were women, labouring under a double social disadvantage. They were using the successful new reading materials of their times, first the Lucas system and then Moon's script, while Braille's dots were slowly gaining ground elsewhere. The efforts of some active blind people to learn whatever they could, and then to teach others, were appreciated by their sighted mentors, at the time; but in most cases these efforts disappeared from the account given by later chroniclers, who apportioned the credit to the sighted at the expense of the blind. This may have been partly due to the conventional assumption, by later sighted people, that good works 'must have been' done by sighted philanthropists to helpless blind people. Yet that cannot be the whole explanation, as several of the earlier sighted pioneers similarly suffered the fate of being wiped off the historical record. Most of the 19th century integration of blind learners in ordinary schools, and the willingness of teachers to accommodate them and to find special methods for them, has disappeared from the record; or it has been dismissed with the suggestion that the first 'real work' began with those who managed to construct 'institutions to care for the blind'. In a thesis written in the 1930s, Dev Raj Seth believed that in India before 1886, "There were no homes for the blind, the deaf and the mute, and what the early and primitive institutions did was simply to teach the poor, luckless creatures a few handicrafts, such as basket-making, carpet-weaving etc, to earn their living".
Early Blind Education I had to really teach myself as far as my by Martha not only to further her educationbut also to the systematic approach to travel for the blind using the http://www.nfb.org/bm/bm98/bm981102.htm
Extractions: One Pupil's Account by Jana L. Schroeder and Martha B. Hays The following paper was prepared for the Second International Conference on the Blind in History and the History of the Blind, which took place in Paris, June 22 to 24, 1998. Jana Schroeder was a 1984 NFB scholarship winner and a history major in college. She has worked for some years for the American Friends Service Committee, but she has never lost her interest in oral history. In 1996 Martha Hays received the NFB of Ohio's Knall Garwood Award for steadfast and loyal service over many years in the NFB of Ohio. Martha, who was ninety at the time, charmed the entire convention as she spoke briefly about her long life of service to blind people. Among other tidbits she revealed was the fact that she was one of four blind women social workers who worked with Dr. Hoover to develop his long-cane technique for the use of World War II veterans.
Extractions: Future Reflections Spring, 2002 back next contents The Role of the Paraeducator in the Education of Blind Children by Denise Mackenstadt, 2001 Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Denise Mackenstadt Editors Note: The Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award bestows both honor and responsibilities upon the deserving recipient. In addition to the $500 check, beautiful plaque, and all-expenses-paid trip to the NFB Convention, the award winner is asked to make a major presentation before the Annual Meeting of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children Annual Meeting. This year, NOPBC members had the pleasure of hearing an outstanding presentation from one of our own long-time members, and the first paraeducator to ever receive this award Denise Mackenstadt of Washington State. Denise met her husband, Gary, through the NFB (she is sighted, he is blind), and they have been active members for the past 31 years. Here is what Denise had to say about The Role of the Paraeducator in the Education of Blind Children: I wish to thank theDistinguished Educator of Blind Children Award committee and the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children for the opportunity to address this meeting. I am very proud to be here in this capacity. By giving this award to me, a paraeducator, you have acknowledged the importance the paraeducator plays in the educational life of blind children. It is also a great personal honor, and it is of particular significance to me as a gift from our Federation family and friends.
Counsellors Redefine The Elephant can do it all, including counselling and special education. This blind counselloreven likes the students to call teacher, be a counsellor, teach career units http://www.portup.com/~lburhans/Counsell.html
Extractions: Republished on the Internet with the permission of the author. T he fable about seven blind men and the elephant is well known. In the fable, each of the blind men approaches the elephant and depending on whether he touches the trunk, the tail, the sides or the legs, he gives a totally different description of how an elephant looks. This same type of narrow description also occurs among some Manitoba school counsellors who have not yet embraced a comprehensive guidance and counselling program for all students. Even the best-intentioned school counsellors may see their roles as imperfectly and incompletely as the blind men saw the elephant in the familiar fable. The first blind counsellor sees her role as helping a few students with more serious problems. All her energies go into helping those with the greatest concerns and she works with them throughout the year. She analyzes and diagnoses the children for attention deficit disorder, eating disorders and depression. She even sees parents with problems; after all, she took a weekend workshop on family reconstruction. She loves the labels that are provided in DSM-IV. In addition, she works with substance abuse children and low self-esteem students. Tara Pea loves doing therapy and is well liked and respected by the few students she works with intensively.
