RUNNING HEAD: REACTION PAPER The University of...

RUNNING HEAD: REACTION PAPER

The University of Trinidad & Tobago (UTT)

Centre for Education Programmes

A paper submitted in fulfilment for the requirement SPED 4007 – Assistive Technology

REACTION PAPER

Bachelor of Education Programme

Submitted By:

Audra Maharaj -ID#111007733

Joanna Owen- ID# 111007822

Pearl Rajkumar -ID# 109005911

Lecturer: Dr. John

Due: TUESDAY 11TH June, 2013

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SPED4007: Assistive Technology 1

Table of Contents

History and Background of the School for Blind Children ........................................................................ 2

Success stories of the school ................................................................................................................ 4

School Facilities ..................................................................................................................................... 6

School programs. .................................................................................................................................. 7

Physical context of the school. ............................................................................................................. 9

Outdoor Recreation & Leisure ............................................................................................................ 12

Indoor Recreation & Leisure ............................................................................................................... 13

Description of Assistive Technology for the Visually Impaired. ......................................................... 16

Teaching /Learning Resources at the School .......................................................................................... 17

Resources in the Classroom .................................................................................................................... 19

Students’ work .................................................................................................................................... 24

Challenges ................................................................................................................................................... 26

Issues ........................................................................................................................................................... 26

Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 27

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History and Background of the School for Blind Children

Mr James A. Alves started the Institute for the Blind in Trinidad and Tobago on the 18th

May,

1914 at the corner of Duke and Edward Street. On 13th

June, 1947 the name was changed by an

act of Parliament to the Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association. The name was again

changed to Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired in 1993.

In 1943 when the Institute for the Blind first opened its doors as a school; Mr Alves was the first

teacher and catered for children from Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean islands. This

institute catered for both children and adults with visual impairments. An important step was

taken by the association to separate the school from the workshop, in January 1951.

This marked the beginning of the School for Blind Children in Santa Cruz. The land was

donated to the school by Mr Charles Conrad Stollmeyer. The children from the corner of Duke

and Edward Streets were moved to the new school and within a short period of time the student

population began to increase. Admission of students from islands in the eastern Caribbean and

Guyana started in 1953.

The School for Blind Children is a residential school having two different staffs. The house and

domestic staff comprising the Chief House Mother with a number of assistants, three maids to

clean, two cooks, a laundress, part-time ironers, a grounds man and a chauffeur/handyman.

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The Principal is responsible for the entire operations of the school, and five or six teachers.

There are at present eighteen students, seven teachers, two of whom do itinerant work.

The school is completely funded by the Government.

In the earlier times the blind students would stay throughout the academic year. This has been

stopped because authorities of the school found that the parent child relationship was weakened

by the long separation. Families did not know how to deal and cope with the child with low

vision. Currently students stay in for the week and reunite with their families on weekends.

The very first student to leave the School for Blind children to go abroad was Mr Francis Khan

from Debe. He studied stenography in England. Cecilia Ramsawacksingh and Donna Jodhan

attended St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain, and Trevor Small went to Trinity College. In 1972,

Cecilia, Donna and Trevor became the first students from the School for the Blind to write the

GCE O-Level Examinations. As time went by students attended other schools such as Fatima

College, Queen's Royal College, St.Mary's College and Bishop Anstey High School. Special

mention must be made of St. Dominic's Convent.

Our first from the University of the West Indies was a student from St.Dominic's. Maureen

Ramroop received her B.Sc. degree from the University of the West Indies, St.Augustine, in

1992. The first university graduate, however, was Donna Jodhan, one of three who wrote the

GCE Examinations in 1972. She obtained her B.Com degree from Concordia University in 1977,

and, four years later working part time, she received her MBA from McGill.

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Success stories of the school

Over the years there have been many success stories of the school from person receiving

doctorates, being employed abroad, many music bands, persons forming their own organizations

like PAVI- Persons Associated with Visual Impairment; Torres foundation, radio announcers,

and entertainers just to name a few.

Past pupils of The School for Blind Children.

