[blindkid] made my day

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi Cynthia,
You guys are really in a tough situation and my heart goes out to you
and your son. I don't know all the details but as a blind adult I just
want to reaffirm that blindness by itself by no means affects a
teenager's ability to identify and take his own meds. I was handling
meds myself by the time I  was ten or so, and granted, I didn't have
any complicated medication routines or multiple meds to take at the
same time, but if I did I would have been competent to handle it
myself at 14. Your son's willful  choice to take the wrong med is a
risk for any teenager and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with
blindness.
You didn't mention if your son has any disabilities besides blindness
that could affect his ability to follow instructions or his behavioral
cooperation. Sometimes outsiders (like his therapist's supervisor)
tend to focus on  the blindness when there is really another issue
that's the true concern. If he does have other disabilities then your
decision about how much independence to give him should  relate to
those other conditions, not blindness. If he has no other disabilities
besides being legally blind, though, I  see absolutely nothing wrong
with what you did.
I'm glad you live in Littleton. I would urge you to reach out to the
Colorado Center for the Blind, if you haven't already. They can  help
give you some emotional support and guidance and can advise you if
social services is still a threat. The main number is:
303-778-1130
Please call and ask to speak with Julie or Brent. Julie is the
director, and Brent is the youth services coordinator and has run
summer camps for teens for many years (at which, I'm sure, many teens
are taking their own medications).
Best of luck,
Arielle Silverman
(blind woman, graduate student at University of Colorado Boulder, and
board member, Boulder Valley Chapter, National Federation of the
Blind)

On 12/11/12, Cynthia Davis <cdfiets at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi there, NFB friends,
>
> Today I learned that my son's therapist had reported me to Social Services
> because I "allowed by legally blind son (a 9th-grader) to take his
> medication by himself. "   Yes, you heard me.  The incident occurred
> yesterday morning.
>
> My son took his medications out of the pillbox by himself.  The pillbox is
> well-labeled; each of the 14 compartments indicates in both large print and
> Braille which day the pills are for and whether they are for the a.m. or
> p.m.  Usually I give them to him and he checks them, but he was really
> grumpy this particular morning, so he did it himself.  We have never had a
> problem with this.
>
> However, at school he became very sleepy and announced to the assistant
> principal, on whose floor he fell asleep, that he thought he had given
> himself his nighttime meds instead of the morning ones.  This meant he had
> some medications that made him very groggy.  I was called and immediately
> called his doctor and left a message while I drove to the school to pick him
> up.  When I arrived, the vice-principal kindly suggested that "I know you
> want him to be independent, but maybe he shouldn't be taking his own
> medications."  I added that we usually check them together, but....we didn't
> this time.  Anyway, the school seemed okay with our error, as he was able to
> walk downstairs and out of the school unassisted.  We then went to his
> scheduled therapy appointment.  The therapist called Social Services later
> that day, at the suggestion of her supervisor.  She made it clear that the
> report was necessary because "he is legally blind."
>
> My son is furious.  Ready to sue.  Mad as hell.  "Mom, you are the best mom
> a kid could have in this world ( Did my kid really say that?!).  It is MY
> FAULT (Did my kid really say that?!) I took the wrong pills 'cause I was
> angry at you and didn't pay attention!  They are discriminating against me
> because I am blind!  They are against the law!  I can read a pillbox as well
> as any other kid!"
>
> Clearly I don't deserve Mother of the Year for somehow allowing this to
> happen, but I do agree with him that the issue here is whether he
> should-or-should-not be getting his own medications out of the pillbox
> compartment by himself regardless of the fact that he is legally blind.  His
> doctor has volunteered to talk with the authorities if necessary, although
> she did make sure I understood "how to safely administer medication."  She
> didn't mention the blind part.
>
> Thanks for listening,
> Cynthia Davis
> Littleton, CO
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>