[blparent] need urgent help

Wed May 26 00:24:47 UTC 2010

I teach our Parenting series at Hadley. There are three 
courses--Preparation, Infancy and Early Years. I have had students who took 
one or all of the courses just to be knowledgeable and to show any agency, 
if one did get involved, that they were making an effort to educate 
themselves. Our school is here for those who want or need it, and the 
courses are free, but one is required to prepare and submit assignments. I 
would welcome any questions on or off list. I've taught these courses for 
perhaps 5 years now. I am a blind parent with two adult sighted sons.
Sharon Howerton
shrnhow at att.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] need urgent help


> What probably happened is that a hospital social worker called Child 
> Protection.  While this doesn't happen all the time, it happens more than 
> it should.  For starters,
> the couple needs to present a reasonable case to whatever social worker 
> they meet with.  While they certainly have rights, it is difficult to have 
> to fight this out in the
> courts at this point so it is better to do what can be done to avoid that. 
> It wouldn't hurt for everyone in question to know that the new parents 
> feel strongly enough to
> challeng in court if necessary, though.  They need to be ready to answer 
> questions about how they would handle the various functions of parenting, 
> and if this is
> their first, it would be good for them to work with another blind parent. 
> In fact, asking that another blind parent be with them when they talk to 
> the social worker
> would be good.  The social worker may not even be aware that there are 
> blind parents who raise sighted kids.
>
> On the other hand, if the parents are having their first child and have 
> not given much thought to various aspects of parenting, they need to get 
> answers and figure
> things out in a hurry.  Whether it is right or wrong, new parents who 
> appear not to know what they are getting into will have more problems than 
> those who can say
> they know how to change a diaper, feed a child, detect diaper rash, check 
> the baby's temperature and so on.  The social worker is going to close his 
> or her eyes
> and think about what he or she could do as a parent and we know this is a 
> poor way to draw conclusions, but it isw how some form their opinions.
>
> This kind of thing can be very serious, so do what you can to help them 
> out or get them in contact with others who can help.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> On Tue, 25 May 2010 11:31:01 -0500, Robert Shelton wrote:
>
>>Is it remotely possible that the other members of the family have an 
>>agenda?
>
>
>>"A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm,
>>thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to
>>others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with
>>bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity."
>>--Jimmy Carter
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Tammy, Paul and Colyn [mailto:tcl189 at rogers.com]
>>Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 7:14 PM
>>To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
>>Subject: Re: [blparent] need urgent help
>
>>Hi,
>
>>And, cps should not be talking to these parent's family about anything, 
>>it's
>
>>a breach of confidence especially when apparently the family is being told
>>different things by cps.
>
>>Tammy
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: "Barbara Hammel" <poetlori8 at msn.com>
>>To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 3:51 PM
>>Subject: Re: [blparent] need urgent help
>
>
>>>I may be wrong but I don't think CPS normally works to take children away
>>>if there is no history.  In other words, they usually are reactive not
>>>proactive.  If they're being pro-active, it probably is--as someone
>>>said--an overzealous worker.  If the family and the blind child do not 
>>>get
>>>along, the family may be part of this problem, too.
>>> But whatever the circumstances, the parents have not proved themselves
>>> unfit parents so CPS has no right to remove the baby.
>>> Many sighted parents have been lousy parents and kept their kids, these
>>> people are just acting on their fears.  If they can't talk rationally 
>>> with
>
>>> the social worker, maybe another blind person who knows them could be at
>>> an arranged meeting.  The contacts that have been given in other 
>>> messages
>>> should definitely be used.  Fear motivates people to do irrational 
>>> things.
>>> Barbara
>>>
>>> ...
>>> Yesterday is
>>> A path well-trod,
>>> A familiar lane
>>> Through sacred sod,
>>> A road we travel
>>> Too often, I fear,
>>> For there are the good times
>>> When things are hard here,
>>> ...
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>> From: "Pipi" <blahblahblah0822 at gmail.com>
>>> Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 1:30 PM
>>> To: <blindparenting at googlegroups.com>; <blv-moms at googlegroups.com>;
>>> <singleblindparents at googlegroups.com>; "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing 
>>> List"
>
>>> <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>>> Subject: [blparent] need urgent help
>>>
>>>> Hey y'all,
>>>> I have a friend who very recently gave birth. Her and her partner are
>>>> both blind. They are having problems with cps. I don't want to go into
>>>> all of the details, but she is being told one thing by the social 
>>>> worker
>>>> and the social worker is telling her family other things. They are 
>>>> saying
>
>>>> that unless they have 24/7 help, their child will be released into
>>>> protective custody. Do they have this right? What rights do the parents
>>>> have? They are first time parents and not sure what to do. They just 
>>>> want
>
>>>> their baby home with them.
>>>> Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>>>> pipi
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 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/poetlori8%40msn.co
>>m
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>m
>
>
>
>
>
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