Review of Guidance Issued by the U.S. Department of Education Regarding Students with Disabilities

See related blog: USDOE Causes Confusion as It Seeks to Spur Into Action “Frightened” School District Officials

See related blog: FAPE for Blind/Low Vision Students During School Closures

Background

Since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped our nation, schools have sought guidance regarding education services to students with disabilities during school closures. The U.S. Department of Education has provided several documents and a webinar to guide schools on these matters. Below, please find a summary of the information provided to date.

When must schools provide education to students with disabilities?

According to the U.S. Department of Education, if the school is providing ANY “educational opportunities” to students in regular education, the school MUST provide “equal access” to those educational opportunities and must provide FAPE (free appropriate public education) to students with disabilities.

  • Note: There is disagreement regarding USDOE’s position that schools only have duties to students with disabilities when they provide educational opportunities to non-disabled students. I will not delve into this matter in this document.

What IEP services, accommodations, and modifications (SAMs) must the school provide?

Schools must provide all IEP services, including accommodations and modifications (SAMs), unless they it cannot do so. Schools should work with parents to find ways to deliver IEP SAMs, beginning with methods used before school closure and including methods such as drop off of materials, distance technology, assistive technology at home, etc. These can be incorporated into the current IEP as an amendment for which no formal meeting is held.

If the school and parent cannot agree, the IEP team should meet (via distance technology) to discuss providing IEP SAMs during school closure. Schools failing to provide required IEP SAMs may face liability for compensatory services once school resumes as well as extended school year (ESY) services if social distancing ends before schools reopen.

IEP and Re-evaluation Meetings

These meetings need not be in person, and there are no provisions for timeline extensions due to school closures. These matters will likely be very case-specific, but schools that fail to hold timely IEP meetings during the COVID-19 Pandemic may find themselves out of compliance when schools, enforcement agencies, and courts reopen.

Assessments and Evaluations

Some evaluations must involve “face-to-face assessment or observation” and that delaying these evaluations until schools reopen is valid. However, U.S. Department of Education explicitly directs schools, “Evaluations and re-evaluations that do not require face-to-face assessments or observations may take place while schools are closed, so long as a student’s parent or legal guardian consents.” This guidance is crystal clear.

Examples of assessments that need to be completed in person usually involve assessments of students around other students or in classroom settings (taking into account lighting, noise, etc.). However, reading assessments, technology assessments, mobility assessments, etc. may easily be performed using distance technology tools.

Communication and Collaboration are the Keys to Success

I completely agree with the USDOE’s promotion of collaboration between school officials and families. Undoubtedly, compromises must be made. However, students with disabilities cannot be abandoned by their schools. All parties must focus on what is important: providing FAPE by ensuring meaningful and accessible educational opportunities and individualized tools and instruction for the purpose of preparing students with disabilities for post-secondary education, post-secondary employment, and independent living.

Over the past few weeks, the experiences parents have shared tell the true story:

  • School districts that have been making good faith efforts to educate blind/low vision students before the emergency are proactively finding ways to provide accessible and meaningful educational activities for their blind/low vision students.
  • School districts that were not providing good services before the emergency tend to be the ones that are providing little or no accessible or meaningful educational opportunities for blind/low vision students—often while providing these opportunities to non-disabled students.

Next Steps for Families

I encourage families to take heart. Your children’s rights have not been altered by this emergency. Talk with your school officials. Share with them strategies that will work for your child. Provide them ideas and resources for bringing those ideas to reality.

If these efforts do not work, bide your time. Document everything you ask from and offer to your school district officials. Seek out other resources (including BEAR) for support and enrichment for your child and you. We are here for you, and we will not leave you or your child behind.

FAPE for Blind/Low Vision Students During School Closures

What kinds of blind/low vision student services CAN be provided via distance technology?

Many, many services can be provided this way. Distance instruction in each of the following has been done successfully during the COVID-19 emergency and for many years before the emergency began:

  • Academic core content
    • Math
    • Language Arts (reading, writing, spelling)
    • Social Studies
    • Science
    • Foreign Language
    • Music
  • Regular education enrichment content
    • Art
    • Physical Education
    • Music
  • Braille instruction
  • Accessible assistive technology instruction
  • Cane travel and orientation and mobility instruction
  • Related services:
    • Physical therapy
    • Occupational therapy
    • Speech therapy
    • Behavioral therapy
    • Counseling

Just because we have traditionally taught these subject in person doesn’t mean that we must always do so.