Blindness-Related Emailing Lists Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation Research Project University of Florida - Presentation of empirical evidence of the effectiveness of CR/PM use in schools. Action for blind People. Special education. Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation Research Project professional training for those who teach safe and efficient travel skills to http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/blist.html
Extractions: A Note to Listowners This document contains instructions on how to join over two hundred blindness-related emailing lists and blindness-related newsgroups , along with hypertext links which allow you to subscribe to any of the lists. It also contains an extensive listing of accessibility and pan-disability lists , as well as a list of emailing lists that are not blindness-related, but which are frequented by blind members , and a selective list of emailing list-related resources . A zipped archive of this hypertext document is available at: A plain ASCII version of this list is available from: A zipped version of the ASCII file, blist.zip , can be downloaded via anonymous ftp from the pub/poehlman NFBnet.org BLIST is also available via email. To obtain a plain text version of BLIST via email , type the line GET BLIST INFO in the BODY of an emessage, and send it to:
Extractions: Louise Clunies-Ross outlines the aims of new research into children's mobility needs. For children and young people who are visually impaired mobility and independence education is essential to give them the knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to organise themselves and to get about safely. Orientation, mobility and independence training supports children's development from early childhood, enabling blind and partially sighted children to play an active part in school, home and social environments with their sighted peers. Within today's inclusive education system, mobility is an essential skill for visually impaired children.
Research Library - Blind Teachers teaching blind. Times educational Supplement, 2 October 1970. PARSONS, Patricia.education adviser profile of Roy Brown. teachability. http://www.rnib.org.uk/wesupply/fctsheet/bltchrs.htm
Extractions: a select bibliography UNITED KINGDOM ASSOCIATION OF BLIND AND PARTIALLY SIGHTED TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. Report of a Conference held at the University of Leeds on 18-19 September 1971. Leeds: The Association, 1971. 8pp. "But how would you handle discipline?" ABAPSBAS Bulletin No. 52, February 1987, 1-3. CASTLETON, David. Carrying his bat: Alan Milne talking to David Castleton. (Ways of Life 29). St Dunstan's Review , November 1986, 13-20. CHATTERS, Arthur. Living with RP. British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society Newsletter No. 6, October 1977, 6-7. FREEDMAN, Dennis. The electronic blackboard. New Beacon , April 1986, GABRIELLE, Gerard. Growing up blind: experiences of a totally blind teacher. Sensory World No. 41, December 1980, 26-28. Gertrude Tearle: an appreciation by some of her friends: obituary. New Beacon, September 1987, GREAT BRITAIN. Department of Education and Science . Blind teachers in schools for the blind. In The education of the visually handicapped, Appendix J, Section 4, p. 154. London: HMSO, 1972.
Teaching Research-Staff Directory and language acquisition To teach or not to teach. Deafblind Perspectives, 1(3),Fall. In N. Haring, and L. Romer (Eds.), Integrated education for Students http://www.tr.wou.edu/staff/Staff_Detail.cfm?ID=16
Extractions: Return to listing of Dr. van Dijk articles The approach to education of individuals who are deaf-blind has changed significantly since the rubella epidemic occurred in the United States and Western Europe in the early 1960s. This article examines how methods developed in the Netherlands influenced later theories and practices, and how those theories have evolved and changed over time ( Deaf-Blind Perspectives Winter 1997-98 Volume 5 Issue 2). Reprint permission, courtesy of Dr. Jan van Dijk, 2001 History and Change in the Education of Children Who Are Deaf-Blind Since the Rubella Epidemic of the 1960s: Influence of Methods Developed in the Netherlands Dr. J. van Dijk University of Utah The approach to education of individuals who are deaf-blind has changed significantly since the rubella epidemic occurred in the United States and Western Europe in the early 1960s. Prior to the epidemic, only incidental successes in educating children who are deaf-blind had been reported. In the United States, Samuel Gridley Howe wrote in a detailed manner about his student, Laura Bridgman, and Anne Sullivan reported on the enormous educational progress of Helen Keller. In Norway, Ragnild Kaata, a deaf-blind student, was taught to talk, and in France, Marie Heurtin received wide attention for the level of language she was able to attain. This article examines how methods developed in the Netherlands influenced later theories and practices in the education of these children and how those theories have evolved and changed over time.
