North Kansas City school takes away blind child’s cane, replaces it with pool noodle

FOX4 ^ | December 17, 2014 | Molly Balkenbush,

[Morgana]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two North Kansas City parents are outraged after they say their blind son’s cane was taken away from him at school by a bus driver.

Eight-year-old Dakota Nafzinger attends Gracemor Elementary School. Rachel Nafzinger said school staff took away her son’s cane as punishment for bad behavior on the bus and then gave him a swimming pool noodle to use as a substitute.

The school wouldn’t go on camera, but North Kansas City School District Spokeswoman Michelle Cronk confirmed taking away Dakota’s cane, calling it school property that was given to him when he enrolled. They said they took it away after he reportedly hit someone with it and wanted to prevent him from hurting himself or others.

His family said it was a way to humiliate him for misbehaving.

They say Dakota is like any other 8-year-old, only he was born without eyes — something in the medical world known as Bilateral Anopthalmia. Still, Dakota loves to sing, fish and swim — despite the extra work those activities require from someone who is blind.

[UCANSEE2]

There is a lot of misinformation out there about this story

I have no doubt about that. One has to read between the lines in most every story these days.

Thank you for providing insider info. It's always valuable to get personal knowledge rather than inferred.

Wrong kid in the wrong place, sounds like to me.