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\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n kathryngc@juno.com<\/a><\/p>\n www.katechamberlin.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDream it. Write it. Read it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 1996 and July 20, 2016 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n by Kate Chamberlin<\/p>\n Walworth, NY 14568<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There?<\/p>\n By Kate Chamberlin<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Grace grows up, some of her stories are happy, some trying, some enlightening, and a few themes are sad, but, they\u2019re all the warp and woof of what goes into the tapestry of life we call Family. The daily living skills and techniques demonstrated by the fictional characters in these stories are \u00a0valid, tried and true.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you like about your Teddy Bear Trail Nursery School?\u201d Grandpa asked 4-year old Grace as they waited for Sunday dinner.<\/p>\n \u201cI like the smell of paste, crayons, and peanut butter sandwiches,\u201d she said<\/p>\n \u201cDo you like your teacher?\u201d he asked with a wink.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. Her curly hair tickles my cheek when she hugs me!\u201d Grace said.\u00a0 \u201cShe waits for me to feel my way from chair, to table, to carpet without rushing me.\u00a0 Now I know my way around the room all by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you like having your Mom come in to help the teacher?\u201d he prompted.<\/p>\n \u201cYup,\u201d was Grace\u2019s quick answer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSome of the children are curious about how you do things, since you can\u2019t see,\u201d Miss Holmberg asked Grace in nursery school on Monday. \u201cWould it be okay if we talk about how you use your other senses?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure,\u201d Grace said, so,\u00a0 at circle time, the questions started flying.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can’t see, how can you tell who is your mother?\u201d Zack asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell my mother by her voice,\u201d Grace said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a game we can play,\u201d Miss Holmberg said.\u00a0 \u201cWhen you feel my tap on your shoulder, say: Hello.\u00a0 The rest of the children can guess who said : Hello or at least, where it came from.\u00a0 Ready?\u00a0 Close your eyes now.\u00a0 No peeking!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf you can’t see, how can you know what you’re wearing?\u201d Suzie wanted to know.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell what I’m wearing by touching my clothes,\u201d Grace said.<\/p>\n \u201cI have three boxes,\u201d Miss Holmberg said, placing them in the middle of the circle. \u201cEach one has something in it that you can wear. Who would like to reach into the first box to tell us what\u2019s inside?\u00a0 Okay, Savannah and thank you for raising your hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Savannah reached into the box with a very serious look on her face. Then, she flipped her long blonde hair, grinned and said, \u201cIt\u2019s a sock.\u201d<\/p>\n David squinted his eyes and reached into the second box and said, \u201cI found somebody\u2019s jeans!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is a shirt.\u201d\u00a0 Janey said with her arm up to her elbow in the third box. \u201cI feel buttons.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVery good, \u201c Miss Holmberg said. \u201cNow, each of you feel your clothes. Do you feel the difference from your shirt to your socks?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf you can’t see, how can you know what you’re eating?\u201d Yolanda asked during Circle Time on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell it’s a jelly sandwich by tasting it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dI\u2019m going to have Grace\u2019s Mom give you a paper plate with a small sandwich on it,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Miss Holmberg explained. \u201cBut, first you must close your eyes and use your sense of taste to tell us what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have a honey sandwich,\u201d Tommy said, licking his fingers.<\/p>\n \u201cMine is grape jelly,\u201d Jackie said.<\/p>\n \u201cYuk! I don\u2019t like this peanut butter ,\u201d\u00a0 Holly said. \u201cIt has chunks in it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201dIf you can’t see, how can you tell if there is a fire?\u201d Tyler asked at Wednesday\u2019s Circle Time.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell there is fire by smelling the smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019m not going to light a fire here in school,\u201d Miss Holmberg chuckled.\u00a0 Instead, Grace\u2019s Mom is going to pass around jars for you to smell.\u00a0 Remember, to breath into your body to smell something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis one is mint,\u201d Sarah said. \u201cIs it somebody\u2019s chewing gum?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMine is a flower. Maybe a rose,\u201d Janey said.<\/p>\n \u201cHey,\u201d Fred yelled and sniffed again. \u201cI got dog food!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf you are blind, how can you read the letter from your Grandma?\u201d Barbara asked as they walked to the Circle Time carpet on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI can read Grandma Kate\u2019s letter because she uses Braille.\u201d Grace said as they sat down\u00a0 side by side.<\/p>\n Grace\u2019s Mom handed her a stack of cards. At the top, Grandma Kate had Brailled each friend\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \u201cI can feel the bumps that make up the abc\u2019s, Grace said and she called out the letters for each friend\u2019s name until all the Braille alphabet cards had been passed out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf you are blind, how will you get to school?\u201d Matthew asked on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI can get to school by tapping my long, white cane to the bus stop.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI tap the tip of my long, white cane left and right,\u201d Grace said as she moved her cane ahead of her feet\u00a0 to show the children.\u00a0 \u201cWhen the tip hits something, I feel around the thing to know which way to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n Miss Holmberg and Grace\u2019s Mom helped everyone use Grace\u2019s long, white cane to go from a desk to the door, to the carpet.<\/p>\n Suddenly, Fred started to laugh, saying, \u201cI\u2019m trapped in the bathroom!\u201d\u00a0 All the children laughed with him as Miss Holmberg guided him back to the circle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf you are blind, how can you tell we are your friends?\u201d All the children wanted to know.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell you are my friends by the way you love me just as I am.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChildren,\u201d Miss Holmberg said. \u201cPlease stand up and hold hands. As we march around the circle carpet, we\u2019ll learn a new song.\u201d<\/p>\n As they marched, she sang:<\/p>\n Make new friends, but keep the old.<\/p>\n One is silver and the other\u2019s gold.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There? By Kate Chamberlin \u00a0 Blind teacher Kate Chamberlin photographed by Kevin Rivoli for \u201cBlind Ambition\u201d written by Michele Locastro Rivoli, Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper, December 30, 1998. kathryngc@juno.com www.katechamberlin.com \u201cDream it. Write it. Read it. Copyright \u00a9 1996 and July 20, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1018,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions\/1018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Blind teacher Kate Chamberlin photographed by Kevin Rivoli for \u201cBlind Ambition\u201d written by Michele Locastro Rivoli, Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper, December 30, 1998.<\/em><\/h6>\n
<\/a><\/a>Book I:\u00a0 The Early Years<\/h3>\n
<\/a>#1. If you can’t see<\/h3>\n