We have spent the last several years in limbo when it comes to Savannah's vision. When we started the journey into visual impairments, she was a regular kid with some slight vision impairment caused by the glaucoma. When we would go somewhere there wasn't a need for anyone to know that there was a visual impairment unless we really needed them to know, or just wanted to share her story. Lately though our family went from regular family with eye issues to a family with a blind child.
A big part of the change from sighted child to blind child is not that Savannah has lost a lot of sight lately. It was due to the fact that Mike and I both believed that the School for the blind was the right schooling option for Savannah. With mainstreaming, the emphasis is on learning everything through whatever amount of vision there is left in part simply because the teacher usually doesn't know braille and therefore assignments need to be turned in for credit in regular print or another media other than braille. However, when we enrolled Savannah at the visually impaired school, the focus is on going braille as the reliable method of reading since most students are either totally blind or predicted to be low vision for the rest of their life. Because of this, all the teachers are braille readers, and all the students function as visually impaired students using canes and braillers. So even though Savannah is still functioning at the sight level she has been at for some time, there has been a major paradigm shift.
It is like, how do you see it, a glass half full or a glass half empty? I don't know which way I see this proverbial glass. I think in someways it is like giving up hope of healing or improvement for Savannah's vision, but in other ways it is fully accepting her and her abilities and limitations. Acceptance is hard at times, but in truth it is the healthiest, and provides the best outlook for the future as it opens the door to real literacy that can last long after the total loss of vision when and if it comes.
Announcement: Domestic Felicity is moving!
9 years ago
1 comment:
Interesting observation!
I've been trying to take Rachel's vision issues into account when teaching her to read and write. She is behind where her sisters were and is reluctant to read on her own; she has to be forced to read. I am trying to keep in mind that part of the reason we are homeschooling is to be able to let them learn at their own pace, instead of the school's pace. I have to be aware that Rachel's pace will not be the same at her two older sisters' paces. It was an "ah ha"...or rather, "DUH!!!" moment for me.
I'm glad that Savannah has such good parents.
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