Did you know about Disney World?

Hey friends,
I wanted to share with you an email I received directly from Walt Disney World Resort guest services this past week. One of my preschool teachers had asked me about a "disability pass" since I went a few years ago with mom. At Disney, we had a special pass that allowed my mom to enter Disney rides and attractions at alternative points that were more accommodating to her. I went to Disney directly to get more information. Their answer made me smile! Did you know about the Guest Assistance Card? When you look at the Disney site and read accommodations for people with vision impairment, it's kinda generic. You know, the usual descriptive services and Braille, etc. But the Guest Assistance Card is super cool! Are you now dying to know what it is since I am talking it up? Here's direct from Disney themselves the description of the Guest Assistance Card:

"The Guest Assistance Card is a tool provided at all four WALT DISNEY
WORLD Resort Theme Parks to enhance the service we provide to our Guests. It was designed to alert our Cast about those Guests who may need additional assistance. The intent of these cards is to keep Guests from having to explain their service needs each time they visit an attraction. The Guest Assistance Card is available to our Guests with non-apparent, special assistance needs. Depending on a Guest's need, this card may provide a variety of assistance such as allowing Guests to wait in a shaded area or providing admission to our attractions through auxiliary entrances, where applicable. The intention of this card has never been to bypass attraction wait times. A Guest with a specific need for assistance can request a Guest Assistance Card at any Theme Park Guest Relations location upon arrival. A doctor’s note is not required. To accommodate the individual needs of our Guests, we ask that all Guests discuss their assistance requests with a Guest Relations Cast Member prior to the card being issued. The Guest Relations Cast Member will discuss the available service options with the Guest and provide written instructions for our Cast on the Guest Assistance Card. The Guest will be directed to present the Guest Assistance Card to the Greeter or first available Cast Member at the attraction and await further directions for their experience."

I highlighted my favorite parts of the answer in bold. This is great for our kiddos with Albinism and other kinds of vision needs that need to wait in the shade or have issues with transitioning from being in the bright sun light into the dark attractions---so many of our kids' vision issues that are "invisible" but still need accommodations help. 

Like my Disney pic? This is from my mom's 50th birthday party to Disney. We went on her actual birthday (back in 2009). Disney is special to my mom because it was one of the last places she went when she had vision as a kid.  Thought it would be fun to share with everyone!

Have some fun at Disney!

Gear Up for the Holiday Marathoning!

Hi friends!
Can you believe that it is already October? I have a feeling this month is going to fly by so I thought I would get blogging my October thoughts right away. October officially begins our marathon of holidays. There are so many things to do that it can get overwhelming if you don't get organized. I don't want our kiddos to miss a beat so let's start preparing now for the upcoming holidays. 

Holiday think about items:
-Mobility! Where are activities going to be held? What's the layout of the party situation? With Halloween fast approaching, odds are that the lights will be turned way down loooowww with hidden obstacles everywhere! Think flashlights for our younger students. You can probably even get a middle schooler to buy into using a flashlight, too. Don't forget to take the extra second to add a little pizzazz to it! Add some webs or cool stickers to help the flashlight be an accessory; not just a  modification. 

Always remember, when possible allow our kids to get in there and get a preview first (no matter what age). Allow them to walk around with the lights on and get a feel for the layout (earlier that day without their peers so that they can really focus). Haunted houses can be tricky so make sure you don't have a 'fraidy cat sighted guide!

 It might also be a good idea to role play out potential embarrassing situations. For example, they didn't see that gravestone and they tripped over it in front of all their friends. If they will listen to you (ahhh teenagers!), go over some ways they can shake off embarrassing situations--what can they say? what can they look for?

Halloween isn't the only holiday this fall season. Anyone else like to play a little football on Turkey Day? Help get our kids out for that, too! Just so you know, we taught football at one of our weekend programs last year. It was so fun for our kids to be involved in such a popular sport! Some ideas: pick a field that has clear goals lined up or bring some large bright colored cones or flags. Bring a pinny or easy-to-see color hats or tees for your team. Another easy idea is to just have family member who can run close to your kiddo as a guide runner. 

