That's some of the Eastview kids, who all liked reading and learning about Hanni. Photo by Andi Butler, www.mrsbillustrations.com.
When I found out that three students at Eastview Elementary School were blind, I arranged to have Braille copies of Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound sent there before our visit this week. I’d use one myself to show the kids at different grade levels what Braille looks like and how it works, and the other three copies would be given to Miguel, age 10, and Seth and Ethan, both age 8. I didn’t expect that these three little blind kids would be able to read the Braille books on their own, I just thought that if the other kids at Eastview might be getting books, these three should get a copy they might be able to read someday, too.
The Braille version of Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound was produced in contracted Braille, a form of Braille I’ve never been able to master. Contracted Braille has a bunch of shorthand symbols (contractions) for commonly used words and parts of words: there’s a cell for the word “and,” another for the word “the,” and so on. Most of the letters of the alphabet are also used as shorthand for common words, such as “c” for “can” and “l” for “like.” Kind of like texting, only you can’t make as many mistakes!
When I met the vision teacher at Eastview, I apologized that my book was only available in contracted Braille. “No problem,” she said. “That’s the only Braille these guys read!” Sure enough, the little buggers were Braille experts.
Really, all the Eastview kids seemed to have a strong interest in reading. The school’s principal, Jim Zursin, emphasizes reading with all the students, and with the help of his staff and the PTO they are making sure reading doesn’t end when summer begins. Every child who participates in Eastview’s summer reading program and reaches their goal will march in the Founders Day Parade this summer, each star reader wearing a sandwich board with a drawing of the cover of his or her favorite book on the front. “There’ll be hundreds of books marching down the street,” Mr. Zursin exclaimed. You didn’t have to be able to see to know there were stars in his eyes, just thinking about it. Kids who read this summer will be invited to a community pool party, too, where Mr. Zursin promises to jump off the high dive – with his clothes on!
That's Miguel on the left and one of the twins in the center. Photo by Andi Butler, www.mrsbillustrations.com.
I’m pretty confident Seth, Ethan and Miguel will be marching in the parade. And swimming at that pool party, too. They love to read, and turns out they can write in contracted Braille, too. Seth, Ethan and Miguel each wrote a poem for me, and they had to work hard to hold back their laughter as I stumbled through some of the contractions when I tried reading their work out loud. They were happpy to help me through, and in the half hour the four of us were able to spend together in their vision resource room we became fast friends. Miguel showed me how his talking watch works, and Ethan and Seth, twin brothers, counted off their favorite rides at Disney World. We all laughed at how other kids find Space Mountain so scary. It’s in the dark” we said. Big deal.
The boys had lots of questions about Hanni, and I told them that in order to train with a Seeing Eye dog they’d have to learn good orientation and mobility (white cane) skills first. “Judging your location by what you hear, how the ground feels, which way the wind is blowing – you’ll need those skills when you get a Seeing Eye dog, too,” I told them. “Most guide dog schools won’t let you train with a dog until you know how to get around with a white cane first.” Later on one of their teachers expressed how glad she was that I’d said that. Apparently the boys haven’t been using their white canes as much as they should. “Now they’ll have an incentive.”
Before I left their room, each boy proudly presented me with a special collar he had made for Hanni. “We strung the beads ourselves,” Seth said, proud of their work. The collars were made of ribbon, and in addition to the beads, each ribbon had a big bell on it, too. “That’s so you’ll always know where Hanni is,” Miguel explained.
The three of them came up after the all-school assembly at the end of the day to say goodbye. When I reached out to shake Seth’s – or was it Ethan’s? – hand, I felt a rubber handle. He was using his white cane! Now I was even more confident he and Ethan and Miguel would be marching in the parade this summer. Marching alongside their book reading schoolmates, but marching independently, using their white canes.
Once home, I tied all three collars around Hanni’s neck. Hearing those joyful bells ring when Hanni prances around makes me think of our new friends at Eastview School. Music to my ears.
This is very heart warming story. I loved it.
How wonderful that Eastview has such a great program, staff and kids! And Hanni has some nice new collars. Loved the photos.
I’m the mother of Ethan and Seth and I want to tell you how much your story touched my heart. The boys loved meeting you and Hanni. Hopefully we wl meet again.
