“I know that we are in God’s hands and that he is there to provide the resources we need. This is why we came [to the U.S.], so [my child] can have other opportunities, and that is how it has been.” —Spanish-speaking parent of an 11-year-old who is blind
In the current study, we interviewed five parents of children who are blind or have low vision who spoke Spanish at home. Two of these family members also completed the survey, along with an additional ten participants who only completed the survey. The participants resided in Texas, California, Maryland, and Virginia. All reported speaking Spanish at home a majority of the time, and all but one were born outside the United States.
Overall, the Spanish-speaking participants shared experiences and concerns similar to those of the English-speaking participants. They described challenges their children faced with accessing coursework and remaining socially connected during remote learning. The interview participants generally reported high levels of involvement in their children’s learning, with two participants quitting their jobs, and a third taking a work-from-home job, so they could support their children during the pandemic. While the participants were generally grateful for school reopenings, on the survey question of whether they were still concerned about their child’s educational future in early 2022, seven out of the ten participants responded that they agreed or strongly agreed.
It is important to note that although the five interview participants reported speaking Spanish at home, two described themselves as bilingual and fluent English speakers, and another shared that she could navigate the language. These participants did not have difficulty communicating with their children’s teachers, but they believed that other Spanish-speaking individuals who were not bilingual, including members of their communities, were challenged by communications from school staff that were entirely in English. One parent explained:
“Everything is in English. The emails are in English. All communication with the teacher, unless the teacher is bilingual, [is in English,] but my daughter’s teacher wasn’t bilingual.” —Spanish-speaking parent of an 8-year-old who is blind
Another parent described the importance of working with a teacher who was bilingual:
“She [child’s primary braille teacher] speaks a little bit of Spanish, about 70, 75 percent Spanish. She’s always helped. She never left my side, so she was an interpreter and a teacher…She is the person I lean on. Thanks to God, we have an excellent teacher.” —Spanish-speaking parent of an 11-year-old who is blind
Although the Spanish-speaking parents in this study had relatively little difficulty related to language, they reported some other challenges that were less prevalent in the English-speaking sample. The Spanish-speaking interviewees tended to reside in more rural areas with fewer local resources for their children and reported sometimes driving long distances to obtain materials from their child’s school or to take their child to therapies. Another unique challenge is that the schools these students attend may lack the resources to adequately address their needs. One participant reported her child receiving O&M services only once per month in person, from an out-of-state provider, after her school re-opened. Additionally, four of the 12 survey respondents indicated that they do not have computers at home; one interview participant stated that her family used the Internet through a smartphone during the first phase of the pandemic and had frequent bandwidth issues; another interview participant stated her family did not have Internet access until the pandemic started. More research will be needed to better understand the unique impact of the pandemic on rural families, particularly those who primarily speak Spanish.
