As always, lots of questions. (photo by Jamie Ceaser)
It’s Disability Awareness Week at Red Oak Elementary School in Highland Park, Illinois, and when we arrived there Tuesday the third graders were eager to learn all they could about what it’s like to be blind and use a Seeing Eye dog. Their questions were priceless. Here are some of them:
- Did you go from being able to see to only seeing in one eye and then being blind?
- How do you eat? Like, do you just smell it and know what is there?
- Are you married?
- Do you have a white stick, and if you do, when do you use it instead of your dog?
- How many Seeing Eye dogs did you have?
- Do they die?
- What were all your Seeing Eye dogs names?
- Is this one your prettiest?
- When you used your white stick and made that mistake, how did you know you were in the road instead of the sidewalk?
- How do you drive?
- Do you know what your husband looks like?
- Is it hard to be a blind author?
- When they told you that you were blind, did you think you would ever be independent again?
- When your dog gets tired of walking down the same street and crossing the same road all the time, is that when you get a new dog?
- How do you know that your dog sat down when you told him to sit?
- Does your dog ever go to sleep?
- Do you know a second language?
That last question may seem out of nowhere until you learn that kids are taught in English and in Spanish at Red Oak Elementary: it’s a dual-language school. And my answer to that question was yes. “Of course I do,” I said with a smile. “I know Braille!”
I LOVE this!!!
I just love kids!
I’m aware you were joking with the kids and I hate to make comments like this, but we are CONSTANTLY having to educate people who teach my daughter that Braille is a code for reading English, not another language, and there are Braille codes for other languages too, as well as math and music. The misconception that it’s a separate language like ASL causes no end of problems when people approach learning or teaching Braille to kids, so I’m hopeful you clarified to these kids! Their questions are so cute and so thoughtful. It’s fun when you share. 🙂
Example of one of the problems this causes: her English teacher this year was fussing and asking her if she would be able to keep up with the class since she had to read her books in “another language” with “different words.” My eighth grader had to explain (and she was embarrassed doing this in front of the class) that she is reading the same words in English that they are reading and it will be ok. As if the poor kid doesn’t have enough explaining to do that she will be able to keep up and do the work!
Hoping these future teachers who might have a blind kid in class are clear on what they are teaching, that’s all. 🙂
Oh, thank you so much for pointing this out. I did *not* clarify for the kids that Braille is not another language, it is a code. I will do that from here on out, another opportunity to teach them about what blindness is like. Thank you for the reminder, and keep up the good work you do for your daughter and all of us who are blind.
WOW is what happens when these kids are given the stage. (Beth, FYI, the pool is open!)
Beth, thanks so much! I’m a Braille reader myself and also a certified transcriber, so I’m a little picky and not just for my daughter’s sake!
I hope that what I wrote didn’t come across as critical but just a friendly reminder. I love reading your blog and the posts about the kids are always a crackup. We blind and low vision folks are always educating, aren’t we? I love that you embrace the task with humor and grace.
Have a wonderful week!
Oh, Erin, your comments didn’t come across as critical at all. I take them exactly as you meant them: just a friendly reminder, and I thank you for that. Also thanks for reading our blog, that makes me feel good!
Yet again, one of my favorite topics. I love everything about the kid’s questions that you get, unbridled curiosity, brutal honesty, random thoughts and no inhibitions. Such a bright spot to read them.
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