Please donate. Please share. Help Camp Abilities Long Island

Hi friends,
I wanted to share news about our sister camp, Camp Abilities Long Island. They are doing a fundraiser. All of our Camp Abilities programs are phenomenal week-long programs for our kids. Each of these camps does a tremendous job! I am fortunate to head up Camp Abilities CT where we are a state funded program. Most of our programs rely on donations, grants, etc. I personally have had some great people who have worked at Long Island come to me in Connecticut. Long Island runs a great camp. Please help them keep it going!

Here's the link:

 https://fundly.com/help-support-camp-abilities-long-island

An excerpt from Camp Abilities Long Island:
Camp Abilities Long Island is a four-day, overnight developmental sports camp for children who are visually impaired, blind, or deaf/blind between the ages of 9 and 19 . Camp Abilities was started at the College of Brockport in 1996 by Dr. Lauren Lieberman and has expanded to many states across the country and internationally. The first Camp Abilities Long Island was successfully conducted in July 2009 on the campus of Adelphi University in Garden City, New York by Lisa Innella. Camp Abilities Long Island is Incorporated under the name "Long Island Sports Camp for Children with Visual Impairments, Inc.", is a certified 501c3 charity organization. The camp is set up to provide a 1:1 instructional situation for each child. Now entering its 6th year, Camp Abilities Long Island will provide children with visual impairments who live in and around New York State a chance to experience a wide range of physical activities. The campers are instructed in and participate in a variety of sports that are geared toward people with limited or no vision. Some of the sports include beep baseball, tandem biking, swimming, basketball, goal ball, soccer, track and field, bocce, and rollerblading.

Camp Abilities Long Island is a unique program on Long Island because, it is the only residential summer camp in the area that focuses on providing opportunities for children and youth who are blind and visually impaired to learn and engage in sport activities, and it also provides each family and physical education teacher with in depth assessments of the child’s abilities on each sport and activity.

Please help us reach our goal so we can provide these great services for these special young people. Every little bit counts!

White Cane + Flash Mob = A super awesome idea!!

I don't know about you, but I am still excited over flash mobs (and still secretly wish I could be part of one...). I was perusing youtube looking for some fun videos on disability awareness when I was lucky to find a suggestion for a White Cane Day flash mob. White canes and a flash mob? YES!! So I decided to keep watching. I thought they were so fun that I had to share them!! Here are two of my favorites: 

Has anyone else seen or done a flash mob with our kids? If so, please share! It's totally something that is on my bucket list for teaching so keep an eye out for me and my students. 

I have done a few fun adventures involving music and dancing with students. Here's a link to a talent show performance I did with one of my deaf blind students, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1571614289221&l=3895627073786509208.

Expanded Core Curriculum Resources

Hi friends,
This is one of those posts that I want you to check out and bookmark on your favorites page. I've been reading up on my ECC resources and could not believe that I have not shared some of these gems that are out there for the ECC!

First, have you checked out Pathways to Literacy? It's a known resource for teachers but I am just wondering if parents know about it, too. They also have a great page dedicated to the ECC. Here's the link: http://www.pathstoliteracy.org. 

Next, read this article from TSBVI: http://www.tsbvi.edu/school/1211-the-core-curriculum-for-blind-and-visually-impaired-students-including-those-with-additional-disabilities. I really like this article. I recently read it again as I have been putting together some new ECC presentations. 

Last, go over to FamilyConnect.org and get to the ECC page: http://www.familyconnect.org/parentsite.aspx?SectionID=72&TopicID=382. This link takes you to a page with each area of the ECC in detail with commentary from the best of the best in our field. There's an audio link and transcript. Easy to read and very family friendly. Plus, it's a great quick reference for education teams that need a little ECC schooling. 

What are you still doing on my blog? Click on these links and get reading! You have some ECC schooling to get to. 

Let's Get This Girl a White Cane!!

Hello friends, I hope everyone had a good holiday season so far. My family has. We took our kids to the American Girl store in NYC this past week. My two girls were, of course, amazed with all the AG accessories, clothes and dolls. The store was alive with lots of little girls (and maybe a few big girls) lovingly carrying their dolls around. It is rather exciting to be there. There's the salon, the big display cases with these beautiful dolls of all ethnicities and ALL the accessories that can go with them.  We passed by the display of the AG dolls with disabilities and much to the credit of AG, they were just as beautiful as their "non-disabled" counterparts. They have lovely dolls with no hair, dolls that use a wheelchair, girls with hearing aids (one ear or bilateral--the owner's choice) and lastly the doll with the service dog. I smiled at the lovely dolls and at the environment they were in. There are big girl empowering quotes on the walls---encouraging girls to be their best selves, be true to who they are, be kind. I loved it. Except for one thing---where's the doll for the blind girl? 

