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                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 1102

                         Thursday, December 22, 1994

Today's Topics:


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                       VIP Newsletter Volume 10 No. 2


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Subject: VIP Newsletter Volume 10 No. 2
From: robertj@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM (Robert Jaquiss)
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR, USA

VIP NEWSLETTER     VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2
PUBLISHED BY THE BLIND CHILDREN'S FUND
2875 NORTHWIND DRIVE, SUITE 211
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN 48823-5040
PHONE 517-333-1725
FAX 517-333-1730

We Apologize!!  The June issue of the VIP was delayed by the many
urgent affairs that had to be attended to when we moved to
Michigan.

MOVING AND GROWING

The Blind Children's Fund(BCF) has moved and is growing!!  In July
of 1994, the Blind Children's Fund moved back to Michigan where it
began as the International Institute for Visually Impaired 0-7,
Inc. in 1978.  During 1993-94 we spent a year in Wisconsin
expecting to merge most of our activities with the Center for Blind
& Visually Impaired Children in Milwaukee.  However, after nine
months it became apparent that the agency was not really prepared
to commit themselves to take on the work that the Blind Children's
Fund is engaged in.  A decision was made to move back to the state
where we started, continue our work, expand and grow.

During the past year, our Director continued the BCF workscope with
the help of many volunteers.  During this period, two National
Conferences were held featuring the materials and "Active Learning"
techniques of Lilli Nielsen, Ph.D. from Denmark.   The core of
teachers and parents who have received instruction at these
conferences has increased significantly.  In May of this year,
approximately 300 teachers and parents attended the conference in
Texas.  They came from 22 states, the U. S. Virgin Islands, and
Canada.  The conference was co-hosted by the Outreach Department of
the Texas School for the Blind.   Gigi Brown and Stacey Shafer did
a wonderful job as the Organizing Committee.

The BCF also co-hosted the XVI International Seminar on Preschool
Blind in Milwaukee, WI.  In 1994 the BCF registered in the state of
Washington.   There Didi Goodrich and her husband Don have been
actively carrying out inservices and spreading the word about the
use of "Active Learning" materials and techniques.  This will be
our Parent Network office.

Much of our ability to spring back and grow is a direct result of
the BCF's being accepted for Combined Federal Campaign funding.  As
the pledges came in we knew by the end of May that we could make
the move to Michigan and support a small staff including opening an
office in Washington.  We were then accepted as a member of the
Independent Charities of America and will also have their support
for the coming year.

A Special Thank You to our CFC Supporters

A warm and special thank you to all the men and women who supported
us through the CFC.  Your pledges and donations have assured the
growth of our work for the coming year.  Thanks to you we are not
only continuing  -  WE ARE GROWING!!  Thank you!! - Thank you!!
Thank you!!


THE FIRST STEP...........
    by Banoo S. Tarapore

The ancient Chinese wisely said, "A journey of a thousand miles
begins with the first step." And in our journey through life, the
first all-important step is access to early education in formative
years.



Importance of Early Intervention

Not only should the learning experience start early but it should
be as joyous as possible, so that a child reaches out to knowledge
as naturally as a flower reaches out to the sun.  This is all the
more pertinent when children are handicapped, physically or
mentally, in one way or another, since their's is the greater
need.

Aware of this we at the NAB Mata Lachmi Nursery for the Blind try
to create just such an atmosphere for the small visually impaired
children in our care.  Through the play way Montessori method,
through song and dance, through creative activity and group
interaction we initiate them into the classroom discipline,
effecting at the same time a smooth transition to the future that
lies ahead.

The nursery is not only a school to the children but a home as
well, caring for them with love and affection and providing all
facilities absolutely free, including residential accommodation,
meals, clothing, and even specialized medical and therapeutical
treatment, as the majority of them come from deprived homes.

The Beginning

The beginning was made 23 years ago, when the Mata Lachmi Trust
Bombay and the National Association for the Blind got together to
bring sunshine and hope into the lives of small blind children, and
the NAB Mata Lachmi Nursery for the Blind was born.

With all the efforts and the hard work put in, particularly by the
late Lt. G. L.  Nardekar, Hon. Secretary of NAB, and Mr. M. H.
Mirchandani, the nursery was inaugurated on the 15th of August 1969
with just 3 children, one teacher and one superintendent.

Housed on the third floor of Mata Lachmi Hospital in Sion, a suburb
of Bombay, this is the only nursery of its kind in the whole of
India, admitting small blind children between 2 and 5 years of age,
and ever since it has played a pioneering role in the education of
the preschool age blind child.