Thank-you for the time you spent with my grandson’s and their friend
Miguel. The boys bring so much joy to us and everyone who meets them,
their knoelrdge of Braille, thanks to the wonderful teaching staff
at Eastview, will always be a part of who they are.We’re very proud
of them.
we
This is Judith again, I want to apologize for the misspelling of the
word KNOWLEDGE, I failed to check my notes, also, please ignore the
word we at the end. Next time I’ll pay more attention to details,
It just goes to show that maybe Grandma should go back to school.
Again I’d like to say Thank-you for the time you spent with Ethan & Seth!
No problem about your misspelling the word “knowledge,” Judith – I’ll send Ethan and Seth to help you out! I know from my visit Wednesday that they are both very good spellers, and they’ll be more than happy to set you straight on your spelling words!
I was absolutely charmed by your grandsons and their friend Miguel. It was a privilege to meet them all at Eastview and you are so right –the teaching staff there is outstanding.
And Debbie, I also hope we will meet again. Your boys are both so sweet, curious and smart. My guess is maybe their mom has something to do with this? No wonder their grandma is so proud!
One more thing, Judith and Debbie. Can you tell whether it is Seth or Ethan in that photo? Just curious!
It’s Seth in the picture.
Beth,
You are so tremendous!
We were so fortunate and happy to have to you at Eastview. I know all of our kids are even more enthusiastic about reading, and writing, than ever before! I’m also so happy to have met you, I’m taking some of your advice and getting my backside in gear and back into promotion! We’re all better for knowing you. Because you shared your stories with all of us, we can better appreciate how dedicated our diverse needs children are, how hard they work, and how any person can rise above adversity and succeed. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Very Creatively,
a : )
Andi Butler
I’d also like to say thank you to all the professionals in the vision room, for allowing me to photograph and sit in while Ethan, Seth and Miguel met with Beth. I felt like I was intruding a little bit. Everyone was so familial, but still very welcoming. Thank you again for the amazing experience! : )
a : )
Ok this whole thing brought tears to my eyes. Great story. NPR essay, anyone?
Great story, Beth!
I’m so glad to hear the boys learned to read braille! It’s such an important skill, and unfortunately, not all schools are emphasising that with blind children.
With computers that have screen readers, braille has become expendable in the minds of some educators.
Nothing can replace the sensation of holding a book in your hands and feeling those funny bumps…
I loved this story. I especially liked hearing there is a vision room at this school. Too many students are educated in the itinerant model. Itinerant TVI’s are great, but there’s never enough time in the day to cover everything kids who are blind or VI need to learn. If I would have passed student teaching 5 years ago, I would have completed coursework to become a certified vision teacher. If this would have happened, my goal was to have my own vision room somewhere. I have a friend in North Dakota who has her own vision classroom. It’s a great learning environment for the students she works with.
Lolly, you are so right! A little known fact about Braille: fewer than 20% of the 50,000 blind children in the United States are proficient in Braille.
A lot of kids who are blind listen to audio books instead, or hear words from a computer screen equipped with a screen reader. Technology is cool, but how will these children ever learn to spell correctly? How will they know where to put commas, quotation marks, paragraph breaks and so on?
They’ll learn all that by learning Braille, of course! And if the vision resource room I visited at Eastview is indicative of what vision resource rooms are like at other schools, I’ve gotta agree with you, Alexis: resourse rooms are the way to go!
There was such a great vibe in that vision resource room, I can understand why Andi said in her comment above that she felt privileged to be there. I felt that way, too.
I wish you could go to Stanley, North Dakota and meet Karen, the vision teacher, and Courtney and Nick her students. Both are delightful children. 4 years ago, when I was contemplating getting a dog guide, Courtney posted something in her blog, so cute, about a “sighted guide dog.” Her exact quotation is “. I take a cane with me. I do not like dogs. I don’t think I will have a sighted guide dog.” This was 4 years ago so I’m sure things have changed alot in terms of her O&M. I’m not sure if she will decide to get a dog guide later on down the road. I just wish I could have shown her Julia, my very own sighted guide dog. Very cute the way she describes this dog.
Just thought I’d infuse some child cuteness into this post.
