[blindkid] Swim team media interest

Tue Feb 1 18:43:39 UTC 2011

Susan, I think Brandy's advise/suggestion was spot on; any media 
coverage about regularity among people in the blindness community is 
good news.

I'll add to her thought about it being good for sightlings. Eric and I 
were so hungry for any information about blindness/blind people when we 
first landed on the 'planet of the blind' we were always thrilled when 
people cut out articles they'd read or directed us to broadcast news. In 
fact, that's how we found out about Mary Zabelski's (NAPVI) daughter, 
Cara Dunn, who was such an accomplished young woman. I can remember 
holding Ethan, who was just six-months old at the time, and watching the 
20/20 segment about her many achievements. Though the focus of their 
story was not those achievements, it was actually about the amazement of 
the doctor who performed Cara's enucleation; he was sure the little girl 
he'd operated on would not survive her bone cancer, so he was thrilled 
to learn she'd gone on to graduate at the top of her high school class; 
graduate cum laude from Harvard; fulfill an internship at a law firm in 
Japan; compete and win in skiing and cycling at the paralympics; and, 
many other things. I distinctly remember saying to Eric, "Well, she's 
pretty great, but /I/ want to meet her /mom/!"

This kind of news is no longer 'news' to us, but having lived through 
those early days of wonder and worry, I can say your son - moreover, 
/you/, Susan - are what is news!

So here's a cheer from us to the other parents on this listserve who are 
following Robert Fulgham's advice to "be aware of wonder... learning 
some, thinking some, drawing and painting some, singing, dancing and 
working..." on being the best parents they can be.

Best always,
Leslie Ligon
At First Sight...
The Original Braille Fashionable Jewelry
http://www.BrailleJewelry.blogspot.com

Beautifully designed braille/print books for young readers:
http://www.BrailleInk.org

  On 2/1/2011 12:00 PM, blindkid-request at nfbnet.org wrote:
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>     1. high school swim team (SUSAN POLANSKY)
>     2. Re: high school swim team (Brandy W)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:59:37 -0800 (PST)
> From: SUSAN POLANSKY<sepolansky at verizon.net>
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindkid] high school swim team
> Message-ID:<249664.22989.qm at web84104.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Our son is a freshman in high school this year and is on his school swim team.
> So far since November there has been?one newspaper article and 2 TV news spots
> about him being on his school swim team. There?is yet another interview?this
> Wednesday. We have told the coaches that as long as Jason sticks to the message
> and not?the story then we will let the? interviews continue.?Has anyone else had
> such interest in your child doing ordinary things that people think are
> extraordinary because the child is blind??If so how did you handle it? How did
> you child handle it??We have been rather surprised about the interest the media
> is showing.
>
> Susan
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:09:05 -0600
> From: "Brandy W"<branlw at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,	\(for parents of blind
> 	children\)'"<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] high school swim team
> Message-ID:<004f01cbc1c5$c4a5f640$4df1e2c0$@net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I was in a lot of these kinds of things growing up. My mom let it continue
> because she thought it important that people see that I did the same
> activities and stayed just as busy as my peers. It is important for the
> community to have blindness in a positive light. He competes and he happens
> to be blind. See blind kids don't have to sit at home alone and be pitied.
> I'd encourage him to talk about why he likes swim team, the feeling he gets
> from it, and although he may do things a bit different he has to follow all
> the same rules, and wins on all the same conditions. This is a great time
> for him to teach others. Let it go on is my opinion.
>
> Bran
>
>
> ?Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and
> draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.?--Robert
> Fulghum
> Brandy Wojcik  Discovery Toys Educational Consultant and Team leader
> (512) 689-5045
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of SUSAN POLANSKY
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 10:00 PM
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindkid] high school swim team
>
> Our son is a freshman in high school this year and is on his school swim
> team.
> So far since November there has been?one newspaper article and 2 TV news
> spots about him being on his school swim team. There?is yet another
> interview?this Wednesday. We have told the coaches that as long as Jason
> sticks to the message and not?the story then we will let the? interviews
> continue.?Has anyone else had such interest in your child doing ordinary
> things that people think are extraordinary because the child is blind??If so
> how did you handle it? How did you child handle it??We have been rather
> surprised about the interest the media is showing.
>
> Susan
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> End of blindkid Digest, Vol 82, Issue 1
> ***************************************
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-- 
Sincere best,

Leslie