Happy October! The school year is back in full swing, and yesterday morning my friend Jamie drove Seeing Eye dog Whitney and me to Deerfield, a suburb of Chicago, to talk with third graders at Kipling Elementary School. We were there as part of Educating Outside The Lines, a disability awareness program that uses a hands-on approach to learning. Whitney and I are just two of many people with disabilities visiting Educating Outside the Lines schools this month to show children that everyone has things they are good at and things they struggle with. Kids discover how things like wheelchairs, sign language, service dogs and Braille books are just tools we use to help do the things we do.
During my visit I read a bit of a book in Braille, unfolded my collapsible white cane to show the kids how those work, and mimicked the robotic voice on the talking computer I use to write books.
The questions asked during the Q&A part of the presentation sparked some very thoughtful conversation.
Some examples :
- Does Whitney bark when she sees other dogs?
- When you could see and you went to elementary school did you go to Kipling and if you didn’t what was the name of the elementary school you went to?
- How old is your dog in dog years?
- How do you write books?
- How old are you?
- When Whitney retires is she still going to live with you?
- How old should a dog be to be old enough to help you?
- Blind is the worst, I know, but is there a difference between macula and blind? (Quick conversation back and forth revealed this sweet kid is worried about his Grandma, who has macular degeneration.)
- Do you have any more pets?
- So your dog is your pet and your employee, too?
- Did your dog already know all those words when you got her?
- Have you ever seen your dog without being blind?
- Is there a way to fix being blind?
- When you get a new dog, if the dog is different than this one, how will you know how it works with that dog?
- What year was it when you got Whitney?
These third-graders had been quiet and well-behaved during my entire presentation, but my answer to that last question really blew them away. “Wow!” “Can you believe that!” “That’s magic!!” “Did you hear what she said?” The kids were right to be amazed at the year I got Whitney. “2011?!” they called out in disbelief. “That’s the year we were born!”
“Your employee” Whitney! I’m picturing her punching a card at the front door. I love these kids.
She deserves a raise!
I loved the coincidence of Whitney’s age and the kids’ age!
As the kids there said, “Awesome!”
Another fun school visit. Their questions are always so interesting. It sounds like this group gave some thought to their questions and were very good listeners!!
I wonder if the fact that their school district chose to connect with the Educating Outside the Lines project is an influence? These kids seemed especially understanding about what it might feel like being “different.”
The kids never disappoint.
You are so right!
You know, they don’t!
I love these posts so much. The questions always make me smile. Such a day brightener.
Ah, these school visits we do are always a day brightener for me (and Whitney) too.
I still think you should write a book with all of these questions and answers from school visits. I always learn something myself. I love that they ask anything.
You’re so right, Sharon. Publishing a children’s book with all the questions kids ask at school visits is a very good idea.
So good, in fact, that it’s already been done!
Rats.
The book is called Do You Remember the Color Blue: The Questions Children Ask about Blindness. It’s written by a blind woman named Sally Hobart Alexander,
she uses a Seeing Eye dog to get around. Here’s a description From School Library Journal:
“As she has done in past books, Alexander makes blindness clear to readers. Here, she responds to frequently asked questions, including how it feels to be blind and how blind people cope with daily living…Her discussion of remembering colors and dimensions will interest sighted readers. Small black-and-white photos appear throughout;
most are snapshots from the personal collections of the author and her friends.”
I’ve never read this book, maybe if I did I’d find out there’s room for *two* books about the questions kids ask about blindness. I do know this: I am mildly irreverent with some of my answers, but not sure that would make for enough difference to warrant another book with the same theme?
Thanks for the idea, though, Sharon, and for your endorsement of the idea. We’ll see…
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