Hi Beth,
I totally agree! If I hadn’t learned Braille, I know I wouldn’t have been able to pursue my major in journalism — having good grammar and punctuation skills is esencial for being a good reporter! Another point about technology: what will happen when all that “cool” audio technology dies or freezes? In that case, the person will almost be helpless, because he or she has learned to be dependent on high technology. Besides, like someone else said, nothing can substitute the feel of Braille in your hands!
One more point. Beth, as you know I was in a resource room during elementary and junior high school (although I went to a few classes with students with sight.) By the time I entered high school I had TVI itinerant services. This arrangement worked well for me, because I received training in Braille and other skills but also got the inclusion experience.
Beth, those kids were as delighted to be with you as you were happy to be with them. The school’s program pertaining to summer reading is a great idea. Incentive and motivation are wonderful at any age!
Thanks, Sue. You’re right: we *all* had fun at Eastview Wednesday.
And Sandra, the combo of having a resource room during elementary and junior high school and then TVI (teacher of the visually impaired) itinerant services in high school sounds ideal. If you are any example of what results, Sandra, I would recommend This arrangement for *every* student I know who has a visual impairment.
Note to blog readers: Sandra just finished her first year at University of Illinois. Her fall semester grades were two As and two Bs. Her spring semester grades? Two As and one B+. Sandra rocks.
Um, thanks for the comments Beth! *smile*
Beth,
Your so right about the boys,Ethan & Seth, every time I’m
with them,I’m so amazed at what they know and what they can do.
Just a visit to their home and you would find two 8 year old boys who love
to play with their many trucks,ipods, drums etc.
Thanks for your kind words, hope you have a wonderful summer!
Judith
Interesting conversation about resource rooms and itinerant teachers.
I was one of the lucky ones! Throughout grade school and junior high school, (that ages me,) I had a resource froom to go to, and in senior high, we switched to an itinerant teacher. It was an adjustment. It did teach me some independence.
The lucky thing was that I was taught to read braille at the same time as I was taught to read print. We knew that my prognosis was that I would lose almost all of the vision I had at that time, so, with my strong objections, (I ran away from home – or at least as far as I could with no cane or guide dog,) my parents made the decision to have my teachers teach me to read braille. I will always be grateful!
This comment comes from someone who is an auditory and kinesthetic learner, braille is literacy. I will always insist on having a braille device to use at work along with my screen reader. I have appliances labeled in braille. I will never read a braille book, but I wouldn’t read a print book either. I much prefer listening to books. The point is, I could if I had to.
Braille is my second language.
Wow, never thought of it that way, Lolly. I guess Braille is *my* second language, too. I tell people that I don’t read it well enough to read books in Braille, but like you, I guess I would if I had to. I *do* use Braille to label lthings around the house, and if I’m alone in an elevator I can use my Braille skills to choose the floor I need to go to. Also comes in handy when Hanni & I are traveling, more and more hotel rooms are labeled in Braille, this means I don’t have to worry about being at the wrong door and trying to break into someone else’s hotel room!
loved this post Beth. One of your best. The boys sound adorable! They will do well in the future.
You know, I thought the very same thingg and when I complimented their teachers I recall saying almost those exact words: “Those boys have a bright future ahead of them.”
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Hey Beth,
This is my favorite of your posts.
Wow. That is a high compliment, Benita.
Unless, ha, all my other posts have been pretty dboring, I guess there’s always that!
Maybe I’ll take Nancy’s advice above, rewrite this one a bit and see if I can get it on NPR. Never hurts to try.
THANKS for the encouragement, very much appreciated.
And glad you liked this post, those boys were fun to write about, all three absolutely mesmerizing.
Beth,
We enjoyed having you visit us. The boys loved it. Come back anytime!
For my blog readers out there, Elyce is the wonderful woman who is the vision resource teacher for Seth, Ethan and Miguel!
For Elyce, thank you for the invitation to come back, hanni and I would love t do that. Please tell your three students that we had a party at our house yesterday for some friends who are leving town, and to “dress up” for the party Hanni wore the beaded bell collars made especially for her. She got lots of compliments!
Great story, great teachers, great students. Thank you Beth for shining the light on Elyce and all of her great work as well.
Great Blog, I love reading these heartwarming stories. Love Dogs!
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