[blparent] sighted children at convention?

Sun Apr 4 17:48:56 UTC 2010

It's all in the April edition of the Braille Monitor, which you can find 
under Publications at www.nfb.org .  There's an article about NOPBC 
activities which explains the Youth Track.

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 8:28 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] sighted children at convention?

> 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
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> blparent mailing list
>>>>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>>> blparent:
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/dkent5817%40att.net
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> blparent mailing list
>>>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> blparent:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/julielj%40windstream.net
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> blparent mailing list
>>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>> blparent:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/dkent5817%40att.net
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blparent mailing list
>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> blparent:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/julielj%40windstream.net
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blparent mailing list
> blparent at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blparent:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/dkent5817%40att.net 