When I taught students, I did not touch them a lot. I gave hugs when requested, and I gave a lot of high-fives. However, for most instruction, body-to-body contact was not necessary. Instead, I engaged in a great deal of verbal description and allowed my students to actively participate in their own learning by encouraging them to explore their environments and educational materials as independently as possible.

There were instances where body-to-body contact was necessary. These involved mainly physical modeling for blind/low vision students and physical support for students with orthopedic disabilities. In a distance setting, I cannot provide those physical supports, but there are usually adults available who can. In school settings, I showed paraprofessionals and classroom teachers how to assist students using hand-under-hand and similar instructional strategies to help students understand new concepts and to provide students physical support to access materials. In the home, parents or other caregivers can receive the same kind of training.

Will changes be necessary? Probably. Many parents are working from home and do not have the flexibility to shift their work hours to fit the school schedule. In these cases, schools should allow teachers to modify their schedules to accommodate parental time restrictions. Given that no one is tied to a school building anymore, there are no good reasons to be tied to certain hours. So long as we work together and focus on our students, we can all be successful, and our students can be well-served.

What changes are really necessitated by distance technology for blind/low vision students?

For blind/low vision students, most, if not all, special education services, accommodations, and modifications (SAMs) should remain in place during school closures.

  • Textbooks should have been in place for months, and they should remain available. I’ve not heard of any school districts getting new textbooks due to the closure (and, if they did, they would presumably get accessible versions as well).
  • Worksheets and other instructional materials should have been made accessible throughout the school year. The production of accessible instructional materials should not be interrupted due to school closures, and home delivery of hard copy materials can be made.
  • Accessible assistive technology should have long been in place—in the school and in the home. For schools that have been meeting the needs of students with blindness/low vision before school closure, the transition to online education should be very easy.

In some cases, schools will not have had these SAMs in place before school closure. This is unfortunate, but it is not an excuse for schools continuing to withhold FAPE and accessible instructional materials from students with blindness/low vision. These schools must step up and remediate their past failures; they must not use school closures as an excuse to continue their pre-closure mistakes. Instead of avoiding these responsibilities, I encourage school officials to reach out for help.

USDOE Causes Confusion as It Seeks to Spur Into Action “Frightened” School District Officials

Guidance Issued to Encourage Schools to Provide Educational Opportunities to Students

On March 21, 2020, the United States Department of Education (USDOE) issued guidance directly addressing concerns schools have put forth regarding special education services. At the time, some schools were claiming that they could not provide ANY educational services to any students because they were unable to meet all the needs of all students with disabilities.

This attempt to scapegoat students with disabilities is as meritless as it is morally reprehensible. For more than three decades, school districts have known of their responsibilities to provide free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities. Many school districts have stepped up and met their legal responsibilities to all of their students, and our society has benefited from having young people enter adulthood prepared for post-secondary education, post-secondary employment, and independent living. Some school districts, however, have not met their legal responsibilities for years, and many of these attempt to focus on minimal legal compliance rather than on their stated mission: education.

Earlier Guidance Makes Schools’ Obligations Clear

In guidance published in September 2017, September 2018, and March 12, 2020, the USDOE noted: “If an LEA continues to provide educational opportunities to the general student population during a school closure, the school must ensure that students with disabilities also have equal access to the same opportunities, including the provision of FAPE. (34 CFR §§ 104.4, 104.33 (Section 504) and 28 CFR § 35.130 (Title II of the ADA)). SEAs, LEAs, and schools must ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, each student with a disability can be provided the special education and related services identified in the student’s IEP developed under IDEA, or a plan developed under Section 504. (34 CFR §§ 300.101 and 300.201 (IDEA), and 34 CFR § 104.33 (Section 504)).” Yes, this same guidance has been available to school administrators for more than two and one-half years.

The USDOE’s March 16, 2020, encourages school districts to utilize accessible technology to serve students with disabilities, “Accessible technology may afford students, including students with disabilities, an opportunity to have access to high-quality educational instruction during an extended school closure, especially when continuing education must be provided through distance learning.” The USDOE guidance is clear: Educators are expected to provide education and educational opportunities to all students.

