HI Kasondra, I think that is great the way you are involved in your kids up bringing. You made me consider a lot of what went on between my daughter and I as she grew up. I know at a very young age her and I did a lot together. She was a early talker so even at the age of between 2 and 3 I remember over hearing her explaining to her dolls and imaginary play mates about her Mom and how her eyes were broken. Well, that is the way she put it. Easter of when she was three and a half she was already comfortable with going out shopping just with me and her and I kicking around the malls together. IN a reverse way I educated her in the ideas of everyone is an individual and to accept others for who they are. Over the years I have been more laid back as far as really getting out there in the community teaching others but I really do try to live my life to the fullest which is an example. Now she is 23 and what is the main part of what she does? Educate parents of autistic children. She is excellent with the children but she tells me its the parents she really needs to work with. So what we do with our children does go out in the world and make a difference. I've been through it but parenting doesn't come with a hand book. Give them love and set a good example and they most likely will fly. Katie Hill The Reconnection & reiki Healing Get yur personalized numerology chart Kaitlyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx AIM SStarangel@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kasondra Payne Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 12:03 PM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Mainstreaming Katie, I have heard all kinds of stories in this area. Heaven only knows that my story is one of the weirder ones I have heard because of the range of my experiences. Just recently, I sat in my son Andrew's IEP. He just turned three years old, and he was preparing to start at the district preschool. I told the assembled group that services for young blind kids are much different now than they were when I was Andrew's age. The services are more organized now, and they usually have a defined structure and chain of command. That doesn't mean that the service is perfect. That is why it is crucial for parents to be involved in the education of their children. I get regular reports from Andrew's vision specialist and from the classroom teachers for both my sons. The either call me, send notes home, or they send me emails. When I went to Andrew's IEP, we had a couple grad students from the university who came to observe. One of them was a friend of mine from my Interdisciplinary Training class at the university. This program brings students in fields like education, prepharmacy, and psychology, together with disabled people and/or family members and parents of disabled people. The students learn about services and different disabilities and how to interact with people they might work with in their chosen professions. It also benefits the other people in the class. For example, I had some very bad experiences with social workers, and I developed great prejudices towards the entire profession. However, I have the opportunity to help educate a future social worker in my class. She will know that blind people are capable of being good parents, and she won't make snap judgments simply based on disability. Someone in the department that works with this class invited me to participate this year. It runs both semesters, and so far it has been great! Anyway, one of my fellow students sat in on my IEP for Andrew. She enjoyed it, and we talked about it in class the following Friday. It gave her the perspective of what happens when parents are involved in the education system. I am not saying I have not been perfect, but I try my hardest to guide my children's education. Sorry about the rambling nature of this post. By the way, I am trying to get my instructors in my class to let me do a presentation on library services next semester. This would of course the presentation would contain a lot of information on Bookshare in addition to NLS and some of the other resources. If I do this, it will be probably after after I have the baby. What do you think? Kasondra Payne -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.13/198 - Release Date: 12/12/2005 To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line. To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.