The Word Woven into the Code

Evie interlining her Braille assignment.

Just last weekend I attended a breakout session at my church for volunteers to help re-fuel us and our "servant-hearts". During the break out session, I learned about the impact the translation of the Bible into English had on literacy rates. According to the Washington Times: 

...in a period of 100 years reading and writing English among males in England went from about 5 percent of the population to 25% eventually reaching 40% of the population. By 1770, shopkeepers were 95% literate. Literacy in England is directly attributable to the Bible. (Creason, Washington Times, 12/11/14).

My Oversized Poster of Strong Groupsigns

Scripture certainly does give us something worth reading, and at that time it may have been some of the ONLY stuff to read. Now we are bombarded with all kinds of leisure reading options, some worthy and others not...but the Bible, unfortunately finds itself all too often resting on a lonely shelf collecting dust and cobwebs.

Fast forward a few days to today, and my daughter and I working on her Braille lesson. She was brailling Psalm 27: 1-2 which is part of our scripture memorization. As she was doing this, she recognized that she was making mistakes and wanted to fix them. I told her to just keep going and that she could interline her work (print the translation above the brailled symbols) after she was finished, and then we would make corrections the next day.

While she was working on her Braille, I was also working on mine. I was using large paper to create giant posters with CONTRACTED Braille on them so we could continue learning where she left off last year. (She was in public school, but we started homeschooling just this fall). As I was preparing a poster and reading through the various contractions, I started to take note of some unique words that I had no IDEA would be a part of the contracted Braille code.

lord

spirit

world

rejoice

rejoicing

character

ought

knowledge

shall

thyself

Of all the words that could have been transferred into a shortened code in order to make Braille easier to read for its audience...these were worthy enough to be part of that pool.

These beautifully Biblical words were suddenly a part of our lesson plan. 

Evie's Braille assignment with interlining notes,
corrections she made, and new contractions for her to work on
as she continues to practice brailling Psalm 27: 1-2

I was flabbergasted...I was moved almost to a point of tears as I felt relief wash over me. One of the toughest parts of the decision to homeschool my daughter was knowing that we were not going to have access to Braille lessons in the district anymore and I would be responsible for continuing her Braille literacy. I didn't know quite where to begin-but something in my gut today said, "Tammie, just have her start with something she knows...her memory verses."

We will begin to learn those contractions because they will occur over and over again in the scripture that we will be proclaiming in thought, word, deed...and now in Braille. For sure, God's plan is always better than my plan, and His word is a light unto my path.

For the word of God is alive and active...

Hebrews 4:12 NIV

Fight Night ~ The Battle with Braille

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Ring! Tonight we will see the anticipated match-up of Hefty verses Braille.  This highly anticipated fight is brought to you after years of training, and lots of education, sweat and tears.  The opponents are in their corners and reading to come out swinging; so get ready for an exciting battle.

Bong!  Round 1:  

I heard it first at the Parents of Visually Impaired Pre-Schoolers conference, "Start Braille early."  It will be a challenge, but we need Braille in our arsenal of weapons as our child is at risk of losing her vision.  

Jab, jab...

No problem.  We have a great system and are already learning tactile discrimination in our home visits from the Vision Specialist.

Thwack...

Easy peasy.  

Floored.

Better get some water...I'm already sweating.

Bong!   Round 2:  

Oh, yeah.  We are rocking you, Braille!  I'm even using sidewalk chalk to make Braille cells in our driveway and having our daughter jump to different letters to show-off her awesome memorization of the Braille code! 

Jab, upper-cut...

Another new TVI this year?  Hmmm...it's tough to learn when the teacher isn't the same each year...

Wait!  It's October now and our daughter hasn't had any Braille services yet this school year?

Ooof!  Stars burst in front of my eyes.  I shake the cobwebs from my head.

It's okay.  It's okay.  Just got a phone call and the district finally found a teacher.  Her services will start soon again and we'll be caught up.

Saved by the bell.

I need to towel off...the sweat is running into my eyes and I can hardly see straight.  That punch landed right where it hurt!