With the USDOE’s March 17, 2020 press release and webinar, USDOE Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kenneth L. Marcus gets straight to the point. “’OCR’s accessibility webinar is intended to remind school leaders at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels of their legal obligations to ensure that all students, including students with disabilities, can access online and virtual learning programs,’ said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kenneth L. Marcus. ‘Students with disabilities must have access to educational technology utilized by schools, and OCR will continue to work to ensure that no student is excluded from utilizing these important tools.’”

USDOE Tries to Coax School Officials Into Doing Their Jobs

Despite the crystal-clear guidance USDOE had provided to school district officials for thirty months, some school officials still claimed they could not provide any education to any students because, despite two and one-half years of guidance, they were not prepared to provide FAPE or IEP services during a school closure and do not believe that they can do so in the coming weeks and months. The USDOE then issued even more guidance on March 21, 2020. The tone of this new guidance is concerning—it tends to focus on methods school officials may use to avoid their legal responsibilities.

While this guidance reminds school officials that many special education services CAN be offered via distance education, it also states that some services, including “hands-on physical therapy, occupational therapy, or tactile sign language educational services” cannot be provide via distance education. This is troublesome “guidance,” because many physical and occupational therapists have used distance technology to provides services for years—especially to adults in remote locations. Certainly, many PT and OT services for children can be delivered this way.

One example in the new USDOE guidance is troubling. The USDOE sets forth an example wherein it would be permissible for a teacher to provide educational materials to sighted students and offer only audio access to a blind student. However, a closer look at the language used in the guidance makes it clear that this is a narrow example that cannot be applied to all blind/low vision students.

Application of USDOE Blind Student Example Will be Extremely Limited

The “blind student” example in the new USDOE guidance reads as follows: “For example, if a teacher who has a blind student in her class is working from home and cannot distribute a document accessible to that student, she can distribute to the rest of the class an inaccessible document and, if appropriate for the student, read the document over the phone to the blind student or provide the blind student with an audio recording of a reading of the document aloud.”

Please note important conditions contained in this example.

  1. The teacher would need to be unable to “distribute a document accessible to” the blind student. This is actually a high barrier. Why is the teacher unable to do so?
    • In order to prove that the teacher is unable to provide accessible material, the school must answer several important questions:
      • What was the school doing before the emergency that allowed the student access to the material?
      • What about the emergency situation precludes the school from doing what worked before?
    • The school must prove that it is not creating the problem:
      • Is the teacher unable to provide the accessible material because the school is not permitting the teacher to access the specialist who can provide the material in accessible form?
      • If so, what is the reason for the school’s refusal?
      • Money? Bad reason, and it won’t pass the smell test—even in an emergency situation.
    • The school must also show why preventative measures had not already been in place:
      • Is it because the school refuses to allow the student to use school-owned equipment that would make the material accessible?
      • If yes, why?
      • Will the school authorize the purchase of such equipment to be shipped directly to the student’s home?
      • If no, why not?
    • Bottom line: The refusal of school officials to make basic attempts to provide accessible content is not excusable.
  2. The teacher may read the materials aloud or provide the student an audio recording ONLY “if appropriate for the student.”
    • If the student needs to interact with the text (like all the non-disabled students get to do), audio would likely NOT be appropriate for the student.
    • Come to think of it, if audio recordings are so fabulous, why not ditch the text completely and provide ONLY an audio recording for all students?
    • Bottom line: If non-disabled students need text to access the assignment, schools need to prove that blind students do not.
  3. This portion of USDOE guidance evidences a lack of understanding about accessible education options for blind students, especially with regard to distance learning.
    • The example of read-alouds is really quite behind the times given present technology.
    • Refreshable Braille displays can provide blind students the same access to text (in Braille) that non-disabled students receive (in print).
    • Accessible text-to-speech and screen reader programs provide blind students using audio far more control of the content by allowing them to vary speed and volume and by allowing them to move about the document independently and at any time they choose—just as non-disabled students can do with print.
    • Bottom line: It is unfortunate that the USDOE chose the example they did, but it certainly does not mean that schools can shrug off their responsibilities under federal law to every blind student by simply providing an audio version of materials provided to non-disabled students in text.