-Kitchen & cooking skills
Well there are just so many opportunities that I don't even know where to begin!!! The most important thing to know is that there is always something your child can do, no matter what the age or ability! The kitchen can sometimes turn into a battle zone with everyone cooking up a storm so there might not be a place for our kids especially those with multiple impairments. You can have them set up, pull out cookie sheets, cookie cutters, ingredients, etc. You can also have them help out at the grocery store by giving them a list (refer back to one of my old posts with picture grocery lists for kiddos that are MIVI, ASD/VI or DB). 

Set up little cooking projects. I love FamilyFun.org so I tend to hit them up for great ideas. You can also have our kids participate in something a little less stressful like breakfast or appetizers. I will keep looking up recipes and ideas to share as part of my special holiday cooking extravaganza.

A few other important things to remember about cooking skills:
-Keep that defined work space. Use a tray, place mat, cutting board, etc. when working. Have your child set up their own work space.
-Keep things to about 3-4 sequential steps especially for kids with multiple impairments and preschoolers. Use calendar boxes and a finished box, too!
-Large print or Braille recipes can be whipped out in a second as long as you take a moment to prepare. Send your recipes to school to get Braille help or read them to your child the day before and have them Braille out the recipes. 
-Try to make it a complete experience--they can buy the food or get all the ingredients out, they make the dish and then they clean it up!!

I'll be back later this week with some recipes that are good ones to get started with. Until then, here's to the start of our marathon of holidays!!!

A few thoughts on the power of "play"

I recently presented at our annual birth to three in-service. I spent a lot of time researching effective play strategies for our kiddos. Play is the natural course of learning for children. For children with vision impairments, experience is the natural course of learning. How do we create meaningful play? 

image from juniorblind.org

I want to share some of my presentation to help our teams and families create meaningful play time. Our kids need to play but it can be a challenge to have fun, effective play time. 

Here are some of my favorite tips and resources for getting
 playtime off the ground!

• Allow time for pre-teaching. Our students should be allowed to come to group early and check out the centers/stations, toys, schedule, etc. to help them anticipate the activities
• Incorporate familiar transitions for our students where possible. You may need to do this 1:1 for students in case there is a group. Make sure you make that transition connection for our kids so that they can anticipate.
• Incorporate vision modifications to make activities more accessible. For example: contrast, preferential seating, placement of activities, clear pathways, peer buddy helper, etc.
• Select activities or groups with predictable routines that are familiar. For example, using the clean up song to clean up or jingle bells for transitioning. 
• Select sites that aren’t over stimulating. Look for visual and/or auditory clutter at stations, carpet and background
• Encourage parents to get their child involved in lifelong sports:
• Examples: Swimming, track and field, wrestling, martial arts, crew, skiing, yoga. Music and theater are great alternatives to sports.
• Possible disadvantages of popular team sports:
• Difficulty with keeping up visually
• Social loss & Anxiety

image from nfb.org

For those mommy & me groups or just for when the family is hittin' up a playdate at the park:

Moms, dads, caregivers, create a playdate go bag! A playdate go bag is a portable travel kit that has vision modifications that you can use in a pinch to help your little one out at play dates. I suggest you keep this in your trunk. I used to keep spare clothes, diapers and a blanket for my toddlers in case they needed a quick change due to a diaper explosion in my trunk. This is the same thought process. Sometimes you go to a playdate and it is totally not accessible for our kiddos. This can be a stressful and frustrating feeling. We can eliminate some of that if parents come prepared!

Use a small bag for your playdate go bag. Don't overwhelm yourself! You still need to bring diapers, wipes, toys, etc. so don't get in over your head. Pack items such as: 
-a big black blanket or heavy fabric. Black fabric will help by acting as a place your child can sit on and play. You can also use it to cover up items that may be visually over stimulating. 

-a finished box (or all done box). You know how I feel about finished boxes (they work--use them!!). Remember a 'finished box' doesn't have to be a box. It has to be a place that is meaningful and useful as finished. Can be bag or fold up box. 

-yellow or red painters tape. Sometimes you can use this to quickly highlight something and then remove it when you are done. 

-transition bells or a timer. Use something you can use to help with time management.

-Braille or LP book. Keep 1 or 2 books handy just in case all the kids are sitting down for stories. This way your little one can read too!

