Hi, Richard!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   RW>  Sometimes the teachers can be the best advocates for   
   RW>  the students, but sometimes not, which is why we have   
   RW>  such programs here in the states as the individualized   
   RW>  education plan,   
      
      
             We have IEP's here too.  As a teacher, I wrote some of them....  ;-)   
      
      
      
   RW>  which is supposed to be developed with professionals *and*   
   RW>  parents, but first the parents often have to be educated,   
   RW>  both to understand options and possible outcomes.   
      
      
             Yes.  The professionals often need to be educated too, however.  I'm   
   reminded here of Nora's kindergarten teacher... a woman with whom all three of   
   us got along famously.  When she told Dallas & me "I don't know anything about   
   [various medical issues pertaining to Nora]" I chuckled & replied "I know that   
   stuff.  You're the expert in teaching kindergarten.  So... we'll put our heads   
   together!"  As a former teacher & as a parent, I expect to work on a collegial   
   basis with professionals.  AFAIC the real gems actually appreciate that.  :-))   
      
      
      
   RW>  Usually CNIB and other such agencies have to go by a legal   
   RW>  definition of blindness, often here in the states defined   
   RW>  as 20/200 in the better eye with correction,   
      
      
             That's what I was taught at university many years ago.  Although the   
   textbook is quite outdated now, I think these numbers are still valid....  :-)   
      
      
      
   RW>  or a certain field of vision, can't recall what those   
   RW>  criteria are.   
      
      
             Tunnel vision, yeah.  I don't recall the details either....  :-)   
      
      
      
   AH>  A person who can see well enough to read large print   
   AH>  and/or who is satisfied with being read to by synthesized   
   AH>  voices may not feel motivated to learn Braille, however   
   AH>  ... from that standpoint you were fortunate in some ways.   
   AH>  At the blind school you probably didn't have a choice &   
   AH>  your classmates were learning it too.  ;-)   
      
   RW>  YEs, but back then there were the dreaded "talking books"   
   RW>  on record, or reels of tape.   
      
      
             I remember those.  I used them on occasion when I wanted my students   
   to hear how English was pronounced a millenium ago.  But in my experience kids   
   generally prefer to have some opportunity to interact with the reader....  :-)   
      
      
      
   RW>  Also, and maybe you don't want to get me started on   
   RW>  this one, but the "professionals in the field" had   
   RW>  this grand experiment called "sightsaving" going on,   
   RW>  which they started after WW II when the system was   
   RW>  receiving a large influx of blind children thanks to   
   RW>  the babies blinded by incubators,   
      
      
             Hmm.  I was dimly aware of the theory as one of those 1950's "use it   
   or lose it" ideas which probably did more harm than good to me & others I know   
   but I hadn't yet connected the dots.  The timing is interesting... [wry grin].   
      
      
      
   RW>  or Retrolentral fibroplasia (spelling)    
      
      
             No problem... you added one letter to a suffix, that's all.  My best   
   girl friend in high school had twin brothers with this condition.  Retrolental   
   fibroplasia is the abnormal proliferation of fibrous tissue behind the lens of   
   the eye... most common when incubators were first used & the ideal quantity of   
   oxygen was yet to be determined.  I didn't realize the "sightsaving" stuff had   
   been going on for such a long time, however.  One of my friend's brothers, who   
   AFAIK was totally blind, went to the school for the blind when there was still   
   such a thing here.  I do remember the panic my older colleagues expressed when   
   they were required to teach kids with special needs.  They'd been trained in a   
   lockstep era where the only alternatives were to shape up or ship out... where   
   left-handedness, introversion etc. were regarded as perversities which must be   
   eliminated... and thus the learning curve in many cases was fairly steep.  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)