Lili Krakowski on thu 20 sep 07
It always is easy to say: "Do it for the sake of Heaven." when someone else
is expected to do the heavy lifting.
So, Eleanor, forgive me ahead of time. Advice is cheap, studios costly.
If the mother comes with the girl you can teach the mother. If the girl
comes with an aide then teach the aide, who probably can benefit from
knowing something about clay, as such aides frequently work with several
"clients" Let mother or aide pass the info on....
I would expect that if you have an ADVANCED class--people who know all about
clay but like the companionship of working with a group of the like-minded,
or people who do not have a studio, and take classes for the use of one,
then you take the girl in and everyone will understand....
I expect that the stumbling block will more likely be the girl's mental
retardation, not her blindness. Maybe you could have mother and daughter
come to your studio sometime "after hours" and just see how it works, no
commitment. Then decide.
Whatever you decide it will be the right thing--because this is one of those
situations the heart can solve, the brain cannot. So all good wishes.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
Vicki Hardin on fri 21 sep 07
Elnora, as someone who has worked with blind children I have the following
suggestions.
First you need more information in terms of what the child's abilities are.
So, I would start by gathering some of this information.
What sort of communication system does this person have. Some people use
object symbols. Otherwise, if verbal communication is available, can they
follow a one two or three step directive. Does the child work independently
and if not, how much monitoring do they require. This is particularly
important if you are considering teaching this child while also teaching
others.
Some people who are blind and mentally challenged are tactually defensive,
and may object to using their hands with different textures. Some regular
people are like this too. You know, the ones that don't want to get their
hands dirty. But, people who are tactually defensive are much more so
repulsed by textures. Some do not even like stuffed animals. I would
explore this to find out if this person may not object to getting her hands
in clay.
It is good to build on the skills this person may already have. So, what
types of activities does this person do now that could be transferred to a
new skill. For instance, have they used play dough, etc. Do they use legos,
so that you may transfer this to some sort of slab project.
People who are legally bind, 20/200 or worse (both eyes), sometimes have
good usable vision. To what extent is this person able to use hers? If your
student has very little vision, there is a technique called hand under hand
that is used to teach and has replaced the previous method called hand over
hand whereby the teacher controls the student's hand by placing it on an
object and then moving it elsewhere when they feel enough time has passed.
Hand under hand empowers the student by allowing choice. It is accomplished
by the sighted person positioning her hand underneath the students hand and
guiding it to the object. The base of the palm of the student should rest on
top of the sighted person's fingernails. This frees the fingers of the
student for use. I tried to find an explanation for this on the internet but
could not. It is easily demonstrated, but not easily explained in written
text.
Lastly, people who are blind and visually impaired in the state where I live
have teams of people who work with them who could provide you and this
mother a lot of information. By federal law, each child has a teacher of the
visually impaired working with them in the school system. They would have a
lot of this information available to share with the parent. A special ed
teacher could also have a wealth of suggestions.
The website for Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired has a ton
of information you might find useful. Here is an article from Texas School
for the Blind with suggestions for cooking that might be modified.
This is my last suggestion. If you do this, realize what is most important
is the person's experience. It may not be that they create the most perfect
project. The outcome will not be measured by whether or not they were able
to produce a successful project, but the fun they had and the confidence
built in themselves by doing so.
Good Luck. If I may be of help, give me a call at 325 653 0492.
Vicki Hardin
Http://VickiHardin.com
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