-Preferred toy(s). Keep some favorite type of toys handy. Preferably ones that promote turn taking or exchange so your little one can have some social interaction. 

image from extension.unh.edu

Resources that ROCK:

• Creating Educational Toys And Activities For Children Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired, online article at www.tsbvi.edu 
• http://www.tsbvi.edu/instructional-resources/1913-creating-educational-toys-and-activities-for-children-who-are-blind-or-visually-impaired
• Suggestions for Recreation and Leisure Activities for Blind and Visually Impaired Children, online article at www.tsbvi.edu
• http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/summer99/games.htm

I hope this helps with creating more meaningful playtime for our birth to three population. Hopefully you can hear my full presentation and I can share more ideas on playtime!!

Resource for Early Childhood

Hey friends,
This week I am presenting a new presentation on "play" for early childhood at our agency. I love new topics because it gives me a new direction to research. I spent some time reading a lot of articles and found some nice little gems that I knew I had to share! 
This is the first one of many more to come in the next week: http://www.tsbvi.edu/program-and-administrative-resources/3270-general-considerations-in-working-with-young-children-with-visual-impairments.

The article is General Considerations in Working With Young Children with Vision Impairments. I love this article because it does a great job of teaching about concept development for our kiddos and its broken down into topics and strategies (that you can do, no degree required!). 

I love this article! Not only is it super reader friendly (parent friendly too!!), its got some great tips in an easy to understand layout. Save this one and share it with your team. Better yet, create a new folder of favorites because I am going to be posting some great reads that you will want to save and add to your vision bag of tricks. This is a great resource for vision professionals to share with colleagues, teams and families but it's also great for parents to keep in their vision bag of tricks to share with teams as well. Don't forget your related therapists like OTs and PTs!!

The Blind Cook

Have your heard about super awesome masterchef, Christine Ha? If you haven't, get OnDemand and watch her! She's amazing (and I think that is an understatement). My post this week is to highlight her. There seems to be so many things to like about her. My favorite reason? She's not a gimmick. She's totally real. She's a beautiful color palate of creativity, human and oh yeah, she's blind and the girl can cook!

This is why I wanted to share her site with everyone. I was reading her blog post about winning masterchef. I love how she described her experience! From her blog post (that I highly recommend you read...): "Yes, I had an aid on the show. Her name is Cindy. I did not know her prior to coming to L.A. To film the show. The producers hired her in order to level the playing field. And how can anyone deny that I went into that kitchen at a glaringly obvious disadvantage? Cindy was not there to give me a leg up; she was simply there to make the challenges fair on my behalf. She was never allowed to taste my food or give me advice. She could not tell me if my food was burnt or raw. I had to ask her prior to her being permitted to answer: “Cindy, is my steak black or red?” or “Cindy, is the crust on the pie pale yellow or dark brown?” or “Cindy, where on this plate is there extra liquid that I can wipe off before presenting the dish?” I had to ask specific questions, I.e. For the color of a food item and not even if it’s burnt or raw. When I needed a food processor or a mixer from the equipment room, I had to step back from my kitchen station and not touch a single thing while Cindy was away grabbing my requested appliance. She was an extension of myself and therefore I’m obviously not allowed to stir or cook or clean while she was away from my station."

I know you may be reading this excerpt and thinking "why is Robbin posting this?". Here's what was in my head--this is an awesome example of the right kind of advocacy. She consistently uses specific questions, demonstrates excellent independent living skills and she takes initiative. This is how I wish our paraprofessionals interacted with our students!! The aide was an extension of the Christine. The aide didn't cook or fix or anything to help Christine cook. Keep reading her blog post about using her aide and how she won. Just an interesting perspective on her writing and her example. Finish reading it. Here's the link: http://www.theblindcook.com/thoughts-on-winning-masterchef-usa-2012/

A little housekeeping...

Hey friends,
Just a little FYI here---If you have been following me for the past year or so you will know that I always post on Tuesday nights. You will also notice that I haven't been following my Tuesday postings. Sorry! I have changed my posting day from Tuesday to Wednesday. I know, I know today is Thursday (that I am posting this, ha ha) but I have dedicated Wednesday as my new blog day! Check back over the next few weeks. It's back to school in-services from our agency which means I am writing new handouts. Keep reading friends!