Comprehensive Programs

Our school is a separate state agency, and therefore we work directly with the Texas legislature regarding our budget.The legislature meets every two years, and we present to them the budget we would like for the next two-year period.

Last summer, TSBVI submitted a “Legislative Appropriation Request” (LAR) for the next biennium.We began with the same amount of money as we are receiving this year, then added a list of “Exceptional Items”.The top two exceptional items were restoration of summer program funding and funds for teacher salary increases.Both of these were recommended to be restored to our budget before the legislative session began.

Our next three highest priorities for exceptional items were (1) construction and renovation funds for many of our buildings; (2) restoration of funds for operations staff; (3) increase in funds for instructional programs.

Since January, several of my colleagues and I have been very busy working with the legislature regarding our budget. We have had many hearings before the Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee.The Senate has passed its version of the state’s budget, SB1, and included all three of our priorities listed above.In other words, the Senate has approved them.The House placed all three in a “pending” file, meaning that they do not intend to approve them until they are assured that the funds are available.

The last two legislative sessions have been very discouraging, so the news this year is very positive.If you have a chance, thank your State Senator for supporting TSBVI.If you know your State Representative, urge her/him to support the Senate’s version of SB1 with regard to TSBVI.

Thank you for your strong support—we hope the legislature will provide us with funding to strengthen programs and construct new facilities.

Construction of Five Duplex Houses Complete

Look what’s finished! Picture Texas white limestone, metal roofs, colorful trim, and pretty plants and what do you see?TSBVI is proud to announce the completion and habitation of three of four new duplex houses that have been built on the east side of campus. This process began at least five years ago with the design planning stages and then progressed to asking the legislature for the sale of bonds to provide funding for demolition and construction of five duplex homes for our students. The fifth home opened at the beginning of this school year and is located north of our track on Grover and 49^th Street.These homes provide our students with a homelike environment in which to live. The homes have wheelchair accessibility and provide plenty of space for teaching independent living skills. We hope to be able to phase out our old modular homes as a result of this new construction.

Dr. Hatlen has decided to name the homes in honor of significant figures related to the world of blindness and visual impairment. These include Ray Charles, Louis Braille, Alan Koenig, Helen Keller and Natalie Barraga. Next time you are on campus, wander over to the east side and take a look at our new student housing that we are so excited about. We would love to take you on a tour!

Parent Corner...Miracle on 45th Street

Do you believe in miracles?

If your child attends TSBVI, then you yourself have received the same miracle I’m referring to.

The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired has been the miracle that was needed for my son Seth.Seth is eight years old and the light of my life.

Let me start at the beginning.Having lost my first son in 1988 to still birth, I was elated to find out I was pregnant in 1994 with my daughter.My body tried miscarrying her from the beginning and I ultimately ended up on bed rest and gaining eighty pounds, but she was a beautiful healthy baby.

I knew I wanted more children, so in 1996 I became pregnant with Seth.My pregnancy with him was one of pure delight.It was an easy and healthy pregnancy with absolutely no problems (until the twenty-six hours of labor).When Seth finally arrived, everything appeared to be fine.Having been exhausted from labor I asked the nurse to keep him in the nursery so I could rest.

When I called the nursery and asked them to bring me Seth, the line went silent and I was told someone would be right in.Minutes later the head nurse came in to tell me he had been moved into NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).He had low blood oxygen levels and a cardiologist had been called in to examine him.Within the hour we were informed that Seth had a congenital heart problem called Aortic Stenosis.He then developed pneumonia.He spent ten days in the hospital.

When Seth was three months old, signs were beginning to appear that he had a problem with his eyes and vision.At the age of five months he underwent open-heart surgery to try and correct his heart problem.It was while we were in ICU recovering that the neurologists and ophthalmologist determined that Seth had nystagmus and cortical blindness.It wasn’t until the age of two that we actually got an official name for his disease; Leber’s Congenital Amorsis. Who knew that those three words could turn your life upside-down?

Now to our miracle!Seth was having an extremely difficult time in school and absolutely hated going.He was so stressed out that he had begun eating his fingernails to the point of severe infections.At one time the infection was so bad that we were afraid he was going to lose the tips of two of his fingers.Then our VI teacher, Christy, suggested we sign him up for a summer course at TSBVI.