Mr Francis Khan – the first blind student to go abroad to study and gain

employment at a bank.

Miss Donna Jodhan – one of the first student to write GCE o’ levels and go

on to receiving her B.Com degree from Concordia University in 1977.

Kern Tyson executive producer of PAVI.

Wilfred Robert Torres - W.R. Torres

Foundation was named after him.

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Joseph La Placelier – Lingo – extempo calypsonian.

Asha Kamachee- chutney singer and radio announcer.

Other success stories of the School

Participation certificate for entering the Special Olympics in 1993.

Second place trophy for the best disciplined team at the Special

Children’s fun day.

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School Facilities

The school building Reception area Computer room & brailling unit

Manager’s office laundry room and kitchen

Girls’ dormitory and washroom.

Dining room.

Other facilities on the compound are a music room, principal’s office, staff room, administration

office, boys’ dormitory and there is an existing building that used to house the principal and the

Matron or chief House mother. A swimming pool and a playground across the road, both under

repairs.

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School programs.

The school has recently launched a program ‘Proud To Be Me’

It is a motivational program to build student’s self esteem. The students are awarded stars

when they accomplishish reasons to be proud. At the end of the term they will receive

certificates and badges.

The students of the senior classes attend sessions held by a Social Welfare officer

who visits the school once a week.

Students attend Home Economics classes on afternoons at the school’s Home

Economic Room.

All students of the school attend Computer classes at the school’s computer lab.

Students attend music classes, and can play more than one musical instrument.

At the school most of the children stay in at the dormitory, with the exception of two students.

On evenings after school dismisses at two forty five, student are no longer in the care of the

teachers, but are then cared for by the house parents. Their meals are cooked and served by the

kitchen staff, and their clothes are washed and ironed by the women in the laundry room.

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After school students go to their rooms to change and relax.

At three o’clock they have an afternoon snack.

Different activities are scheduled for every evening with flexible and varying times.

The house parents also look after the students homework and any other personal issues they may

have.

Previously the students would go swimming or playing on the playfield, but the swimming pool

and the play ground are currently under repairs.

Some of the after school activities are Judo, Karate, Junior Club- board games, Music,

Floral arranging and key board skills.

The students also learn daily living skills as taking care of their personal belongings.

They learn to clean their shoes, make their beds and pack their bags.

With supervision from the kitchen staff the students learn to wash, dry and pack the

dishes in the kitchen. Kitchen task are alternated and rotated to ensure all students get a

turn.

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Physical context of the school.

Location

The School for Blind Children is located on the hills of Pax Vale in Santa Cruz overlooking the

main road on one side and forest on the other. The community is quiet and somewhat remote;

there is very little activity taking place with the exception of people going about their daily

regular activities. The main road leads to the famous Maracas Beach.

On entering the school there is not much to be heard, maybe the chirping of a bird now and

again. The entire surrounding is very quite, only to be informed by persons in authority of the

compound that the visually impaired person relays a whole lot on their sense of hearing for

mobility.

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Safety

The environment is well protected, the school is properly fenced and equipped with security.

Temporary security post Security booth under construction.

These facilities help to make the school’s environment safe and protected.

Corridors are free from obstacles and fitted with hand rails to ensure students safety.

Stairway, although indoors, they still have rails to guide the visually impaired up and down the

stairs.

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The building is equipped with fire extinguishers, fire alarms, smoke detectors.

Lighting and Ventilation.

The internal and external surroundings are well kept and very clean to foster and enhance

learning to promote well rounded individuals. Since the students rely on whatever light they

might sense the compound facilitates enough light, half of all the external classroom walls are

concrete and BRC wire.

There are also additional lights, ceiling and standing fans where they are necessary.

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Outdoor Recreation & Leisure

Students are developed holistically with the physical environment catering for leisure and

recreation.

A merry-go-around and a swing for students to be involved in physical and social activities.

A swing that accommodates 4 children at a time.

Outdoor sitting

accommodation to

foster socialization

and communication

skills

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Indoor Recreation & Leisure

The school provides sports equipment that are especially suited for the visually impaired.