The USDOE has NOT Changed Requirements of Federal Law

Federal law (statutory, regulatory, and judicial case law) provides the best guidance in this and any other situation. FAPE must be provided. For students with IEPs, the school must follow the requirements of the IEP, including special education services, accommodations, modifications, and any assistive technology needed to access FAPE. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act require schools to provide deaf/hard of hearing students, blind/low vision students, and students with disabilities in the area of speech communication methods that are as effective as those used by non-disabled students.

These are no suggestions; they are laws. These laws set forth federally-protected educational and civil rights for students with disabilities. Schools have no right to strip students with disabilities of these rights and neither does the U.S. Department of Education.

Sign Up for Bookshare

Bookshare is a service that provides accessible books to qualifying individuals (with one or more of the following conditions: Visual impairment, including blindness, Learning disability that affects reading, Other physical disability). In order to get Bookshare, an individual must be certified as having a qualifying disability.

Bookshare is free for K-12, post-secondary, and a rehabilitation program students in the U.S. Other qualifying individuals must pay a $50 yearly fee (unless they have another organization providing free Bookshare access).

If your child qualifies for a Bookshare account but does not have one, there is no reason to wait any longer. Below, you will find all the information you need to complete an online application for a free Bookshare account for your qualifying child. You will need a Competent Authority in order to get a free Bookshare account (for blind/low vision individuals Bookshare states that “Competent authorities include school and district personnel such as teachers of the visually impaired or special education teachers; medical professionals such as ophthalmologists, optometrists, family doctors; other authorities such as AT specialists, rehabilitation counselors, etc.”).

  1. Go to Bookshare and begin the application process. You will find an outline of all the questions that will be asked in this blog post: “How to Sign Up for a Bookshare Account Online
  2. Download “Individual_Proof_of_Disability.”
  3. Complete “Step 1” of the Individual_Proof_of_Disability (at the top of page two).
  4. Save “Individual_Proof_of_Disability” as a Word document.
  5. Ask a “Competent Authority” to complete the “Individual_Proof_of_Disability” as a PDF and return it to you.
  6. You may then upload that document to Bookshare.

How to Sign Up for a Bookshare Account

  1. Go to Bookshare’s Member Sign-up page
  2. If yes wish, you may watch Bookshare’s Video Tutorial: How to sign up as an Individual Member
  3. Below, you will find an outline

Member Qualification (first page)

I confirm that this account is for a person with a Print Disability, and will be able to provide Proof of Disability from a competent authority. 

Yes

No

Student Status

Is this person a U.S. student?  

Yes

No

I have an Activation ID    Activation ID

School Information

Look up my school

This student is home schooled

Student Information (second page)

Fields marked with * are required. Please enter information about the person who will be using Bookshare. If that person is under the age of 18, only the persons parent or legal guardian may accept the terms of the Bookshare Agreement.

School

Student First Name *

Student Last Name *

Country *

Address line 1 *

Address line 2

City *

State/Province *

Zip or Postal Code *

Phone

Birth Date (mm/dd/yyyy) *

Grade Level *Plans

If this person has neither of the following plans, please leave the checkboxes blank.

Current IEP issued by a public education agency

Current 504 Plan

Parent/Guardian Information

Parent/Guardian First Name *

Parent/Guardian Last Name *

Parent/Guardian Email

Parent/Guardian Phone

Address is the same as member’s address

Yes

No

Login Information

Your username for logging into Bookshare will be the email address you enter below. If you forget your password, an email will be sent to this address to reset it.

Member Email (Username)  *

Confirm Email *

Password (8-32 letters or numbers, at least 1 letter and at least 1 number)  *

Confirm password *

Additional Information

How did you hear about Bookshare?

Proof of Disability (third page)

If you are a member of another organization serving people with print disabilities (NLS or Learning Ally), that may be used for Bookshare Proof of Disability (POD). Otherwise, you will need to provide a POD form signed by a competent authority such as a doctor or disability specialist.

How do you want to submit your proof of disability?
POD Form

[Link to Download POD Form

You will need to provide a Proof of Disability (POD) form signed by a competent authority such as a doctor or disability specialist. Learn More

Take this form to your competent authority for their signature, then upload it to your Bookshare account.]