Like I mentioned, they have a doll with a service dog. I am making sure that I am calling it a service dog because it can't be a guide dog for the blind. I am sure someone, who is well-meaning, thinks this is for a blind girl. But it is not. Guide dogs are not given to eight year old girls. White canes are. 

Side note story: I was commenting on this to my husband (okay, I was a little loud as I voiced my opinion of the missing white cane doll…) when the well-meaning manager came up to me, as helpful as ever, and indicated to me that they had AG dolls with hearing aids. Hearing aids. Now to any vision professional that comment is no surprise. It's the first question we are asked when we say we teach kids who are BLIND ("Oh, you must know sign language!" followed by the next comment, "That must be VERY rewarding."). Telling me that they had an AG doll with hearing aids is like me asking for chocolate chip ice cream and getting a duck. It is not the same thing. 

Back to my post---why the fuss over the white cane? Why can't we just give our girls a service dog? Is this even a big deal? Well, it is not a big deal but it can be significant. How many of us know the AG age group girls who have significant vision impairments and struggle with feeling "apart of the mainstream crowd"? The girls who are not fans of the mobility lessons or sticking out from their friends? The white cane means something. It is not just a white cane. It is a tool of independence. Many of our kids struggle with accepting it. BUT how great would it be if there was more positive love to the white cane? ….say maybe an extremely popular line of dolls like the American Girl line? AG's site and store is filled with tackling issues of self-discovery, acceptance, empowerment, etc. They need to know that having a white cane doll would help a lot of girls be part of something that is "cool". That the white cane doll could help with acceptance and removing the stigma that the white cane is to be dreaded. Besides, they make snow shoes, braces, earrings, and every other imaginable accessory for the AG dolls, how hard would it be to make a white cane? Wouldn't it be cool if there was a story? Maybe one of the other girls (like Saige--I know them by name now) had a friend who read Braille? 

Here's what I did today: I called AG and gave them my feedback for the white cane accessory. I also emailed them. It took 5 minutes. I don't know how many AG developers are going to read (or care) about my feedback but it's worth a shot. I made sure that I explained the fact that the AG demographic age receives white canes not service dogs. Most of our girls will never get a guide dog. I further stated that the white cane has significance to a girl with a significant vision impairment especially when paired with the AG line. It would mean something to them. I don't exactly know if I am changing the world by suggesting the white cane accessory or if any of you agree with me. But if you do, would you please email and call American Girl? Let's see if we can help change the perception of blind people and make it so that the white cane is the accessory that most blind girls can't live without? Wink, wink!

Happy Holidays!

Hi friends,

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy new year! I will be back within the next two weeks but until then, you can find me updating my Pinterest board, This Works for Blind Kids, Too!

Have a great holiday season.  Your friend, Robbin :)

Group Games Fun

Let me share one of my new favorite resources! Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to find group games, ice breakers, etc. for kids with vision impairments. This summer I found some super fun ideas for Minute to Win It games but it was slim pickings as not every game was vision friendly. I was perusing the web looking for leadership games and activities with some fun group games and got lucky!

First, here's the website:   http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/games/games.htm.

Don't get overwhelmed by the amount of categories and games! I spent some time going through the site and found a handful of great ideas that require very little (to none) modifications for our kids. I tested these games out at our recent Girls Weekend and they were so fun! Now just in case you are still overwhelmed by the amount of games on the site or you or not tech savvy, I made a handout of the several of the games that are awesome. I've posted them below as well as some pics and video that I took of us playing. Now I kept the author's original text because I didn't want to be copy. This is all from the site that I posted above. None of these are my original ideas (the twist and modifications are all me though :). Thanks to my dynamic duo PE teachers, Craig Boucher and Alex Specht, who led these games modules. In order to keep privacy of my students, my own children are mostly the models (as well as my handsome husband, Todd, and Craig).