Being an overprotective mother that I am, I brought Seth to Austin and got a hotel room.He attended as a day student.The first afternoon I picked Seth up he came running into my arms and informed me that he was never going back to Bay Colony; he wanted to attend school here forever.

I immediately started trying to find out what had to be done in order for him to attend TSBVI.We were accepted in October and our lives once again changed drastically, only this time for the good.

My son is healthy, happy, and loves getting up for school.The Lord answered many prayers with TSBVI. We got the environment Seth needed and teachers and staff that we love like family.

I will do anything within my power to help the school with any needs they have.I am serving on the Instructional Planning Committee and the Health Advisory Board.Last month I also testified before the Finance Appropriations Board at the Capital.

We are in the process of starting a Parent Group.There are many needs at our school and raising funds to help fulfill these needs are a must.I hope each and every one of you will participate and I so look forward to meeting and getting to know each of you.

If you haven’t completed your Parent Survey, please do so and mail in.It’s our place as parents to help support our child’s school and let the administration, staff, and teachers know that we appreciate all they do for our kids.

As for my family and me…we thank God daily for the miracles that take place in Austin, on 45^th Street.

Increasing Emotional Intelligence

Bringing out the Best in Ourselves

“Humanity grows more and more intelligent, yet there is clearly more trouble and less happiness daily.How can this be so?It is because intelligence is not the same thing as wisdom.”- Lao Tzu (2500 years ago)

Emotional intelligence, “the wider range of qualities which enable people to excel – self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, empathy, etc. (Daniel Goleman)”, is an important aspect of our children’s education.According to research, people with a high emotional intelligence may be happier people.Who wouldn’t want their children to grow up to be happier people with more satisfied with their jobs and relationships?The question is what can we do as parents to raise children with high levels of emotional intelligence?In their book, “How to Raise Your Child’s Emotional Intelligence: 101 Ways to Bring Out the Best in Your Children and Yourself”, Allen and Geraldine Nagy suggest many practical actions parents can take to raise emotionally healthy children.

1. Choose Love Over Conflict In Your Relationship With Your Children And Spouse.

It is suggested that the greatest thing a parent can do for their children is to love the other parent.When your child is 41 years old will she/he remember love in your household or conflict?continually.This will reinforce positive behavior, making it more likely for positive behavior to happen again and it will remind your children who they are and who you expect them to be.

Humans need to be physically touched to be emotionally healthy. Research found that young infants might even die without human interaction and touching.

Children crave attention.If they can’t get your attention through positive means they will get it by negative means.Give praise for positive behaviors

All humans make mistakes.We should teach our children to ask for forgiveness, say we’re sorry, forgive ourselves, and move on with our lives.We can teach this by example. Ask our children for forgiveness when we have treated them unfairly.

What harm can come from telling your children you love them?Can children ever hear “I love you” too much? There is still time, whatever their ages, to teach and instill them with a high emotional intelligence. There is still time to increase our own emotional intelligence by using these same suggestions.

Becoming an Adult

It used to be easy to know when a kid became an adult.Magically at 18 or maybe 21 you were on your own, you could take care of yourself, you were no longer a boy or a girl, you were a man, you were a woman.Research now indicates that it takes longer to become an adult than in the past.Kids are now caught between adolescents and adulthood.

In the past, when a person reached her or his mid 20’s they had completed many transitional steps to adulthood; steps like leaving home, finishing school, starting a career, getting married and having children.Now many of these steps are not completed until our children reach their 30’s. Transition to adulthood now looks more like it did in the early 1900’s when children stayed on the farm until they were able to become self- sufficient adults.

College, work organizations, the military, and other institutions help bridge that gap between adolescents and adulthood providing training, shelter, activities and entertainment.However, more young people require family and other supports long past the age at which they leave college or other programs.In addition, young adults with visual impairments may have their own unique steps in the transition to adulthood and autonomy.It appears that our parenting job is not done when they turn 18 but may continue until they are in their 30’s.

Of course they’ll always be our babies but now our babies may come back from college to live with us well into their 30’s.