NLS Membership ?

[NLS Membership POD

NLS Member Name *

Address *

City *

State *

Zip Code *

Email Address *

NLS Regional Provider *

Don’t know your NLS provider? Click here for a list (of NLS providers).

I certify that I receive services from the NLS network of cooperating libraries (National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) and give permission to Bookshare to verify this with them.

I understand that this process may take 3-5 business days and that I will be contacted about my status when Bookshare has received a response from NLS.]

Learning Ally Membership ?

[Learning Ally POD

Full Name *

Address

City

State

Zip Code

Email Address *

Learning Ally Member ID

If you don’t know your Member ID, enter your email address.

I certify that I receive services from Learning Ally and give permission to Bookshare to verify this with them.

I understand that this process may take 3-5 business days and that I will be contacted about my status when Bookshare has received a response from Learning Ally.]

Skip this step, I’ll provide my proof of disability later

Promo Code Information (fourth page)

To sign up for a free account through a partnership or funding organization (such as a library), Bookshare will need to provide the organization with your name and information.

Yes, I agree

Promo Code

If you do not wish to have your information shared with the partner organization you will be responsible for the cost of your subscription ($50.00).

No, I am a U.S. Student, or I will pay for my own membership

Applicant’s Digital Signature

Listed below are some of the most important aspects of the Bookshare Individual Membership Agreement. By accepting the agreement, you are agreeing to the complete Terms and Conditions of this agreement.

The Accessible Media is only for use by the person with a bona fide print disability.

I acknowledge that Accessible Media cannot be shared with other people.

There are consequences for copyright violations, including termination of this account.

 I acknowledge that I am digitally signing the complete Terms and Conditions of this agreement.

 I acknowledge that I am the parent or legal guardian for this person.

Name

Date  

[Create account button]

Spreadsheets to Track Important Information

As an itinerant teacher, I remember the importance of tracking EVERYTHING. I tracked mileage. I tracked time spent providing direct instruction to students, time providing support to school personnel, and student absences. My accessible materials specialist tracked the dates on which she received materials from teachers, the time she spent making materials accessible, and the dates on which she provided those materials to the teachers (or me to deliver to teachers). In other words, tracking time is part-and-parcel of teaching blind students.

Educators Tracking Instructional Service Delivery

This data is valuable for more than mere IEP compliance. This data allows us to identify trends–trends in student absences, trends in teacher provision of materials to be made accessible, trends in the time it takes to make materials accessible, and much more. Data is not a burden; data is a valuable tool–especially when used properly and with skill. This Tracking Instructional Services–for Educators spreadsheet provides a template. Please edit and make it your own–and make it work for you!

Parents Tracking Teacher Instruction, Student Work, and Parent Involvement

In March 2020, schools across our nation closed. Many have reopened, and many are providing IEP services using hard copy materials, distance technology, or a blend of these. Parents, this means that you now have the opportunity to get into the data collection game. Again, I view data collection as a powerful tool. I urge you to embrace it, and please make any changes to this Tracking Instructional Services and Time Spent on Instruction and Material Preparation–for Families spreadsheet to make it work for you.

Tracking Travel

Whether we track travel for business reimbursement, for tax deductions, or just too document the miles we traverse, travel is another important task for which a good tool is needed. This Tracking Travel spreadsheet is set up for assigning mileage to one of six different school districts and sets forth a space to assign the purpose for each trip. This spreadsheet could easily be transformed into one to track travel to different medical providers, etc. Also, instead of mileage, an individual could use fees incurred for ride-sharing services, taxicabs, public transportation, etc.

One Parent’s Reflections: Online Instruction At Home Before COVID-19

Almost three years ago, my family made a major change in our blind child’s schooling. I  prepared to leave full-time employment, and we prepared to switch from a brick-and-mortar school to an online charter school—with an IEP (individualized education program) for a blind, dyslexic student with speech and other needs.

In the past few weeks, millions, perhaps tens of millions, of families have been forced into the position I chose. Additionally, more than 100,000 schools have been forced to move instruction from brick-and-mortar buildings to online environments.

