Frustrated Blind Field

I receive many personal emails about fear or frustration. Paras and teachers do not know how to let the district and the families, know how frustrated they are with the teaching system for the blind children. They feel hopeless and trapped and sad for the child. Not everyone, but a good portion.

I have paras who know their students are dependent on them and that they do a bulk of the work, but they are waiting for direction from the teacher of the blind (TVI). They fear for their jobs if the students they are working with do not show a good grade..... they are waiting for that help and direction.

The teachers of the blind are overloaded with a huge caseload. The teachers generally can only see children a miniscule amount of time each week. They are putting out fires more than really teaching. Not to mention the teachers have no time to help the para and no time to gain further skills to help themself and in turn help the student.

We have districts with the directors, that IF they know, they are trying to look for more personnel to hire but cannot find qualified people. But many directors do not know. Many teachers of the blind and paras suffer in silence over the condition and are not sure where to turn.

As a collective community of people that want to help make a difference, we need to start really thinking outside the box...and way outside. I see this condition getting worse in many areas, especially now that I am communicating and teaching all over this county and in different parts of the world. People are looking for direction.

Virtual teaching is a "think outside the box" area that is blooming in its possibilities. If anyone is interested in a virtual lesson, email me and I will get you going. I have been teaching this way for over a 15 years with great success. Teachers can access more students in one day than if they are trying to drive to every school.

Another aspect of virtual instruction is if our community all gets on texting, chat, video conferencing, everyone is always 1 second away from an answer or the help they need. Get more information on virtual instruction at blindgeteducated.blogspot.com or email me personally.