Bong!  Round 3:  

So, 90 minutes of Braille instruction a week...and it's hard to spread them out because the teachers are pulled to so many schools and over-worked and hard to find, so we're doing ALL 90 minutes at once. How many 6 year olds can stay focused for 90 minutes on BRAILLE?  

Ouch!  It feels like my nose just exploded.  How did I not see that coming?

BUT at least we're getting services, right?  I should be happy about that.  Grateful.

End of the school year...saved by the bell again.

I stumble to my corner and sit wearily on my stool.  This Braille is a tough opponent.  I need to build my strategy better.

Bong!  Round 4:

Yeah...that's right.  I'm coming for you Braille.  I'm taking a class on-line so I can learn all about you and THEN we'll see who will knock out WHOM!  

Got my own slate and stylus.  Look at me!  I know my stuff!  I'm at the head of the class.  Now I can help my daughter with her homework and we will be FINE!

Jab, cross, upper-cut.

Boom.  Floored ya, Braille.  

How you like momma now?

I strut over to my corner; don't even need to sit down, I'm on FIRE!!!

Bong!  Round 5:  

There's my girl...she's getting 30 minutes A DAY of Braille.  She still can't read it with her fingers very well, but she's learning the code like a champ!  We're Brailling her class Valentines and she's loving it.  

Speed Bag...look at us now!

Jab, jab....Jib-Jab!

Hmmm...you're surprisingly strong, my opponent...and we're caught in a CLINCH.  

The ref calls it, and we hear the bell.

Bong!  Round 6:

New state, new rules.  They "suggest" a school for our daughter that has more students who are learning Braille.  I say, "No.  She's already made friends here, she's already bonded to her teachers.  We just moved her half way across the country.  No way.  That's not inclusion." 

Okay then...30 minutes of Braille a week.  Wait, a WEEK?  Well, ummmm...okay....I guess we'll just work harder at home.

Jab.

Would that type of instruction be acceptable for learning to read print?

Bam!

Would that amount of time be okay regarding any other GENERAL education requirement?

Thwack, wam!

Now we've moved it to 60 minutes every OTHER week?  

SLAM!!!!

"She's behind.  She's not learning it.  She's not practicing."  

I'm dizzy.  I'm stumbling.  I can't form the words that I need to express how I'm feeling.

Saved (?) by the bell....

I crawl to my corner.  I'm on the floor with my arm draped on the ropes.  My coach is pouring water into my mouth and it runs down my chin and bleeds onto my top.  

I should have fought harder.  I should not have caved so quickly three years ago.  But now it's been three years, and the pattern has been established.  NOW, she's having to do so much to stay on top of her other classwork that I don't blame her for not wanting to work on this.  Why WOULD she prioritize learning something for a teacher she only sees two times a month at most?

I should have trained harder.  I know how to advocate.  But, when I'm fighting SO many battles for things like medicaid and good doctors, then some of the battles get written off as "the least of my concerns for now."  

A parent responds to my call for help from an on-line support group, "Of course they moved her to 30 minutes a week because no one can learn anything in that time, and eventually you'll stop trying, and THEY can stop teaching it."  

Another parent says their child had 60 minutes a day at my daughter's age...another says 90 minutes a day.  A DAY!

"Don't give up on Braille...you can't use technology when the power goes out."

Yes, yes...all so true.  And all adding to the cacophony in my brain.

How many times did I get hit?  Can I stand up again?  I really just want to close my eyes and go to sleep.

Bong!  Round 7 is about to begin...and I'm spent.

SMART Goals for Salvation ~ Guest Blogging Day

Image Courtesy of stockimages/freedigitalphotos.net

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for 

those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Romans 8:1 NIV

As parents of children with special needs, we will often become familiar with the acronyms for so many educational "catch-phrases" or fads. One that I've been looking at lately: SMART Goals. While the term is attributed to a 1980's business writer, it's often also used in education to teach students how to set goals, both short and long term.

Here's how SMART works. When you're setting a goal, you want it to be:

S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Relevant
T: Timely

Okay. This looks great when you're talking about a goal like finishing a paper for a class, or losing weight by a certain point in time. But, what about our biggest goal? What about that ultimate goal we know is waiting for us at the end of our life?

Heaven.

How do we set the right goals in order to get to Heaven? What do we need to do?