Here are the games:

Tri-Hop-A-Thon 
Many thanks to Catherine Bryant who posted this game to the Guide Mailing List!!
Relay teams compete rabbit-style: Choose three "landmarks" (if you meet in a gym, lines on the floor work well or you could use corners, doors, chairs...) The teams line up at the same mark. When the contest starts, the first player on each team must hop on one foot to the second mark, skip from there to the third mark, and then jump all the way back on two feet to tag the next team-mate in line. The first team whose members have all completed the course wins.

Please Note: "Tri-hop-A-Thon" comes from the magazine "Family Fun" magazine -- a great source for games and crafts.

The Yell (Scream Race) 
Equipment: None      Number of kids: makes no difference      Ages: 5 and up
Category: Outdoors   Source: Calgary Parks and Recreation Department

Get the kids to line up, like a race. They are to run as far as they can on one yelled breath. Get them to take a good breath before hand. When they have to stop yelling, they are to sit down where they are. (Discourage cheating on this, but it is an energy user!)

Beans
Can be played with any number.
The Guider calls out various types of beans and the girls perform the correct action.
Runner Beans - run around
Jumping Beans - jump
Baked Beans - lie out in the sun
Chilli Beans - shiver
Frozen Beans - Stand still
Broad Beans - Stand with legs as far apart as possible
French Beans - say "Oh La La!"
String Beans - stand still, arms straight up.
Dwarf Beans - squat down
Has Beans - fall on the floor

Captain's Coming
Equipment: None
Category: Large space required   Age: 5 and Up      Number: Any number
Source: A Brownie Pack with Black Forest District, Germanica Division

The girls assemble in the center of the gym. The commands and actions are as follows:
Captain's Coming - all line up, stand at attention and salute.
Bow - run to the 'front' of the gym.
Stern - run to the 'back' of the gym.
Port - facing the 'front' of the gym, port is the left wall. Run to port.
Starboard - facing the 'front' of the gym, starboard is the right wall. Run to starboard.
Man overboard - lie on back and swim
Submarines - lie on back and stick on leg straight up. (for the periscope)
Man the Lifeboats - find a partner, sit together, and row!
Torpedoes - lie on tummy, with hands together over head to give a stream lined look. One person (usually a leader) does the calling and the girls rush around performing the actions, which are mixed up and used more than once. Once everyone knows the rules it is not a problem to join in as you go.

Mouse Trap
Equipment: None      Age: 5 - 12 years
Number of participants 10-30 (with 30 participants start with a bigger trap!)
Mouse Trap Source: I think this one was in a Canadian Guider

Four children become the Mouse Trap. They stand in a circle, facing in, holding hands with their arms extended and up high. The other children are "mice" and they run in and out of the trap. One person facing away calls "Spring the Trap" and the girls of the trap bring down their arms catching (hopefully) some of the mice inside. The caught mice become part of the trap. The game continues until only a few "mice" haven't been caught. Then they become the trap and the game begins again.

Portage, Pyramid, Piggyback
This game is suitable for playing in a gym or in a large outdoor space. If you are playing outdoors, you will have to mark a 'start' line and a 'halfway' point. Divide the group into teams of equal size - it works best if you have teams of six or more players. Each team begins behind a 'start' line. On "Go!", the team selects one team member that they will carry, 'portage'-style, down the length of the gym to the other end. When they reach the end of the gym, the entire team must construct a human pyramid on the spot. Once the pyramid has been approved by a leader, the team breaks up into pairs and piggyback each other back to the start line. In this leg of the race, players can only move towards the start line if they are (a) carrying someone or (b) being carried (i.e., if there is an uneven number of players, someone will have to remain back where the pyramid was built until a team-mate can come and piggyback them). The first team to have all its players back at the start line wins!

Caterpillar
Divide the girls into teams 3-5 girls each. At the start line have the girls sit down with their legs wrapped around the waist of the girl in front of them. This forms the caterpillar. With the girls attached as a team, the Guider yells go. The girls move together as a unit by using their arms by their sides and lifting and moving their bottoms. The teams race to a designated line or spot. At the line, the girls let go of their link to reform their caterpillar with the girls in the opposite order. The teams continue racing back to the start line.

Back to Back
Players stand back to back with a partner with their elbows interlocked. Using each other's back for support, the partners must try to sit on the floor and stretch out their legs. Then, while keeping their elbows locked, the partners must now try to stand up without slipping or falling down! (Not as easy as it sounds!)

Here we are playing Caterpillar!