For further details about Transition to Adulthood check out http://www.pop.upenn.edu/transad/

Taken from On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research and Public Policy by Richard Settersten

Student Council Engages in Campus and Community Service Projects

The 2004 Council projects included buying Christmas presents for a needy family of four, collecting food for the Capital Area Food Bank, and hosting a joyous night of singing Christmas carols to all of the dorms.

The student council will continue with their busy schedule the second half of the school year. During the spring, the Student Council will hold a major fundraiser to collect money to improve the outdoor basketball court. The “TSBVI Staff and Student Basketball Tournament” will be held sometime in April.Teams of three representing students, teachers, residential instructors, and related service staff will compete for the 2005 basketball championship. Please come and help in supporting our Wildcats!

Exciting News …

All Blind Children of Texas Springs Forward with the Times

For many years, TSBVI has wanted to provide an opportunity for tax-free donations to be made to assist all blind children of Texas.Although these donations would be used to support the goals of TSBVI, they would also be available to assist students throughout the state in projects that promote optimal physical, mental, emotional, and social development.And so, it is with great joy that we announce All Blind Children of Texas, a new nonprofit organization that exists to assist blind students throughout Texas.

We are currently working on two very exciting projects.The first one is our musical fund-raising event, which will be held on April 23, 2005 at Threadgill’s World Headquarters in downtown Austin, Texas.

In the fall, Badgerdog, an organization that promotes young writers, will be teaching a course at TSBVI and will publish the works of our budding authors.We can hardly wait to view the outcome of this undertaking.University of Texas creative writing instructors will come to the school several days a week to teach the course, which lasts approximately 10 weeks.Parents, get ready to be proud of your young writer.We know you will have something new to crow about as you relate your student’s adventures in storytelling.

We need you!!!If you are interested in serving on our board or working with us in some way, please let us know.We can use your help as we spring forward with the times to offer more opportunities for our children to have a sense of pride and self-worth.They matter in our society and we want them to gain the self-confidence needed to be caring, successful adults.

To offer assistance, feel free to call ABCTX President, Mary Sue Welch at 214-741-7400 or visit us at www.abctx.org. We look forward to hearing from you and we hope to see you on April 23.

Texas VI Family Network

Many families of children with vision loss are isolated and don’t readily have the opportunities to meet other families like themselves. In an effort to connect families raising a child with a visual impairment including those with additional disabilities the Texas Visually Impaired Family Network has been established on the Internet. This list is designed exclusively for families of children with visual impairments who live in Texas. By connecting families within Texas it is intended to provide them the opportunity to share their experiences, ideas, joys, and concerns with each other to gain support, information, and resources about raising a child in Texas with a visual impairment. To learn more about this list go to www.topica.com/lists/txvifamily. If you are interested in receiving and/or sending email to other Texas families of children with vision loss send a blank email to txvifamily-subscribe@topica.com.

TAPVI -Texas Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments

TAPVI is a statewide non-profit organization serving families of children who are visually impaired or blind, including those who have multiple disabilities. Our children range from infancy to adulthood. They have various vision diagnoses and levels of visual impairments. TAPVI was created in response to families who struggle to gain support and educational resources for their visually impaired children. Throughout Texas the parents of visually impaired children were lacking critical information and the camaraderie that exists with a support group. TAPVI is an affiliate of the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI).Go to www.spedex.com/napvi for additional information.

TAPVI’s goals are to empower families of children with visual impairments by providing information, support, training, and referrals; to increase public awareness about visual impairments and the needs of the visually impaired in order to gain acceptance into society; to help families successfully navigate complex educational, medical, and service systems so their children can reach their full potential in school and in the community; and to foster communication and coordination of services among the support agencies and organizations involved with providing services to the visually impaired.

For more information or to join please contact TAPVI at their toll-free number 1-866-998-2784 or by email:info@TAPVI.org . Their web page is www.TAPVI.org

Houston Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (HAPVI)

HAPVI is a network of parents of children with visual impairments, with or without other disabilities, in the greater Houston area. Our goal is to provide support, resources, educational opportunities, and fellowship to families dealing with blindness issues. We have monthly meetings in the greater Houston area. HAPVI is an affiliate of NAPVI and collaborates with TAPVI.

