Surprise - Your kid doesn't know how to study!

We recently – very recently – discovered that our son really doesn’t know how to study!  He’s been an honor roll student up until last trimester, and, well, we aren’t really sure why the bottom has seemingly dropped out on him.  Is it just that the materials are getting harder?  I’m not convinced.

Blind students “live” much more in their own heads than sighted students do.  Many of them have prodigious memories that can keep them going long past their peers for sheer amounts of information stored in their heads.  But at some point kids who are blind or visually impaired cease to be able to do everything simply by thinking about it.  In math it usually happens when they have to start multiplying and dividing longer numbers.  In other subjects, it can be a much longer time before a blind student “hits the wall”.  They have to have a way to take notes that are well organized and accessible TO THEM.

I am a substitute teacher, and I have been surprised at how much is “given” to sighted students.  With all the text that shows up in bold, as captions under photos and diagrams, in italics, and even highlighted for them, there is little actual work involved in studying.  They need only flip through the pages of their ONE VOLUME book and remind themselves of things that are already highlighted there for them.  For students who are blind or visually impaired, especially if they are Braille readers, skimming over materials means trying to go over the important parts of 19 or 20 volumes, without any indicators from the book as to what is important to “see” – no bolding or highlighting that can easily be observed by passing fingers.   If the course materials are only available in audio or electronic format, it is even more difficult to scan or speed read through the materials to hunt for important bits of information for a test.  I believe that up to this point Greg was able to mostly hold the information in his very capable brain, but when faced with a course in which he is not that adept naturally, he can no longer hold the material in memory.  He has reached the point where he can no longer compensate for his inability to read print with a great memory.

Your child may “hit the wall” at different times in different subject areas.  I am frankly glad Greg hit it while still in high school while we still have a chance to address this missing piece of the academic puzzle.  How challenging to face this kind of problem in your last year of college!  It is much better to find out now, when resources such as a TCVI are still available to help.  For your child, “the wall” may show up in elementary school or in middle school, and likely in math and/or science before it shows up in other areas.  Take this as an opportunity to address the issue of note taking, and not as an indication that your child is “dumb”, or doesn’t do well in this subject area.   It could be as easy as making their own glossary of important words, or a list of types of problems, to help your child do much better – and to like school, too!  It's also another opportunity to be sure that your child is using all the technology available to him or her.  I recently discovered (this morning - at Greg's IEP!) that the Braille Sense which is available from the National Library Service can not only download books but also has the abilitiy to highlight and keep notes that you want to save.  The iPhones have a ton of great apps that can help your student stay organized.  Some schools may even have classes designed to help kids learn good study habits and give them extra time to do their work.

If your child suddenly is struggling, don't put off asking for help - from your child's teacher, VI teacher, school counselor, principal, or from another blind person or another parent of a blind child - for questions on anything from using a spoon and fork to potty training to Calculus and Physics.  The most important thing to realize, I think, is that kids need to struggle some, but they also need to know that someone has their back and can help them when they really need it.  A child whose school experience is mostly frustration and humiliation will not be able to learn well - instead they will hate school and everything about it.  On the other hand, we need teachers to be honest and fair - and not just pass our kids on because they are "special ed".   Given the right tools, our kids can succeed in school!