Today we average 30 children per year, most of them residential,
coming from all communities and creeds, from all corners of India.
As of now we have children from Bihar, Gujarat, interior
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh apart from the far-
flung Suburbs of Bombay.  We have to restrict the number of
children, especially those from outside Bombay, due to limitations
of space.  The medium of instruction remains Marathi.

A panel of doctors from the Mata Lachmi Hospital check each child
on admission.  On the staff we have a Principal, 5 teachers, a
physiotherapist, a speech therapist, a physical therapy teacher a
music teacher, an in-house doctor and a coach for regular swimming
lessons.  Also a student from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences
is annually placed for field work at the nursery with the generous
cooperation of that Institute.

The children are encouraged to socialize and mix freely with
others.  They enter talent competitions, participate in variety
entertainment programmes, put up their own yearly concert and have
even appeared on Doordarshan.  They are taken for frequent outings
and have also gone on 4-day trips to Lonavala, Panchgani, and
Gandhidam Kutch.  Every year when the rains come we have a small
tree planting programme where the children not only plant trees
themselves in the surrounding parks and gardens but learn about the
necessity of preserving nature and keeping the environment clean
and green, through dance, song and story.

Integrated Education

The nursery has always projected the concept of integrated
education right from the preschool level.  As part of the
curriculum as far back as 1973 our older children attended the
Sishu Vishar School, Dadar and later the Little Angels' School,
Sion, for a couple of hours, three times a week to share work and
play with their sighted friends.

But it was in 1984 that the nursery achieved a breakthrough in
initiating an integrated education programme at the Indian
Education Society's English Medium School at Dadar with the active
cooperation of the school's authorities.  Four of our children
found admission in the Higher K.G. and the 1st Standard.  Today
more than 45 blind children of all ages and from various schools
are studying there.

An interesting sidelight on our efforts at integration was an
unusual experiment carried out in 1986.  We arranged a weekend
Scouting Camp at Rambaug, Powai, in conjunction with a group of
Cubs from the D.S. High School, a school for normal children at
Sion.  The children of both schools shared tents, meals, hikes and
jointly staged a camp fire.

Our Hope

Over the years the nursery has gradually come to be recognized for
its role in providing quality service to the little blind children
under its care, and has won considerable appreciation both here and
abroad.  We shall always try to live up to such expectations and
hope that in the years that lie ahead the little lamp lit 23 years
ago to dispel the darkness will shine out with ever-increasing
radiance.

Mrs. Banoo Tarapore has been associated with the Mata Lachmi
Nursery for several years as an Hon. Secretary.  She has played an
important part in the development of the Mata Lachmi Nursery, whose
activities are detailed in this article.  (She sent pictures and
this article is part of an article written for Blind Welfare,
India)


MEET OUR NEW PARENT COORDINATOR

We have a new addition to our family.  Paula Korelitz has joined
the staff of the Blind Children's Fund as our Parent Coordinator
after 13 years with the Detroit Public Schools.

Paula received her B.A. as a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and
her M.Ed. in Early Childhood and Parent Education from Wayne State
University in Detroit.  Further studies have included coursework
with Lilli Nielson, coursework in sign language, and certification
as an Infant Massage Therapist.  She also serves as one of three
state trainers in Michigan for INSITE (a program which trains
professionals to work with the families of children who are
multi-handicapped sensory impaired).

Her professional experience includes being a classroom, itinerant
and home-based teacher.  She initiated the computer instruction
program for the visually impaired for the Detroit Public Schools.
Her last 9 years with Detroit Public Schools has been in the Early
Intervention Department.  Together with her colleague, Rosemary
Blaszkiewicz, Paula was a Co-founder of the Wayne County High
Vision Games. (a Special Olympics type of event for low vision
children).

Paula has been on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Parents of
the Visually Impaired since its inception, and has helped organize
all of their Family Retreat Weekends.  She also sits on the
Citizens Advisory Committee for the Michigan School for the Blind
and is a Board Member of the Michigan Chapter of AER.  She is an
active Lions Club member.  Welcome aboard!


The Blind Children's Fund Introduces the Parent Support Network

The Blind Children's Fund has opened a West Coast affiliate office
in the Seattle area of Washington State.  Didi Goodrich has been
installed as the Director of the Parent Support Network and can be
reached at Blind Children's Fund, 2971 53rd St. SE, Auburn, WA
98092-8310.  Phone (206) 735-6350.  The main mission for the Parent
Support Network is to assist parents in the development and
education of blind and otherwise multiply handicapped children,
including older developmentally delayed children.

