-------------- Original message --------------
From: Sharon Hooley <[log in to unmask]>

> Kathy,
>
> you mean when you had to walk from one building to another, all you had to
> do was follow the tunnels? I wish it had been that way at my school. I
> attended the Idaho State School for the Blind in a town called Gooding. It
> was about 53 miles from my farm home. I wasn't always happy there, because
> they did not have good mobility instruction, and there were a couple of
> routes where I was afraid I would get lost and never see my parents again.
> They didn't even let us use canes, although the instructor did show me the
> basic of using it a couple of times in a building, at my parents' request I
> think. The worst route was from the dorm to an old school building. At
> first, you walked down a sidewalk which had a crack that you could follow
> with your feet. Then you got onto the blacktop, and there was nothing to
> follow, at least, nothing that I knew about. Most of the time I managed to
> get someone to take me. Apparently because of this fear, I threw up many
> times. They would either put me in the infirmory, or my mom would come and
> take me home. I remember her taking me to the doctor and having to drink
> dye or something so they could X-ray my tummy or something. The principal
> talked with me about it, but I was afraid to tell him the whole truth. I
> remember being there for only one Christmas season.
>
> My mom noticed that I was degressing in my education and not moving forward
> as much as the school promised, and that I was not looked after completely
> physically, so she, along with some other parents who were dissatisfied,
> eventually rescued me. I started public school when I was 10, and went into
> the third grade, where things were much better. I'm glad that's over.
>
> Sharon