School Replaces Blind Child’s Cane With A Pool Noodle

[doggie]

This is so pathetic it is stupid. but white canes are not expensive can't the parents get one for him Hell I would buy one. or several for him.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/12/17 ... dle-video/

What kind of horrible school would punish a blind child by replacing his mobility cane with one of those floppy, foam pool noodles? A school — like Gracemor Elementary in Kansas City, MO — that’s menaced by severe budget cuts, perhaps.

Eight-year-old Dakota Nafzinger’s outraged parents told Fox2Now St. Louis their strange and sad story: On Monday, a bus driver saw Dakota raise his cane and thought he might hit somebody. School staff then took the mobility cane away and gave him a pool noodle instead.

Dakota’s blind because he was born without eyes, a condition called Bilateral Anopthalmia. Mobility canes help blind people get around independently.

Michelle Cronk from the school district claims that the cane is school property, and that pool noodle was meant to help Dakota with his fidgeting, but Rachel and Donald Nafzinger feel the school means to punish and humiliate their blind son.

While holding the pool noodle, Dakota explained:

“They said they were going to give me this for the next two weeks [...] It’s a lot harder with this.â€

Dakota’s appalled mother, Rachel, tearfully demanded:

“Why would you do this? Why would you take the one thing he’s supposed to use all the time? That’s his eyes.â€

[browncoatslytherin]

On Monday, a bus driver saw Dakota raise his cane and thought he might hit somebody.

this makes me think that this situation has been totally blown out of proportion. an adult who probably has little to no experience with the blind saw a kid with a cane and of course immediately thought he was going to try to strike someone. um, yeah, no. if a kid can't see, how's he supposed to attack someone with a cane? he's not daredevil. he was probably trying to get through the bus to either sit down or get off. kids probably would have been bumped by the cane, but not attacked. part of "seeing" with a cane is running it along and seeing if it bumps into anything so you avoid it. i've ridden public transportation with the blind, and if they accidentally hit somebody (not very hard) with their cane, they're very apologetic. it's unavoidable though; they don't want to run into you or trip over you.

of course, from the blown up report from the bus driver, it looks like the school escalated the non-issue further. i feel really really sorry for this kid that his school obviously has no fucking idea how to treat the blind with dignity and respect. :angry-banghead: a fucking pool noodle? really?? what a fucking joke.

[happy atheist]

Poor kid.

The part that confuses me is that the cane is apparently school property. They gave it to him when he enrolled.

So why doesn't this kid have his own cane? He was born without eyes. It's not like this is something that just happened, or is going to get better. Shouldn't there be funding for this sort of thing?

[formergothardite]

He probably does have a cane at home but the school was required to provide him with one for school use.

[browncoatslytherin]

Poor kid.

The part that confuses me is that the cane is apparently school property. They gave it to him when he enrolled.

So why doesn't this kid have his own cane? He was born without eyes. It's not like this is something that just happened, or is going to get better. Shouldn't there be funding for this sort of thing?

should be. isn't always. dme coverage can be sketchy with insurance companies. a quick search online reveals they don't seem to be too much online, but not knowing the parents financial situation, they may not even be able to spare that (and being in that kind of position where i literally did not have even a dollar or two to spare for anything, i wouldn't want to say "oh, it's only $20 or $30, that should be easy"). of course, i just searched for a general cane, which is presumably going to be much longer than what is needed. not sure how the prices vary on that, it's kind of hard to tell from a quick search.

[browncoatslytherin]

He probably does have a cane at home but the school was required to provide him with one for school use.

i wonder then, if this is the case, if his "home cane" would be confiscated as well, like nail clippers, nail files, and other "weapons" are.

[doggie]

He was using the noodle at home that seemed strange. There are services for the blind that would help out. He had to have had mobility training to learn to use the cane. A cane could have been made from a dowl or branch if desperate. Plus it is not like he is suddenly blind.

[louisa05]

Medicare and supplemental insurance covers costs for occupational therapists and other professionals that help people with visual impairment learn to function, but it does not cover the cost of any assistive devices. I would assume regular insurance is the same or worse.

[formergothardite]

If he was using it at home it does seem like he doesn't have a home one. It could be that the parents couldn't afford a cane and just used the one provided by the school.

[doggie]

In Oregon we have the commission for the blind a government entity. They provide tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and training for my blind wife. I am sure where he is located they have the same there that's who would train him to use the cane

[happy atheist]

When this hit the news someone offered to buy him a cane, so that's one good thing to come out of this.

[doggie]

When this hit the news someone offered to buy him a cane, so that's one good thing to come out of this.

