RHODY LIFE

Don't take a step backwards

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We seem to be a whole world away from the manner in which individuals with developmental disabilities used to be treated.

My very first job interview was at Ladd School, where a tour of the facility convinced me no one should ever live under those circumstances. I supported the lobbying effort to deinstitutionalize Ladd, and Rhode Island developed the trend of establishing group homes where a small number of individuals with developmental delay could live a life as normal as anyone else. Spearheaded by icons James Healy (RI ARC) and Robert Carl (Director Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals), eventually everyone who had been housed there found a community home.

Similarly, all children who were blind in the state of Rhode Island were tuitioned to Perkins School for the Blind, funded by the state. The RI Lions Club sponsored a school bus to transport the students back and forth. While it was great that the students were getting an education specifically designed for their visual needs, interaction with non-disabled students was impossible. It was with the advent of Federal Law 94-142 in 1975 that individual school departments became responsible for the education of students who were blind within their own school districts. Many big school districts with numerous students who were blind hired their own teachers of the blind, but most districts had only a student or two and a specialized unit within the Rhode Island Department of Education was established for this purpose.

My son, Francis, is legally blind and grew up in the public school system. He would sit right under the blackboard when the teacher wrote on it. If it was a more difficult subject, the teacher would give him a large print copy of his/her notes so he could follow along. Although obsolete now, he had large print books, which spanned across his desk. He looked like a Lilliputian reading the giant’s book but this manner made the book accessible to him. His teacher of the visually impaired, Amy Betrand, would work with him on subjects where good vision was necessary, such as the more explosive science experiments. She was the link between Francis and his education, ensuring that modified materials would be available to match the materials of other students.

Because of his excellent education, he went on to succeed beyond all expectations, (as chronicled in my book “The Apple Tree: Raising 5 Kids with Disabilities and Remaining Sane.”) Now with a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, he is a department director in Silicon Valley for a major computer company. He has skied down black diamond slopes, captained a sailing yacht, backpacked across Europe, and is now raising two beautiful children, helping his daughter with her “new” math homework. It is because of his early education where he learned he could do (almost) anything a fully sighted individual could do that he developed the confidence to excel. (He has been keeping his eye on the self-driving automobiles, but still prefers to ride with a sighted UBER driver.)

Just when students with vision impairments were getting equal treatment under the law, the state of Rhode Island is pulling the rug from underneath them. It was recently announced that Vision Services at the Department of Education would be eliminated as of June 30 because the state is not responsible for providing direct services. One might initially agree with this argument except for two reasons; this is such a low incidence population that a centralized location for vision teachers is necessary. It is also difficult to reconcile with the fact that the Rhode Island School for the Deaf is in existence. In that case, the state is DIRECTLY providing education for students who are deaf and it is difficult to understand the philosophical difference.

Rhode Island has made great strides to provide equal access to all students with disabilities. To remove the one service that provides students with vision impairments equal access seems to be a discriminatory step backwards. The organization Rhode Island Parents of the Blind and Visually Impaired is asking for support in this area. Please go to their change.org website to read more about this issue.

Life Matters, backwards

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