Transition Activity Calendar

Transition is a big topic for our youths with vision impairments. There are a lot of great new resources for education teams to work on transition. I want to share this awesome resource from the National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC) on Blindness and Vision Impairment. They have an amazing activity calendar that starts at middle school age. They have a link for an overview on the Expanded Core Curriculum (I love that!).  The activity calendar comes with a download version for Word and helpful information links throughout the calendar. Everything on the calendar is reader friendly so it is all easy to understand and use. 

I highly recommend this transition activity calendar to all families and education teams. There are so many great activities to help prepare for transition. Remember that transition does not mean employment only. Transition is about helping our youths move from education world to adulthood. I love that the transition activity calendar starts at middle school. It's a great place to start because waiting until 16 years old can be too late. There are so many experiences and skills that our youths need to have (and refine) to become successful, independent adults. 

Here's the link (bookmark it, share it, use it!):

http://www.ntac.blind.msstate.edu/consumers/tac/

Truth Bomb for Parents of All Kids Including Children with Vision Impairments

Hello friends. It's good to be back!! I was on a little hiatus with writing. That is because I was privileged to be part of a writing team that is putting together an ECC app---yay!! I am so excited for it and will definitely share the moment it comes out. 

This post comes from a fun mom that I love to watch, Kristina Kuzmic. I watch her videos because as a parent, I totally relate to her. This particular video was one that reflects my own parenting style. I also thought about for parents of children with vision impairments. 

I thought about my parents because this is an area that many struggle with. Many parents these days struggle with this as Kristina points out. My parents of children with vision impairments sometimes miss giving opportunities for independence at home. This often times requires more hands-on time for instruction but the reward is so great! I know, I know that some of you are saying that your chid argues with you when you ask them to do something or try to teach a skill. Guess what! You are not alone!! Parents across the country are struggling with this too. Myself included. Most kids do not want to do chores. Most do not want to do them again because the first time they did a sloppy job. Most times we are not the "fun parents". We say no to our kids. We hold them accountable. 

I love the quote "Don't handicap your child by making their lives easy." (Robert Heinlein). Chores are a natural aspect to the Expanded Core Curriculum for children with vision impairments. There is much to be gained when kids with vision impairments take on responsibility at school and at home. 

Enjoy Kristina. She makes me laugh every time. I laugh because I agree and because it is my life. I love my kids just as I know my parents of children with vision impairments love theirs.