I would buy him one but you need to know how long he needs it

[browncoatslytherin]

When this hit the news someone offered to buy him a cane, so that's one good thing to come out of this.

that is good, then!

and who knows, where he lives, they may not have an assistance program, or an assistance program they qualify for (so many people make technically "too much" to qualify for certain programs, even though they can't afford the products or services out-of-pocket, which really sucks. been there, myself.)

[Coconut Flan]

All is sort of fixed: ky3.com/news/local/missouri-school-takes-cane-from-8yearold-blind-student-as-punishment/21048998_30295038

Cane is returned and apology made.

[doggie]

All is sort of fixed: ky3.com/news/local/missouri-school-takes-cane-from-8yearold-blind-student-as-punishment/21048998_30295038

Cane is returned and apology made.

ya nothing like looking like a ass to fix things. Like taking candy from a baby

[Coconut Flan]

I would say they were closer to fixing things if they also announced the bus driver, district coordinator, and anyone else involved in the fiasco was attending disability awareness and federal disability law training.

[browncoatslytherin]

All is sort of fixed: ky3.com/news/local/missouri-school-takes-cane-from-8yearold-blind-student-as-punishment/21048998_30295038

Cane is returned and apology made.

good. glad to see they made a boo boo and acknowledged it. but i hope they put something in place for the future for disabled students in general. this just shows a blatant lack of understanding in what a blind student needs and how it is utilized. i have no doubt he hit somebody with his cane...accidentally, unintentionally, as he was navigating a crowded area. as i explained upthread, that happens. it's SUPPOSED to happen so they don't run into or trip over anything or anyone. i'm almost positive this is probably what happened, so the school and the bus driver both fail to understand how the blind utilize canes for navigation. i hope they all sit down and learn something from this to avoid it in the future.

[marjam]

It should be irrelevant whether he hit another child on purpose or not. If a non-disabled child kicked another kid, no one would think it was appropriate to tie his legs together so that he had to hop or crawl everywhere. That's the equivalent to this punishment. Using a child's disability against them as a punishment is cruel and unacceptable. I am shocked disciplinary action hasn't been announced against the employees involved.

[DGayle]

When I was a kid, we had a blind kid at school. None of us ever understood by he had to use a school-provided cane when he had his own. Maybe this is why. It gives the school power to use a device meant to give independence to punish a kid! I hope his parents get an attorney. This is bullshit. The school has stolen that boy's ability to be independent. The harm has been done. That boy deserves compensation, and it should come from the pockets of those who participated.

[FakePigtails]

WTH? Even if he was hitting someone purposely, how is taking away an assistive device even on the table as a punishment?

[CinderJana]

^yes schools still seem to believe they can treat disabled kids like,well less than.

When I was in elementary school the school one time called my mom to ask if they could turn off my wheelchair because I was accidentally rolling into walls

Her response "the next time a kid bumps into a wall we'll cut their legs off"

[ADoyle90815]

WTH? Even if he was hitting someone purposely, how is taking away an assistive device even on the table as a punishment?

Exactly. There are other ways to punish a child even if they're disabled without taking away the one device that helps them get around. I seriously hope his parents sue the pants off everyone who thought it was a good idea to take away his cane.

[shedemei]

I can understand the school's reaction if this child were hitting other students on purpose with his cane (and he very well could have been since disabled people can have anger management problems and be assholes like the rest of us). Kid uses cane as a weapon, cane needs to be taken away, kid needs cane to get around, replace cane with something that won't hurt as much when he hits another kid with it.

It doesn't make it right, but I see their reasoning.

"Pool noodle" is really fun to say.

[micatite]

http://video.foxnews.com/v/395247035500 ... show-clips

I watched this and just shook my head. This kid, even with his mother sitting less than a foot away, is utterly incapable of telling the truth. Lying by omission is still lying. First he said he 'didn't know why' the school did what they did. (Mom had to remind him that he did so know why.) Then he claims he only raised his cane. (Mom had to prod him to be more factual.) Then he said he only hit the bus. (Then mom prodded again and he admitted to hitting the bus AIDE, not an inanimate object...a person) Then he claims the noodle's been a thing for TWO YEARS (without evidence.) Whopper after whopper after whopper coming from this kid's mouth on TV despite mom sitting there 'correcting him'. Least reliable narrator ever, so you'll have to pardon me if I'm skeptical of how put upon he is.

It also makes me wonder if parents no longer discipline, not just for misbehavior, but moreso for lying about said misbehavior.

His parents have work to do, and not just on the 'don't hit' front. I hope they do the necessary work with him because otherwise they're doing their son no favors allowing him to be violent and untrustworthy. Those will be worse handicaps than the blindness.

[Chowder Head]

i agree with you that they do have some issues to address, esp. the lieing. I teach and have ran into some of the same behavior, the justification of bad behavior because the kid has a disability by the parents.