All balls used are made with a noise making device inside of them. All the balls seen, make a

sound to direct the visually impaired of its position.

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Other games that are available for the visually impaired at the school.

A checker board for students to play chess and draughts.

The board is made up of two separate layers so the visually

impaired can feel the spaces.

These domino pieces have raised dots on them so

that the visually impaired can feel the dots.

Sitting area where student sit and interact.

Students sit and listen to the television.

School walls

There is a map of Trinidad and Tobago that was done as a project by a secondary school who

did some work with the blind children. In the reception area there is the mission statement, the

school’s vision and the coat of arms. There are also pictures of the Prime Minister, Minister of

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Education and the President. There are displays of the students who went on different field trips.

The notice boards are all empty.

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Description of Assistive Technology for the Visually Impaired.

White cane used to guide the visually impaired when walking.

slate and stylus used to write braille.

a braille writer.

a braille eraser, it is used to flatten the dots.

A swing set. This is an apparatus used to teach the

students braille. Each of the black knobs can be removed.

Brannan cubarithm slate and cubes. A numbers board to teach

students numbers in braille.

A hand held magnifying glass with a light to aid the low vision person.

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Brannan cubarithm slate and cubes

Each cube has dots that represent different

numbers from 1 to 9.

Teaching /Learning Resources at the School

The school provides a wide variety of teaching/ learning resources for the students. Most

resources are available for the students.

Food items that actually feel like the real ones.

3dimensional shapes that can unfold so the

students can feel the shapes.

A talking scale that says your body weight.

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A flexible ruler with the measurements raised

and the numbers in braille.

A protractor with raised measurements, braille numbers and a handle.

Globes that are textured so the

students can feel the shapes of the

countries and one where the

countries can be separated.

Science diagrams, textured for the students to feel the features.

Abascus- mathematics teaching aid.

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Resources in the Classroom

.

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TACTILE ALPHABET

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The objects shown are of shapes and textures that students will be familiar with in their everyday

lives. All the objects are raised for students tactile discrimination.

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Other tactile books in the classroom.

This book has the different textures of animals covering.

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Teaching Resources used in the Classroom.

This wooden apparatus holds a shape similar to that of a shoe.

The lace is removable so the students can take them out and learn to lace a

shoe. Students learn to fasten snappers, buttons, buckles and how to zip up

and down.

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Students’ work

Students work is done in braille or embossed, bounded and stored on shelves in the classroom.

The diagrams above are embossed and stored in the student’s books.

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Challenges

They need for proper funding.

Proper management – clearly defined roles for persons in authority

Better communication between employees under different administrations

Training students to use the device appropriately (open, close, change batteries)

Sufficient practice by student on the appropriate use of devices

Proper care and responsibility of devices

Long wait time for repairs of the devices

Limited trained personnel for repair of devices

Proper assessment for assistive technology

Issues

Lack of parental support

Other health complications of some students

Psychological issues of coping and dealing with their impairment

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Recommendations

The traditional Brailler are much too heavy for the young students, it is highly recommended

that the new light weight version be sourced/bought for all students through Government

funding, NGO’s etc.

Raise awareness of visual impairment and rehabilitation. Education and outreach programs in

schools, community centres, and elsewhere should be promoted as teaching ways to prevent

vision loss and manage visual impairment

Focus additional resources on the development of training programs and assistive devices for

the rehabilitation of individuals with visual impairments.

Based on what information we received, there does not seem to be a system in place to

develop IEP’s in the school for the children. All stakeholders must get involved and allow

IEP’s to work for the students.

Involve parents in the decisions making of their children. Some parents send their children

there for the entire week and do not show much interest and confidence that their children

can learn and function in society.

In the case of many assistive devices, it is essential to promote training in their use and

regular follow-up on their continued appropriateness. Frequent review, involving the use of a

series of devices, is necessary to ensure that the devices keep pace with (and do not hold

back) the children's progress.

Assistive devices must be adapted to fit the individual user; the user should not be forced to

fit the device.

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