If you live in the Houston area, and you are interested in joining HAPVI, please contact one of the board members:

Extracurricular Activities

TSBVI Spotlight on Sports

Tandem Bike

This past weekend we raced to the finish in the Austin Pace Bend Road Race at Lake Travis. Team Hotel San Jose and Sport Club provided free registration for members of the TSBVI tandem team.Nine students from TSBVI pedaled on the back-seats (stokers) of the bikes led by sighted volunteers (captains) on the front-seat of the bikes.

The Sports Extravaganza

Last October, 56 students from TSBVI strutted their stuff in Dallas for the Fourth Annual Sports Extravaganza put on by Region 10. Sports Extravaganza is open to all visually impaired students in Texas.Featured activities included Track and Field events, Goal Ball, and Beeper Ball.TSBVI took home over 150 medals!We took first place in Goal Ball in both the boys' and girls' division, competing not only against other students from Texas, but also Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico!Sports Extravaganza is open to all visually impaired students in Texas and surrounding states. We are looking for sponsors to finance this year's Annual Sports Extravaganza.For more information contact Mark Gronquist-(512)206-9105.

Students Compete in SCASB Oklahoma Championships

TSBVI Cheerleaders and Wrestlers participated in the South Central Association of Schools for the Blind (SCASB) Cheerleading and Wrestling Championships at the Oklahoma School for the Blind in Muskogee, Oklahoma.The annual event took place on January 6^th - 8^th 2005, with Oklahoma acting as the host school. Six participating schools were Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

Special thanks goes to the cheerleading sponsors Melody Ballentine and Tammy Reed, our photographer Denise Elliott-Jones, acting assistant wrestling coach Mark Ramirez, and Tommy Benavidez for assistance with the students and other logistics.Thanks for supporting the students during the trip and competition!

Prom 2005

By Robyn Koenig

The 2005 TSBVI Prom was held Saturday April 2 at the Red Lion Hotel in the Grand Ballroom. The students enjoyed the Hollywood-based theme, “A Night with the Stars.”The ballroom was decorated with movie-themed posters, cut outs, stars, balloons, beautiful clapboard and movie reel centerpieces, complete with a Hollywood-style red carpet.

The music for the Prom was selected by the students themselves and had everyone moving to the beat on the dance floor. As they danced, a beautiful centerpiece of gossamer, netting and balloons hovered above to create a scene found on a Hollywood movie set. When the dancers needed a break, they made their way through the hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and took them to their tables.Prom photos were taken in front of a giant clapboard, for a reminder to last forever. A Prom King and Queen were chosen from each department. Please congratulate Nydia Fernandez and Josh Boss From the Residential-B Department and Cindy Garcia and Bryan Maffett from the Residential-A Department. May they reign benevolently.

Many people contributed to the success of the prom, including sponsors, Robyn Koenig, Tammy Reed, and Beth Bailey, and many staff and community participants. Huge thanks go out to the Austin Council for the Blind, Texas Chapter of the National Federation for the Blind, and to the Red Lion for their generous contributions. Several hard working fundraisers included students Felicia Range, Randy Brawner, Jordon Patterson, Venieza Wiley, Bryan Maffett, Nydia Fernandez and Christina Romero.

The King! The Queen! Dancing with the Queen! couple dancing Couple in front of a "movie clapper" Conga Line revelers

Principal's Corner

Greetings from Austin!I hope that each of you received a survey for all parents recently asking for input on ways that parents may be more involved at TSBVI.Thanks to parent Deanna Bethea for helping to create the survey and develop areas for greater parent involvement.If you did not receive the survey, and would like for us to send you one, please call (512) 206-9223, and we'll send you one right away!

Children’s entertainment (balloon animals, face painting, & games)	11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Sensei Strange (magician)	11:00 am
Silence Gribbie (storyteller with song)	11:30 am
The Bishop Elect	12:15 pm
River City Jazz Group	1:30 pm
Bigamy Sisters	2:45 pm
Carl Smith Trio	4:00 pm
Karen Poston and the Crystal Pistols	5:15 pm
Vallejo	6:30 pm
The Resentments	8:30 pm

TSBVI Presents Proposed Biennial Budget to Texas State Legislature