Didi has based the majority of her work on the "Active Learning"
philosophy, materials, and techniques developed by Dr. Lilli
Nielsen of Denmark, and attended BCF conferences to be instructed
by Dr. Nielsen.  She has also done research into conductive
education and other curricula for symbol systems  and motor
function; and has written several articles on developmental
education.  To help others, she has developed several starter kits,
that are easy to assemble, for use as an introduction to the
methodologies and philosophies that she uses.

With Didi comes a bonus!!  Her husband, Don, has engineered and
developed plans for the "Active Learning" equipment and is also a
technical resource for computer software and hardware.  He has
developed several programs for handicapped children and consults
with parents and professionals on hardware selection, installation
and training.  They have an interesting family of nine children,
two of whom are adopted and have multiple handicaps.  Samantha, a
beautiful 11 year old girl, is blind and has cerebral palsy and
seizures.  Seth, a charming 12 year old boy, has artificial legs, a
heart murmur, Strabismus and a learning disability.  This family
has searched for years for an answer to the problem of educating
their handicapped children.

This year Don and Didi have conducted eight seminars and inservice
training sessions for groups of parents and professionals in the
Seattle area.  More are planned.


INNOVATIVE LEARNING IN A RURAL SETTING
by Evelyn Tileston

"I was ready to quit my job.  I had been teaching blind and
visually impaired children for more than fifteen years; but I was
not prepared to meet the needs of the five severely disabled blind
children who were part of my case load in the Fall of 1992.  Then I
learned that the Blind Children's Fund was bringing Lilli Nielsen
to the United States again for an Introductory Course in the use of
her techniques and materials for working with blind or visually
impaired infants and young children  - including the severely
disabled.  I went to the course in Albuquerque where I met Lilli
Nielsen and was introduced to her method of Active Learning.
Active Learning offered hope; and a way that I could serve these
children whose needs were so great."  So says Barbara Siders, an
itinerant teacher of children who are blind and visually impaired.

Barbara works in the high mountains of Central Colorado, serving
children in ten school districts.  Traveling more than 200 miles
round trip over winding  mountain roads and snow covered passes in
order to serve one child is not unusual for her.  Barbara
recognized that traditional methods had not been effective with
these children, so she decided to make a change.  As Lilli so often
says, "Sometimes we must be the one who loves children enough that
we will dare to be different."  Barbara was that one.

With no financial assistance at all, Barbara and her husband Stacy
began replicating Lilli's equipment.  To buy Lilli's equipment for
these children would have cost more than five thousand dollars
since, due to the distances between children and the fact that they
were in different school districts, each child needed his own
materials.  Barbara next undertook the enormous task of teaching
this method to professionals who were dedicated to the traditional
methods which they had learned from a wide assortment of
institutions of higher learning.  Though these people said that
they were eager to try the Active Learning method, for the most
part they continued in their traditional way of talking, touching,
and structuring; so that Barbara faced an up-hill battle in more
ways than one.  She and I had many long talks about how to help
these persons accept Active Learning so that it could be fully
incorporated into the multihandicapped blind child's learning
program.  For the sake of the children, Barbara kept on and I
encouraged her.  Together we also attended the Active Learning
courses in Milwaukee and
Dallas.

On May ll, 1994,  as we returned from Lilli's most recent course in
Dallas, Barbara introduced me to one of her students.  The
classroom teacher is supportive of the use of the innovative
equipment which Barbara has provided for the child.  "The child
loves it.  She looks forward to it every day.  We plan to put it in
her home during the summer and teach her family how it should be
used," the teacher said to me.

Because of Barbara's  courage and determination to provide for
children the most appropriate learning situation for them, one
child in a remote mountain town is benefiting, others will benefit
as well.  Barbara's courage and dedication serve  as a role model
for me.  I am honored that she is my friend and proud to be able to
tell a small piece of her story.

Don't Forget the United Way Campaign

The United Way campaign will be beginning soon.  If you wish to
designate the Blind Children's Fund  in the upcoming 1994 United
Way campaign, please write the name of the Blind Children's Fund
and our address (2875 Northwind Drive, Suite 211, East Lansing, MI
48823-5040) on your pledge card, and check the appropriate box so
that the United Way may inform us of your kindness and so we may
verify the funding.  Your generosity is important to our agency,
and we welcome the opportunity to show our appreciation by
acknowledging your gift.  Thank you for your support of the Blind
Children's Fund and your United Way.  Together we can make a
difference!