Extractions: Blind Teacher Shows Students A New Way To See The World Those who have met Melissa Lagroue will tell you that she is an attractive, perfectly normal young woman. She graduated from college in June with a degree in elementary education and was married to John Williamson, a medical student, in mid-July. Because the young couple will be settling down near the medical school in an area in which teachers have been laid off in recent months, Melissa is going on to graduate school rather than looking for a job right away. Hers is a story repeated with variations thousands of times every summer. But each human being is unique, with personal gifts to give and contributions to make. Melissa is blind and an active and dedicated member of the National Federation of the Blind. She understands that Federation philosophy is meant to be lived and that it works. When an education professor at her college told her two years ago that she had no business training to teach public school, Melissa rallied her forces and disputed that view successfully. (See the June, 1991, issue of the Braille Monitor.) Melissa Lagroue student taught last year like the other members of her Birmingham Southern education-major class. But Melissa clearly made a profound impact on the children and teachers with whom she came into contact. On April 30, 1992, the Birmingham News carried a story by Scottie Vickery about Melissa Lagroue and her class. Here it is:
Extractions: Great Sites For Teaching Archives: VIEW ALL ARTICLES Arts ... Special Education Great Sites Article G R E A T S I T E S A R T I C L E June 27, 2000, is the 120th anniversary of the birth of Helen Keller, and each year the week in which her birthday falls is recognized as Deaf-Blind Awareness Week. In honor of Helen Keller and other members of the deaf-blind community Education World looks at some noteworthy Web sites dedicated to the topic of deaf-blindness. The story of Helen Keller is well known. Born on June 27, 1880, the healthy infant was developing normally. But at the age of 19 months, an illness left her deaf and blind. When Helen was six, her equally famous teacher, Anne Sullivan, was able to teach her to communicate. Helen Keller went on to excel in all aspects of her life: graduating from college with honors and writing, lecturing, and inspiring people worldwide. Each year, the calendar week in which Keller's birthday falls is recognized as Deaf-Blind Awareness Week. In honor of Helen Keller and all those who deal with dual-sensory impairment or deaf-blindness, as the condition is also called Education World looks at some Web sites that are informative, useful, and inspiring. The Life of Helen Keller: An American Hero
Extractions: Related Articles Related Resources ... Interdisciplinary Lesson Planning Article L E S S O N P L A N N I N G A R T I C L E Our senses allow us to enjoy our food, the sound of music, the beauty of a sunny day, the softness of a child's hair in short, our lives! With the aid of the Internet, you can teach your students about the special gift of the senses and how they work. They will encounter sound by making instruments, guess what is inside a feely bag by using touch, or rub a homemade scratch 'n' sniff gingerbread boy! Experimenting with the senses is fun for everyone! Included: Web links to additional "senses" resources! We rely on our five senses to provide information about the world around us. Just the thought of a special holiday dinner brings to mind many observations made through the senses the smell of dinner cooking, the sound of holiday music, the taste of freshly baked cookies, and more. Children may recognize the importance of their senses, but they don't often focus on them individually. With the help of Web resources, you can teach your students to identify their senses and put them to use in the classroom. To begin or end your study of the senses, bring them together in a simple language arts activity called the sensory poem. Your students may choose their themes, but they must involve all the senses. Holidays, seasons, and other broad concepts make nice topics. List the five senses sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch for the students. Tell them that they must address one sense in each line of the poem. The first line should include a color, and the last may include touch or emotion. You may allow students to put the other lines in any order they choose.
Teach More Love More - Community Resources Public Information Officer, 305995-4638. Public Service education, 305-995-1804.Pupil Progression Plan, 305-995-1907. Radio Reading for the blind, 305-995-2299. http://www.teachmorelovemore.org/CommunityResourcesList.asp?catid=6
Teach More Love More - Community Resources Jewish Community Services of South Florida education and Training Department, 305 LittleHavana Activities and Nutrition Centers / blind Services Meals Program, http://www.teachmorelovemore.org/CommunityResourcesList.asp?catid=5
Extractions: IDEA and Nebraska's Regulations and Standards for Special Education define "visual impairment" as a physical disability, which means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects an individual's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. This definition recognizes individuals with visual impairment may vary significantly from one another in regard to their visual abilities. One individual may have no functional vision at all and require learning through the tactual sense including Braille, while another may be able to read and write printed materials with modifications. It is essential an appropriate learning medium be carefully chosen no matter how much functional vision a student displays. Additionally, it is critical to frequently review the status of a student's visual abilities in order to judge if a change of learning medium is needed or will be needed in the future. As the IEP for a student with visual impairment is developed, the IEP Team must assure the decisions made regarding the student's primary learning mode are integrated into the PLEP, goals and objectives, and services for that student. The IEP Team must also assure the student's instruction in Braille reading and writing is provided by personnel licensed to teach individuals with visual impairments. The law states the following: The IEP Team shall: (iii) in the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille unless the IEP Team determines, after an evaluation of the child's reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media (including an evaluation of the child's future needs for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille), that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate for the child;
Department Of Special Education Services Credential in Special education qualifies students to authorizes the holderto teach orientation and who are visually impaired or blind, from infancy http://www.sfsu.edu/~spedcd/programs/sped/credentials.htm
Extractions: Education Specialist Credentials The Department of Special Education at SFSU offers post-baccalaureate programs leading to the Preliminary Level I and the Professional Clear Level II Educational Specialist Credentials, and Rehabilitative Services Credentials Programs in teacher preparation for the Education Specialist Credentials are approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Programs are organized via a two-tiered system: The Preliminary Level I and the Professional Clear Level II. Each level is based on California teaching standards with unique requirements for preliminary and professional certification. Preliminary Level I programs include requirements in a general education component, common core requirements, plus specialization coursework. These specialist credentials meet state standards for special education teachers. The Preliminary Level I allows graduates to teach in their area of specialization for a period of five years.
Education & Parenting Foundations for Learning for Young blind and Visually education of Dual Sensory ImpairedChildren Recognising and Reach Out and teach Meeting the Training http://www.spedex.com/store/education/education_parenting.htm
Deaf Or Blind/deaf And Blind/classroom/teach blindness Resource Center Deafblind/Hearing Disability Resources; Deafblind OnLine; Inclusive education Leaves Deaf Children Outside; CNIB; Deaf-blind Overview http://www.wtc.ab.ca/writeword/deaf.htm
