From: Pete Donahue 
Subject: Re: Parents Fight Closing of Janesville School (fwdDear listers,
I have just read the article about the Wisconsin School for the Visually
andicapped (WSVH) closing, and am shocked.  My parents had told me a
couple of weeks ago, but today was the first that I heard the actual text.
I am one ofthose graduates of WSVH who went during the 1960s and early
'70's, and benefited from skills taught there.  My parents tried to
mainstream me, but in the late 1950s and early 1960s, programs for blind
chldren n public schools wer very few and far between.  Therefore, I did
not have much choice except to go about 240 miles from home to an unknown
environment, WSVH, which became my "home away fromhome."  While there, I
learned braille (which included braille music and math codes), but did not
start orientation and mobility until the tenth grade.  Daily living skills
was part of the curriculum during my senior year, but was taught as a
summr course for college prep students, so I had some living skills the
summer before my senior year.
What concerns me is that some children may come from over-protective
families.  Suposse such children do not get the opportunity to get out in
their home community for cane travel and other events.  What will happen
ten?  State officials need o model the programs at WSVH and make them
smilar to other schools for the blind such as TExas, Iniana, Kentucky, and
Washington.  (I am referring to the feature in the October, 1996 wedition
of The Braille Monitor.)  If there was a way to wrie to someone in the
Departmen of Public Instruction, I would do so.  
Thank you for your attention to my reactions.
Mary Jeatran Donahue
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