Montgomery County Sentinel

Nine-Year-Old Is Good Example Of Area Lions' Work with Blind

Donald Barrett, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Barrett, 525 Southampton dr., Silver Spring, is an active and intelligent nine-year-old in a Montgomery County school.

He rides a two-wheel bicycle around the lawn of his home and has even been water skiing, despite the fact that he is blind.

His parents attribute much of his ability in such activities to training received in the Lions Club Pre-Nursery School for the Blind.

At the age of three Donald was enrolled in a nursery school for sighted children and it was very difficult for him to adapt to the situation. While in school he was away from his mother for the first time and, unable to do the things his young classmates could do, he was not progressing as well as he could have. His parents recognized the need for specialized training at that time and they applied for admission for Donald into the Lions Club Pre-Nursery School for the Blind at Four Corners in Silver Spring.

At the Lions school Donald learned how to get along with other children and even how to feed himself. With the facilities at the school, smooth level ground and teachers trained to work with blind children, Donald was given confidence in how to walk and play without someone to guide him. After this special training Donald was again enrolled in a sighted nursery school and he was then able to adapt himself with little difficulty.

When he became school age Donald was enrolled in a regular public school. For the past three years he has attended school at regular classes. The only difference in his method of study is that his books are in braille and when the teacher writes on the blackboard she explains what she has written for his benefit.

Donald stands high in his class scholastically and gets along exceptionally well with his fellow students.

Dr. J. Thomas Schnebly, a member of the Lions Club of Silver Spring who has devoted much of his time to the pre-school nursery for the blind finds that Donald has the confidence and normal aggressiveness which handicapped people sometimes lack. Donald delights in all normal activities such as a recent overnight camping trip.

Mr. and Mrs. Barrett feel that Donald's exceptional progress is due to the background and training he received while attending the pre-nursery school for the blind. This school, sponsored by Lions Clubs of the area, is open to all blind children in the area.