Have you seen this photo of the fastest man in the world guiding a Paralympian with blindness while training for her own Olympic quest? Usain Bolt showed up for this event not knowing exactly how to guide (he worried he might run too fast--seems legitimate!) But he showed up, nonetheless, to guide Terezinha Guilhermina, a Brazilian sprinter competing in the 200 meter run.

This recent image in the news encapsulates the vision for educational teams working with students who have blindness and low vision in Indiana schools. We want students to achieve to their highest potential whether their race for the year is to complete AP World History, or learn how to cook some great Indian food like their mom. Many who might guide and teach them have similar worries as Usain, wondering,

“will I go too fast?”

“How do I share visual cues with someone who does not have sight?”

“How the heck does a student with blindness use an iPad?”

Because the particular disability of blindness occurs in such low incidence, many teachers may never have a child with this need in their classroom. Those that do, may never repeat the process. In my experience as a teacher for the blind and low vision, I witnessed a predictable emotional timeline for each school year for staff dealing with this particular new need in their classroom:



Starting with the initial fear phase, and gradually coming to a settling-in phase, and ending with the this-kid-with-blindness-is-just-a-kid-after-all phase. My career quest has become to find ways to pole vault over those first 6 weeks of freaking out--not an easy task, as folks have deep seated fears regarding blindness. So as fearless as Usain Bolt may seem, his hesitance to guide comes naturally.

The guidelines for being an effective running partner from the AFB (American Federation for the Blind) organization United in Stride apply in many ways to the races we are running with our students toward their educational, social, and expanded core curriculum goals.

Highlighting a few from their website:

1. Let the runner set the pace.
   
   
2. Communicate often.
   
   
3. Be patient.
   
   
4. Accept correction as a way to improve your guiding skills.
   
   

If you read these, and let them sink in for a moment, you’ll realize that they can be further boiled down to: let the runner/student maintain most of the control for the process, and listen to them. Like many other challenges we face with fearing those who have differences from us, the remedy to fear is spending some time with, and getting to know the person. Ask them about their blindness, and the challenges they face, but also ask them about what kind of running shoes they prefer, and what movies they saw this summer.

After making a connection, seek the resources available for answering the questions about visual cues, access, and iPads. In addition to your local teacher for the blind and low vision who will be your point person for accommodating your student’s needs, PATINS has added my position as specialist to help teams sort through, and implement the amazing advancements in technology available for students with visual needs. I’m excited to be your coach for pole vaulting over the fear,  sprinting past the fear,  wrestling fear to the ground (insert your favorite sports analogy here).

We’ve got some exhilarating races ahead of us!

While doing my laundry recently, I pulled my PATINS shirt out of the dryer and ran my hand gently over the embroidered PATINS logo on the sleeve.  My mind went to the blog Julie wrote a couple weeks ago about PATINS.  I wondered, “How did this Project get started back in 1995 anyway?“

I decided my best source to ask was the woman who hired me back in 2004, Vicki Hershman. 
I knew Vicki was in on the grass roots of this Project retiring as Director in 2012 as well as my mentor and lifetime friend.  It was time to pick her brain for the details.  After treating her to lunch one day, I started asking her questions.  It was touching to see the spark in her eye and obvious drive of seeing ALL children succeed still in her demeanor, after being out of the PATINS trenches for a few years. 

Vicki shared that in 1988, States were given dollars through a Federal Tech Act Systems Change Initiative to increase student access to curriculum.  Indiana’s solution was to set up a Lending Library of Technology in South Bend.  This attempt was unsuccessful due to no structure, no supervision and no training available.

 In 1990, they moved the Lending Library to Valparaiso as if logistics would help.  Change of logistics of the Lending Library did not improve student access at all. 

Along came IDEA Part B requiring schools to do something to increase student access to curriculum or lose Federal Funding.  To get a plan together, in 1994, the Director of West Central Joint Services Cooperative, Shirley Amond and Bob Marra, IN Department of Education Special Ed Superintendent created a task force to research what other States were doing to increase student access. 

The task force was comprised of: 

•     IN School for the Blind Superintendent
•      East Allen Special Ed Director
•      Crown Point Special Ed Director
•      Madison Special Ed Director
•      Evansville Special Ed Director
•       Voc Rehab Director
•       Shirley, representing WCJS, Wayne Township, Indianapolis
•       Bob, representing IDOE

It didn’t take long for the task force to realize that they needed a special someone to be in charge of Student Access for the State of Indiana.  Someone to develop a state-wide system to offer hardware and software to teachers to assist their students as well as training for these teachers.  Shirley hired that special someone in 1995…Vicki.  Together, they came up with the acronym PATINS and the framework to work statewide for student access to their curriculum.  It was a natural decision to set up five regional lending libraries in East Allen, Crown Point, Indianapolis, Madison and Evansville and to hire staff for each regional location.

One of those original staff members was Tina Jones from Madison.  I called Tina and asked her about her first days with PATINS. 

“I was hired and given an office equipped with a desk, a chair and a stack of assistive technology catalogs.  I didn’t even know what assistive technology was!  Email was brand new too.  So, I spent the first 3 months of my PATINS career reading AT catalogs cover to cover.  You can learn a lot from those catalogs!    After that, I emailed all the vendors I had just read about and they instructed me on how to use the devices they were selling.  I equipped my lending library with the latest and greatest and hit the road-teaching teachers.  As I trained a teacher to help a kid, it was like a wheel with spokes…it spread.  I was hooked on helping kids access their school needs using technology.” 

The law was revised in 1995 with more specific regulations and it was PATINS responsibility to comply.  By 2004, the emphasis was on not only technology, but instruction as well.  Universal Design for Learning was born! 

In 1996, Vicki, Walt and a local cardiologist started volunteering their time to refurbish donated computers and distribute them to needy children in schools.  In 2004, funding was established to hire a manager for this program.  Refurbished Computer Program was born!

As awareness of diverse disabilities increased, Vicki turned to her friend and colleague Leslie Durst at ISB.   Vicki and Leslie followed legislature and studied Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM). They worked on ways to help ALL students with disabilities.  In 2006, they presented the idea of IN Center for Accessible Materials to IDOE.  ICAM was born!

I asked Vicki why she thought PATINS has been so successful over the years?  Without hesitation, she answered PATINS has always had a dedicated staff who had the same focus – believe in the students and do what it takes to reach the potential of each student.

Since 1995, PATINS has changed its acronym a time or two, our logo design and a few shop locations.  Tina retired from PATINS the same year Vicki did, 2012.  If fact, we’ve had 39 talented employees come through our doors with a current staff of 17.

 People, places and things may have changed but the foundation and focus of what we do never has… it’s all about the children we serve.  Those faces, tiny little faces.