[blindkid] parents of older children at convention

[Wagner, Gail Katona Y]

My sighted son attended conventions with me from the time he was 13 - 18. He found wonderful friends - mostly sibliblings - he also worked in NFB camp, spent a little time in the teen room, hung out, worked our table in the exhibit hall, was "required" to attend some sessions, ran around the hotel, stayed up late and slept in. I must confess that is was hard for me to "let go" and let him be. Once in Atlanta a bunch of the teens (probably 10 of them) were taking the "subway" to Six Flags. I went so far as to ask the consierge (sp) if it was "safe" to do it. He asked how old my son was and when I said 15, he actually chuckled.....just saying, Convention is a great place for teens to be teens and be relatively safe and contained.

________________________________
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Barbara.Mathews at sce.com [Barbara.Mathews at sce.com]
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 7:33 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] parents of older children at convention

        When my sighted older daughter was that age, she loved to come to Convention.  She slept in the morning as long as she wanted to -- a big plus for a teenager!  She always found other siblings to hang out with.  One year she became great friends with a girl who was losing her vision but still had a lot, and needed to be encouraged to use her cane.  So my daughter borrowed a cane and they both walked around with them.




From:        "Marsha Drenth" <marsha.drenth at gmail.com>
To:        "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>, "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,        \(for parents of blind children\)'" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Date:        05/16/2011 02:06 PM
Subject:        [blindkid] parents of older children at convention
Sent by:        blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org
________________________________



Hi,



Potentially I will be taking a 14, 13, and 11 year old to convention. My 13
year old son is blind, and I have already signed him up for all and every
youth track activity possible. I am a bit concerned about my 14 year old



What do other parents do with teenagers while at convention?



My fear is that my 14 year old, will be bored out of his mind. Yes, I am
sure he would learn a lot about blindness, but there is ONLY so much for a
14 year old to do, while I am in meetings, and doing the normal convention
thing. It would be one thing if we were going to FL for a vacation, and
could leave the hotel, but as we will be in the hotel most of our time. He
is the type of child that is going to want to go out. Go out of the hotel
and do sight seeing.  I am honestly not even worried about my 11 year old.



If you have suggestions for me, ideas, advice, please email me off list at
marsha.drenth at gmail.com



Thank you,

Marsha

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