Reasons Why I Would Advocate Against Blind Schools in the United States

Hi all, I’m Lauren, and I went to a blind school for two years out of my entire education, and I am super glad I didn’t go for longer.

There are so many reasons why I would advocate against blind schools. Now, if your child is really struggling in normal schools, and if your child has other disabilities, then yes, send them to a blind school for one year, and then feel it out for yourselves.

But if your child lacks any other disabilities, is doing well in their current school, has friends there or is happy there, then please, for the love of God, do not move them. Also, sending your child to a blind school summer camp is totally not the same as sending them to go to school there, and that’s how they trick you.

I honestly believe they trap you in with that “Oh, you get to go on tons of field trips, get to experience and have cool technology,” and at mine “You’d get your own iPad.” But if your child is doing well in school or is an honors student, please leave them where they are or let them go to a short-term session, which is basically just a week spent there while school is in before you decide on anything.

I went to two summer camps before I enrolled at my blind school, and thank God I only went for two years really, so I wasn’t fully messed up. But because I chose to go to the blind school, they didn’t let me take my ACT or an SAT because I’d broken my wrist and couldn’t read braille at the time because my fingers were numb. So instead of letting me take the tests another way, they just graduated me, so I was messed up if I wanted to go to a university, and that’s kind of messed up my progress in my 20s.

Being one of the brightest students at a blind school.

I was also, and I’m not bragging here, but I was also the brightest student in the 11th and 12th grades, so I was very, very bored. Then the house parents started excluding me, telling the others to stay away from me, etc., like I was some outsider. So that messed up my mental health and all that, and that my friends, is when I really became volatile.
If you don’t know what a house parent is, it’s who watches over you, (Like a hawk,) when you’re in the dorm.

Conclusions

TL;DR, the blind school made me volatile, and I wasn’t all the way there when I went. I was getting closer because of my home life, but the blind school pushed me over the edge. So again, folks, don’t SEND YOUR KIDS TO BLIND SCHOOLS.

If you’re reading this and did go to a blind school, I’m sorry, but if you did like it, had a good experience, please let me know.

XOXO.
Lauren