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

My Top 7 Bible Passages to Remember When it's IEP Time ~ Guest Blogging Day

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens...

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV

It's time for our daughter to transition to middle school.  More so than moving from Wisconsin to Nevada, this transition is taxing on my mental state.  I mean, I'm a substitute teacher, and I SEE the difference between elementary and middle school every day!!!  So, the fact that God has me simmering on some very comforting verses at THIS particular time has been quite helpful and has kept me CLINGING TO his promises.

Here, in no particular order, are my favorite pieces of scripture to remind me of God's love and faithfulness during IEP season and times of transition...

Continue Reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

Favorite Fridays~Our Schools

Evie's teacher helping her make wool into a ball on a field trip.

I just had Evie's last IEP in this school district.  That was a really hard thing to do considering I'd always imagined her graduating from here; having walked the halls and sat in the desks of the schools that I'd been working in these past few years.

I know a good school can be hard to find, and I know that a good school for a student with special needs can be even harder.  I'm convinced that in this school district, Evie would have been blessed to have been educated in every school; from the Early Learning Center all the way to the High School.

I appreciated the schools, the teachers, the teacher's aides, and the staff even before I started working in the district.  However, once I started working in the schools; sitting in the classrooms with students, participating in some of the problem-solving and planning that is required to best serve the students; that's when I fell in love with the school district.  I started to see how complicated a single day can be for students and staff; and how hard the employees work to make the day be as seamless as possible for each student.

A great school isn't a school that is without problems or challenges.  A great school is reflective and evaluative and constantly strives to be better.  A great school is a school that is aware of it's strengths AND weaknesses, and will soar with it's strengths and continue to improve in it's areas of weakness.  The schools here are definitely GREAT schools.

We haven't gone these 6 years here without an issue at school.  But, whenever we DID have an issue, I knew that I could call or e-mail and I would get a prompt response and a slew of people who wanted to help fix whatever was wrong.

 
One area that I see as a strength here in our schools is how they include the children with special needs and nurture and grow the relationships of the "typical" children with those of the children with special needs.  

As a parent of a child who has a number of disabilities, my greatest fear isn't that she won't get a job, or won't go to college...my greatest fear is that she won't have friends.  

However, the first reaction Evie had to me telling her that we are moving to Reno was, "Oh...oh no...I will miss my friends so much."  That made my heart swell and my eyes WELL with tears.  Her first thoughts were of her FRIENDS.  Hallelujah, thank you, Lord...

Then I had to tell her teachers...

That was heart-breaking, because I got to hear things like, "Her smile in the morning reminds me of why I became a teacher," "She is our ray of sunshine," and "We like look for an excuse to visit with Evie."  It was not going to be easy on them to hear that she's not just not moving on to the next school in the district, she's actually moving hundreds of miles away.

I know that we have all shed many tears, (many of her friends' moms told me their children cried when they said Evie was moving *insert sad-face here* ), and I know we'll shed many more.  I thank God that we were able to start our journey with Evie here though.  What a beautiful way to see the best in people; as they support, love and celebrate our special girl.

Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.  William Butler Yeats

Thank you, to all her teachers, therapists, aides and friends; thank you for lighting a fire in Evie, and a fire in the hearts of her friends...

Sending Her Out into the World

Something I have been considering as we prepare for our relocation to Reno has been schools.  Obviously, having a child with disabilities creates a little bit more anxiety when we look at schools; how will the teachers respond to Evie?  How will the students respond?  How inclusive are the schools in Nevada? 

Then, I started getting bombarded with information about home-schooling.  I had always thought I COULDN'T home-school because Evie would lose the services that she needed like Braille and Orientation and Mobility.  However, I found out that here in WI, you can home-school your children with disabilities and the school district still will do an IEP for them (Individual Education Plan) as well as provide the services written into that plan.  Hmmmm....I started to think, 

"Maybe, just maybe..."

I also read a story written by a mother about home-schooling her daughter who was blind and had Cerebral Palsy.  I recall feeling the mother was brave, and innovative, and passionate about what she wanted for her daughter.  I thought, 

"I could do that..."

