
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 28, 1991                   TAG: 9103280436
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SCHOOL FOR BLIND NOT ONLY PLACE TO LEARN

I READ with interest your March 17 article, "School for deaf and blind at center of debate."

With 1,700 children with visual handicaps in Virginia, if the school for the blind was the best and only place to learn braille and the other skills necessary to function as a productive adult upon graduation, why do only 40 students attend? Could parents of 1,664 children be wrong to raise their offspring with visual handicaps in their own loving homes and allow them to attend the local schools where their children are guaranteed the best education under Federal Law 94-142? I don't think so.

I was really disappointed to see less than a quarter of a page given to covering these children who prosper and learn in our own public school systems.

In a personal comment, I am not a "roving regional teacher" or "itinerant teacher" as you referred to me in your article. I am a teacher of the visually handicapped. With my undergraduate and master's degrees, I majored in the education of the visually handicapped so I could guarantee each child I teach the best education possible. Please use the title I am certified to use. CINDY WENRICH HILLSVILLE

by CNB