SANTA ANA : Officials Learn From Blind Preschoolers

Three-year-old Kazuki was so intent on learning how to use his pre-cane that he didn’t notice the dozen delegates from Sacramento who visited his school Wednesday.

The pre-cane, which helps blind children learn the basics of using a cane, enables them to walk on their own without feeling their way along walls and cabinets.

“We want people to know that blind children who get to services early can fully realize their potential,” said Sandra R. Smoley, secretary of the California Health and Welfare Agency, who led the group of dignitaries visiting the Blind Children’s Learning Center in Santa Ana.

“This place has a good reputation for bringing them in early and working with the children and their families,” said Smoley, who was in Orange County to focus attention on the issue of educating the blind by spending the morning at the school, which has about 50 students.

The tiny school in a quiet neighborhood near Tustin looks no different from the typical preschool. The rooms were brightly decorated Wednesday with jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween, toys filled every corner and depictions of cartoon characters hung on the walls. The playground features tire swings and a basketball court.

There are subtle differences, however. The stories in the school’s hundreds of books are printed in Braille, and children find their seats by feeling for figurines in different shapes affixed to the backs of the chairs.

Smoley said she chose to visit the school because of its early education programs. Children with varying degrees of sight limitation come to the Blind Children’s Learning Center as young as 6 months. Parents go along to learn to care for their children.

“The earlier you teach them to feel and touch, the more you can enhance their development,” Smoley said.

Seeing the children’s progress is gratifying for the staff as well. Kazuki, for example, used to walk only in circles for fear of venturing into danger, said Gabrielle Hass, executive director of the school.

She beamed as she watched him move around with increasing confidence Wednesday. “It is so exciting to see him like that,” she said.