[blparent] sighted children at convention?

Sun Apr 4 01:28:14 UTC 2010

OH! that is excellent news!   I will be sure to look for those events when 
the agenda comes out.

Thanks!
Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at att.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 1:03 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] sighted children at convention?

>
>
> Dear Julie,
>
> There will be a preteen track at convention this year with activities for 
> kids 11-14 (not sure that's the correct name for it.)  Anyway, there will 
> be activities scheduled for that age bracket, so your son should be able 
> to keep busy.
>
> Debbie
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Julie J" <julielj at windstream.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 8:21 AM
> Subject: Re: [blparent] sighted children at convention?
>
>
>> Debbie,
>>
>> Thank you so much!
>> This story meant a lot to me.  that sort of experience is exactly what I 
>> hope for my son.
>>
>> He'll be old enough to go and do things on his own this year at 
>> convention. I'll encourage him to go to some of the teen social things. 
>> Hopefully he will meet some kids and make some friends.
>>
>> His first year at convention he attended the child care.  He met a few 
>> kids there.  then last time he was too old for the child care, but still 
>> to young to attend the teen things.     Eleven is a tough age! *smile*
>>
>> Is there anyone that has kids in the young teens?
>>
>> Julie
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at att.net>
>> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 10:41 AM
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] sighted children at convention?
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear Julie,
>>>
>>> I started bringing my sighted daughter to conventions when she was ten 
>>> or eleven.  She had never seemed to be troubled about having a blind 
>>> mom, and like your son, had known blind people all her life.  I was 
>>> really struck, then, by the bonding she did at convention with other 
>>> children of blind parents.  There wasn't any sort of formal gathering, 
>>> but they found each other and connected.  I'm not sure how much they 
>>> talked about their experience of having blind parents either, not in any 
>>> prolonged way, but there really seemed to be a sense of sharing.
>>>
>>> I vividly remember an incident my daughter described to me one year at 
>>> convention when she was fourteen.  She and a sighted friend, Crystal, 
>>> got into an elevator with their towels and bathing suits, heading up to 
>>> the pool.  A sighted man, not with the convention, got in and 
>>> immediately started talking to the girls.  He said, "I can't wait to 
>>> check out of here and get away from all these people with their dogs and 
>>> their sticks!" Janna told me proudly that Crystal gave him a hard look 
>>> and said, "Those are our parents."  If she had been alone, it might have 
>>> been a far more painful experience, but because the girls shared it and 
>>> supported one another, she felt empowered.
>>>
>>> Debbie
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Julie J" <julielj at windstream.net>
>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 8:13 AM
>>> Subject: [blparent] sighted children at convention?
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hello all!
>>>>
>>>> It's been a while since I've been on this list. It's good to be back.
>>>>
>>>> My Kiddo is 13 now.  Time flies when you're having fun...or something 
>>>> like that.  *smile*  I know a lot of you have younger children, but I'm 
>>>> hoping there will be someone with some ideas for me.
>>>>
>>>> We had an incident in a store yesterday which really bothered my son. 
>>>> There were some children in line behind us who were rude on a variety 
>>>> of counts.  The rudeness that really bothered my son was when the kids 
>>>> decided that me being blind was funny and worthy of making fun of me 
>>>> for it.   I ignored them for a couple of reasons.  I really had no clue 
>>>> what to say.  but the mother was standing right there and I have 
>>>> difficulty parenting other people's kids in front of their parents.
>>>>
>>>> I know I probably should have said something, but it is too late for 
>>>> this episode.  I'll come up with something for next time.  What I'm 
>>>> most concerned with is my son.   He was really upset about these kids.
>>>>
>>>> My son is sighted.  He has been around blind people all of his life and 
>>>> sees it as normal.  I am the only blind person in my town or at least 
>>>> the only blind person out and about anyway.    He will be coming with 
>>>> me to the NFB national convention again this summer.  I think it's 
>>>> important for him as much as it is for me, especially now that we 
>>>> aren't around many blind people on a regular basis.
>>>>
>>>> I know he gets lots of questions about what it is like to have a blind 
>>>> mom.  I talk to him about it and try to help the best that I can.  but 
>>>> what I really think he needs is to talk to other sighted children with 
>>>> blind parents who have struggled with similar issues.
>>>>
>>>> Is there any sort of opportunity like this at convention?  If not, are 
>>>> there parents here that would be interested in getting a group 
>>>> together?
>>>>
>>>> thanks!
>>>> Julie
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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