[blindkid] How to answer questions (Magaly Milton)

[Magaly Milton]

Julie,
  I think your daughter is very insightful and she sounds like she is  
on her way towards developing good instincts and social awareness. My  
daughter did not really seem that aware of her difference until much  
later. I do remember though one question which was very difficult for  
me, "Mom will I be blind too someday?"  I said, "We don't know, but if  
you are, you will know Braille and be able to go to school just like  
always." She said "Oh, okay."  That was sufficient for her at the  
time.  I have worried about her missing all the non-verbals. I've  
asked, "Can you see my eyes or what is my mouth doing?"  I find though  
she is very in tune to my feelings without really seeing my  
expressions. I think kids sense how we feel about them. They absorb  
our expectations and standards. We talk about her dreams all the  
time.  She said to me the other day, "Mom is great to be blind,  
because I get to have all these gadgets. I have a cane, I have a  
monocular, I have a CCTV and I'm the only kid in my class with my own  
laptop." She knows that she does things differently and I think it  
makes her feel unique. In my weak moments, I do struggle with fear,  
but I do my best to convey a world of possibilities to her, as I work  
it out myself...  but she sure does make it easy to believe.

“Fear not my friend the darkness is gentler than you think.” Nigerian  
Poet, Ben Okry