I remember how challenging and overwhelming this move was for my family—and we chose it. I remember how Anna’s new school struggled for several months to provide free appropriate public education for her—and this school had been providing exclusively-online instruction for more than a dozen years.

My heart aches for children, parents, and educators forced into this brave new world. My family’s experience, though stressful, was positive in many ways. I fear that the current conditions and the natural stress caused by any change—especially an unwanted change resulting from a pandemic—is simply too overwhelming for children, families, and educators to find any benefits in the short-term.

My Mistakes (at least the big ones)

Did I make mistakes? Oh my, yes, I did! So many, many mistakes, and I had chosen the path I was on. Here is a short list of my early mistakes:

Feeling like a failure when there wasn’t a great learning experience within the first month or so of the change from brick-and-mortar to online instruction.

Change is hard. As parents, we must allow ourselves time to adjust. If we push ourselves too hard, we will burn out—and getting to the good place will take even longer. When parents are stressed, children pick up on that stress. They often blame themselves for the stress, too, “If it weren’t for me, Mom/Dad would be happy.” These feelings of responsibility for parents’ stress, combined with their own stress, can create or exacerbate anxiety, depression, and other conditions that make success in schoolwork even harder to achieve.

Expecting the online school to meet my child’s learning needs within the first month or so of school.

Before school started, the online school provided my child some of the technology needed. This proactive response led me to believe everything would be smooth sailing. My unrealistic expectations increased stress on all involved.

While my child’s educators had experience with online instruction, they had zero experience with accessibility for blind students. Curricular materials were inaccessible, and the school didn’t know how to make them accessible. Instruction continued for everyone, and my child was expected to complete all assignments, but my child was the only one in the class without access to the needed curricular materials.

Fear of irreparable damage

I was so frustrated that my child was getting behind despite spending plenty of time working on academics. I was particularly concerned about Advanced Placement Calculus—where everyone in the country takes a credit-determining exam on the same day in May. Week after week of inaccessibility meant that my child was losing weeks of preparation for that exam in comparison to non-disabled peers (who had perfectly accessible curriculum from day one).

I was so worried that Calculus simply wouldn’t happen because of inaccessibility. Calculus was a pre-requisite for other classes my child needed, and I feared that nothing could fix damage from the delays. My anxiety grew every day, and my child definitely picked up on it.

Letting the perfect get in the way of the good.

As my frustration grew, so did my demands on the school. My list of complaints grew by the day. I thought I was prioritizing my concerns, but I believe that school officials just heard a blob of complaints and demands that everything be fixed now. For a time, I believe they started to tune me out; after all, they didn’t know what to do.

In retrospect, I believe that a more nuanced approach would have been more successful. While every single concern I had was valid, school officials felt that they couldn’t do anything right. Over time, things improved, and more and more curricular materials became available, and the school began to provide my child’s IEP services (including accessible technology instruction, Braille support, speech therapy, and reading instruction). Looking back two and one-half years later, the delay seems a lot less important than it did at the time.

Failing to focus on my family

In order to provide the accessibility that was lacking, I worked fifty to sixty hours per week just to make my child’s materials accessible. I became very frustrated that I had quit working full-time for a salary only to move to working full-time for no salary. The “extra” time I would have with my child evaporated.

I blamed the school; the school was partially to blame, but so was I. In my zeal to make “everything right” with my child’s academics, I neglected everything else. We had planned to go to museums; there was no time for that. We had season passes to Hershey Park, but we only went once after school started. I chose to spend my time making her academic material accessible; it’s a choice I very much regret.

My Advice

Breathe.

Take a deep breath. Hold it. Keeping holding it. Hold it until you cannot hold it anymore. Do NOT breath out quickly. Very slowly, let that now-painful to hold breath go. Repeat.

This exercise can be calming, but it also provides guidance on how to handle extreme stress. If you breath out very quickly, you will want to breath in very quickly—to fill the void. When we are in stressful times, we get used to living with the stress. It’s easy to fear calm. After all, we tend to think that maybe we should be stressed; if we’re not stressed, we must be doing something wrong!

It can be difficult to avoid this cycle of stress, quick release, stress, repeat, but this cycle leaves no room for reflection, enjoyment, or peace. Instead, try to release the pressure slowly. When you do so, you have more control. You have time to think. You have the time to love. You have the time to live and enjoy what really can be.

