[blindkid] alternative parenting guide

Deborah Kent Stein dkent5817 at att.net
Wed Jul 21 20:16:29 UTC 2010



Dear Sherry,

NFB has a brand-new publication that may be helpful to you.  It's called 
Parenting without Sight: What Social Workers and Lawyers Should Know about 
Blindness.  It is a small pamphlet with color illustrations of blind parents 
and their kids, and contains a lot of basic information on how blind people 
handle the challenges of parenthood.  There is even a section about 
adoption, since the issues you're dealing with come up for many prospective 
adoptive parents.  You can obtain it in print free of charge from the 
Independence Market at the National Center for the Blind (410) 659-9314. 
Hope this helps.

Debbie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherry DeFrancesco" <sdefrancesco at optonline.net>
To: "holly miller" <hollym12 at gmail.com>; "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, 
(for parents of blind children)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 1:28 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] alternative parenting guide


> Hi Holly,
>
> Thank you for all of your suggestions, they are in fact good ones. We are 
> way past the homestudy stage and in fact have received U.S. immigration 
> approval. It is the country adoption officials asking for more info. We 
> have provided pages and pages of resources and information about 
> everything imaginable about blindness. They are requesting  are specific 
> step by step parenting  skills that we need to provide. I was seeking 
> something published to back up our letters.
>
> Again, thank you. It's so nice to hear that you got through the adoption 
> process successfully. My hubby and I are totally blind and the country 
> restrictions include blindness as a "NO," so we are requesting a waiver.
>
> Thanks again, Sherry
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: holly miller
>  To: Sherry DeFrancesco ; NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of 
> blind children)
>  Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 12:48 AM
>  Subject: Re: [blindkid] alternative parenting guide
>
>
>  Hi Sherry!
>  Our younger son is adopted from China & has Albinism.  I'm always 
> thrilled to hear about more kids finding families!
>  While no blind parent should have to jump through hoops to be allowed to 
> parent, potential adoptive parents have a lot of hoop jumping to do, just 
> the nature of the beast.  Even if you know what to do on your own, showing 
> that you have taken the time to seek out resources, that you have a plan 
> and have sources of support and advice to turn to will make for a good 
> home study :smile
>
>
>  You will do fine with some old fashioned common sense but you are right, 
> the social workers and the paperwork pushers like to have reassurances. 
> We had to provide specific examples of how we would handle Hank being 
> blind and what resources we had available, both medical and educational. 
> This is something they ask of all prospective parents (rightly so!)
>
>
>  In my opinion, things a social worker will like to hear is that you are a 
> NFB and/or POBC member and you have befriended other blind parents.  If 
> you don't typically go to chapter meetings, try to get to some in the near 
> future so you can say you attend.  If you are on close terms with another 
> blind parent, use them as one of your references (assuming you know each 
> other well enough for that)   Or perhaps see if another blind parent is 
> willing to write a letter stating you are welcome to call on them for 
> mentoring and advice.  Belonging to online groups like this can be phrased 
> as being a member of a blind-parent and parent of blind children support 
> groups.  If there aren't books out there specifically targeting blind 
> parents, be able to reference the books on educating blind children like 
> Carol's "Making it Work" & Joe Cutter's O&M book.
>
>
>  Think about it like writing a resume.  You never want to lie but you 
> certainly want to project the best image of yourself as possible.
>
>
>  Best of luck!
>  Holly
>  aka Hank's mom
>
>
>
>
>
>  On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:07 AM, Sherry DeFrancesco 
> <sdefrancesco at optonline.net> wrote:
>
>    Hi Steve and Laurie,
>
>    Thank you. We too feel confident in our ability to parent. I enjoyed 
> hearing about your family. Best to the both of you with your upcoming 
> bundle of joy!
>
>    Thanks for your good wishes.
>    Sherry
>
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