However, I then started to receive, in response to our announcement that we were going to move, the e-mails from teachers, therapists, and parents of Evie's school-mates.  I realized what a blessing Evie is to so many people.  I know she's cute, she's fun, she's always smiling at school.  I know she's inspiring.  But, I guess that actually feeling the sadness that these people expressed about "losing" their daily dose of "Evie"...that was very powerful to me.

Is it selfish of me to take that opportunity away from those who she would meet in Reno? 

I'm scared to put Evie out there. I'm scared to see her anxiety at attending a new school, meeting new people, learning new routes, and new curriculum.  I know we will have LOTS AND LOTS of tears.  I'm scared to find out that the world might not be as welcoming to Evie and her differences because they haven't known her for 6 years as her classmates have.  

But, do you see that word that just re-occurred over and over again in the previous paragraph?   

Scared.  Scared.  Scared.

Then God speaks to me through his word...

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

What have I to fear?  God is so great inside of Evie; God is great inside of me and Jeff.  God is greater than anything in this world.  What have we to fear?

I'm not completely ruling out home-school.  I won't shut and lock that door.  But, I have come to realize that God is moving us to Reno for a reason, and part of that reason may be that there are people there who need a daily dose of Evie.  And, Evie will need a daily dose of them! 

So, I'll be "strong and courageous" just as God has commanded me to be, and I will send our little girl out into the world to show everyone her brave, beautiful, shining face. 

Sometimes "Choice" is a Dangerous Chance to Take

This week is School Choice Week...

Sounds pretty, doesn't it?

For many people, school choice is a wonderful thing.  It's a good way to drive schools to be "better", to be more competitive, to reach for higher heights.  

But for this mommy of a daughter with special needs, and an Individual Education Plan (IEP); school choice sounds like a fancy way of saying, "We can take your kid, and the money that comes with her, but provide her with little that she actually needs."

In the state of Wisconsin, a battle has been going on FOR YEARS over the continued attempts to create a Special Needs Voucher bill (possibly with wording has changed and the "name" of it from time to time, but still contains many of the same ideas.)  I kid you not, this thing NEVER DIES...I've written letters to leaders, editorials in papers, and sat in on committee hearings...the bill will whither and fade away because of the persistence and passion of hundreds of parents and advocates, but it JUST.KEEPS.COMING.BACK...

 Can you say Freddie Krueger?

Don't believe me?  You can follow some of it's history at the official blog page for the grassroots group Stop Special Needs Voucher!  It's a great account of what's been going on over the past three years, at least. 

So, why, you may be asking, does this idea scare the living daylights out of me? (It has nothing to do with me imagining it as Freddie Krueger).  It frightens me because I know that the IEP we have for my daughter, the IEPs that many of my friends have for their kids, the IEPs that are protecting them, advocating for them, ensuring them the best education possible, are completely at risk once they leave the public schools.
 
Check out this informative site: Understanding Special Education
It says here that the district will still evaluate the child and make recommendations, but that doesn't mean the private school has to follow any of it. 

So, with a Special Needs Voucher; as they continue to propose here in Wisconsin, the money for a child with special needs would get sucked out of the public school and given to the private school, but that private school wouldn't even have to get the student the therapies or accommodations she or he needs.  

Do you know what that would look like in OUR life?  My daughter receives vision services, orientation and mobility services, additional help for math, reading, music, science, social studies...she has a speech therapist, and an occupational therapist on consult...are you going to tell me that a private school is going to hire all of those people for little old her if they aren't REQUIRED to?  

"Tammie, have a little faith..."

Oh, I have faith...don't worry, I have faith.  I also am realistic and wise enough to know how the world works, how our flesh works, how greed works, and how "a little shave here and a little shave there" becomes a whole shaved head eventually. 

"So, Tammie, no one says YOU have to enroll your daughter in a private school..."

No, you're right, I don't have to, and I don't want to. But I also know that there are a lot of parents out there who might not realize the full implications of what rights they would be abandoning at the door if their child with special needs got in on a Special Needs Voucher program to a private school.  

As I said, this sounds very attractive, but I believe it's a wolf in sheep's clothing. 

My daughter would be a cute bubbly nine year old with a white cane and a dollar sign on her head.  That "choice" sounds like a dangerous chance to take.