Do what you can with what you have

When I taught in the public schools, I prioritized having materials and equipment with each student at all times, and my supervisors supported my efforts. Unfortunately, this is not universal. I have heard from many families that their children never had at-home access to materials and tools they needed, such as Braillers and braille paper, Braille books and worksheets and flashcards, accessible computers, or augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools like switches and buttons to allow non-verbal students to communicate. School closed quickly, and many of these tools remain inside locked buildings just gathering dust while students need them.

Is this frustrating? Of course it is! However, frustration does not move us forward. The fact is: many cannot access the tools and materials our children need. Given this reality, we must find ways to move forward, but on a different path.

All is not lost; There is always a solution

When I reflect on how stressed I was about “losing so much time” when AP Calculus and other courses were inaccessible, I could kick myself. Once I took some time to breathe and reflect, I came up with a solution (actually taking the college class instead of worrying about the AP exam), and her online school paid the bill. In other words, we worked together and stopped blaming one another.

Back then, my child was the only one at her school being left behind. Making certain that she was ready for adult adjustment to blindness training and then college was the focus. During a global pandemic, timing changes. Everyone is “behind” what we expected because we never expected this.

Please know that I am not saying that education does not matter. I firmly believe that schools must be held accountable for the services students with disabilities need. What I am saying is document the problems, but focus on your child. Encourage school officials to work toward full accessibility, but don’t allow that pursuit to take over your life.

There are solutions, and there will be time (and an infusion of federal money) to implement them. This crisis has alerted many school officials of the need to prepare for the unexpected. Hearts and minds have changed, and post-pandemic priorities will undoubtedly change as well.

Prepare for the future, but live in the now. You won’t regret it.

Free Sources of Accessible Online Lessons and Lesson Ideas

BEAR Blog: https://bearadvocacy.com/

BEAR YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGNmE6rIbNylg1qIN4FUsXw

Distance Education Resources from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB): https://www.nfb.org/resources/distance-education-resources

Virtual ExCEL Academy: https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/resources/virtual-learning-academy

National Homework Hotline for Blind/Visually Impaired Students (NHH-BVI): https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/resources/national-homework-hotline-blindvisually-impaired-students-nhh-bvi?fbclid=IwAR1_inqhXwdi4zXe0MfVwyFDCbxze7Gn7bt5oGlopkpI_9jLaCvsDbPPOAU

About Canes—What Kind? What Length?

What Kind of Cane Should I get?

I recommend the NFB cane because of its light weight and its superior haptic and auditory feedback. An added bonus is that NFB offers any blind/low vision individual one free long white cane as often as once every six months. Please consider trying one out; you really have nothing to lose.

The light weight of the NFB cane allows for a much longer length without hand/wrist discomfort. In fact, I find that NFB canes are typically lighter than Ambutech and similar canes that are 18-24 inches SHORTER than the NFB cane.

The materials used to make an NFB cane (carbon fiber or fiberglass) make the cane far more useful for haptic feedback. The cane user can feel vibrations from the cane as it touches different objects and surfaces. In contrast, aluminum canes tend to dull the level of haptic feedback from the cane, and the ropes inside folding canes can further dull haptic feedback to the cane user.

The NFB cane usually provides superior audio feedback as well. The NFB cane uses a small metal tip. The tip makes different sound when it touches different things. Rubber and plastic cane tips do not provide as much auditory information as the metal cane tips do.

The Longer the Cane, the More Information the User Gets Sooner.

Chest-high canes usually let you know there is an obstacle (or drop off, etc.) 1-1.5 steps before your feet would get there.

Canes at chin height or higher (my daughters is an inch taller than she is) give 2.5-3.5 steps of information.

These increased steps allow the user to walk more quickly and more confidently. I love my daughter’s posture and gait (the gait is typical and the posture slightly better than her teenage peers).

For a first-time child/teen cane user, I recommend getting a cane about four to five inches shorter than the child/teen. NFB canes come in odd-inch lengths (39 inches, 41 inches, 43 inches, etc.). Thus, if the child/teen is 61 inches tall or 62 inches tall, I recommend ordering a 57 inch long cane.