Not that he liked sitting in front of his laptop computer and searching the Net. Not one of his favorite things. He preferred libraries and bookstores. But the Internet had its uses, and he couldn’t argue with the speed. Even for someone as patient as he was, the speed was seductive.
He typed the word blindness into the space provided. In seconds, a list appeared. 623,000 entries. Too much help was no help at all. He added the word children to blindness, and his search was narrowed down to 246,000 entries. He glanced at the first few entries—most of them having to do with prevention and causes of blindness in children. That wasn’t what he was looking for. It was too late for whys. What to do now, that was what he wanted to know. He added the word “education” which cut down the entries to a mere 133,000. He began combing through the list. Support groups, educational groups, state programs, federal programs, nonprofit programs. Info on braille and some online schools. How could a blind kid go to school online? He found a site entitled What’s New on Blindness. Information, information. With a click, it was all yours, all that information. That was the new capital. Click, click, click, a book by a woman on braille literacy. A place called the Texas School for the Blind. Publications and more publications—for sale—click, click, he ordered a book on the fundamentals of braille, and a book about language assessment and intervention with children who had visual impairments. The book was advertised for speech and language pathologists, and there was a table of contents that included chapters on language development, assessment, and strategies for effective intervention. There was even a chapter entitled “Limited English Proficient Children.” He talks. That’s what she’d told him. When he wants to. But did he speak English or Spanish, or both? The thought occurred to him that someone had taught Vicente a good many things. A babysitter who spoke only Spanish—perhaps a grandmother. There were so many questions he should have asked the mother. And he hadn’t. And now it was too late. Or was it? He would talk to Linda and ask her if she thought it was a good idea to get in touch with the mother again. He doubted she would consent. Why not try?
He studied the table of contents. A lot of lingo, and he wasn’t an SLP, as they apparently called themselves, but he’d dive in and see what he’d learn. What could it hurt? He ordered the book. A start.