WANTED - Articles for the VIP Newsletter.  We know there are many
parents and  teachers reading this newsletter.  Send us your
thoughts, your ideas, even your dreams.  What would you like to
read in the VIP?  Would you write an article for us?


BITS & PIECES
OF INTEREST TO ALL OF US

THE USA IS KILLING ITS KIDS

In 1990, handguns were used to kill 22 people in Great Britain, 13
in Sweden, 91 in Switzerland, 87 in Japan, 10 in Australia, and 68
in Canada.  IN THE UNITED STATES, 10,567 WERE KILLED WITH
HANDGUNS.  In 1991, 3,274 U.S. children and teens were murdered
with guns.


THE COMPREHENDING HAND:   LILLI NIELSEN, Ph.D.

The Comprehending Hand which most of you have is large with a
yellow cover.  Lilli has revised it and added new photographs.  It
is now the same size as her other books.  This new version is
available for $15.00 plus $3.00 S/H from the Blind Children's
Fund.


The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH)
publishes a quarterly newsletter which comes with your membership.
NOAH's objectives are to provide information and support for
individuals and families with albinism and hypopigmentation, to
promote public and professional education about these conditions,
and encourage research funding that will lead to improved diagnosis
and treatment.  Annual membership dues are $10 for an individual,
$15 for a family, and $25 for an agency.

Make check or money order payable to NOAH and mail to:NOAH
1500 Locust Street, Ste. 1816
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 545-2322

"Ain't Misbehavin" is a video on dealing with behavior problems of
children and youth with deaf-blindness.  Send a 60 minute VHS tape
to Bill Liles in the media department of the Texas School for the
Blind, 1100 West 45th Street, Austin, Texas 78756.  They will make
a free copy for you and mail it back to you.  Be sure to include
your return address with it.

BOOK REVIEW

HANNAH     by Gloria Whelan
      Drawings by Ledi Bowmen

It gives us great pleasure to find a book that we can recommend as
enthusiastically as we can recommend Hannah.  This is a book for
children, appropriate for any boy or girl from 4 years old and up.
However, all the adults at the Institute read it also and enjoyed
it enormously.  Those of us who have youngsters took the book home
for our children, who universally thought it was terrific.

The story takes place in 1887 when Hannah is nine years old and the
Braille method of reading and writing has recently become available
in America.  The book is written from Hannah's perspective.  She is
totally blind and her world is confined to her family, farm, and
weekly visits to church.  Her experiences are very limited,  her
mother frightened and overprotective, her father equally at a loss,
and Hannah's understanding of the world dependent on her eleven
year old sister and six year old brother's explanations.  More than
anything else in the world Hannah would like to go to school.
There is no possibility of an education for Hannah until a new
teacher comes to town and boards at Hannah's family farm.  Against
a mountain of obstacles the teacher pushes for Hannah to attend
school and then the story becomes even more engrossing.

In the process of understanding Hannah's life, we learn about farm
and small town life in the late 1800's, the day living conditions,
people's attitudes and perspectives at that time, the educational
process and lots of American history while being totally absorbed
in Hannah's life.  It is a wonder that the author managed to convey
all of this in 62 beautifully written pages.

Read it.  You'll love it!  Hannah is published by Alfred A. Knopf,
New York and is available in hardback only.  It sells for $10.95.

Book Review By The Institute for Families of Blind Children
Editor's Note -  We found Hannah in paperback from Random House for $2.99.


VIP NEWSLETTER VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2 JUNE 1994

THE VIP NEWSLETTER  (ISSN NO. 0738-7091) IS PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY
THE BLIND CHILDREN'S FUND

EDITORIAL OFFICES:  2875 NORTHWIND DRIVE, SUITE 211 EAST LANSING,
MI 48823-5040 EDITOR:  SHERRY RAYNOR    ASSISTANT:  YALE COHEN

Contributions, including business and personal news, information
about parent activities and membership, or questions to the editor
may be submitted to VIP Editor at above address.

THE BCF NEEDS YOUR HELP (NOW, MORE THAN EVER!) Your contributions
play an important role in supporting the many programs and services
provided by the Blind Children's Fund.

I want to help blind children learn to live in world they cannot
see.  Enclosed is my tax deductible contribution of $______ .
Name:   Address:  Please make your check payable to the Blind
Children's Fund.




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                 End of Issue # 1102 of the Blind News Digest

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