[blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents withavisualimpairment

Sat Dec 31 17:11:36 UTC 2011

Miranda, no, the alarms I heard were not terribly loud and perhaps you could 
adjust the volume. It was just a tone when a door was opened. One wouldn't 
want something piercing as it could awaken or startle a young child anyway. 
I hope Walmart can help you but if not, I'll ask my son if they have 
anything at Lowe's if you like and even if there isn't something near you, 
perhaps they could ship or check good old Amazon.
As for the APH book, I don't recall the name, Debbie may, but you may try to 
contact Terri Terlau at APH to ask her.
I agree with you about the costs of those books, but you could mention them 
to your caseworker as resources if nothing else. Perhaps NLS has them in 
Braille or through BARD. Or perhaps your local Lions Club could purchase for 
you?
Sharon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Miranda B." <knownoflove at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 10:53 AM
Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents 
withavisualimpairment


> Hi again Sharon,
> We're headed to Walmart early next week to investigate the door chimes. 
> Now,
> we're praying we can find some that chime and don't admit an ear-pearsing
> beep! I agree a child needs to be safe and cared for, but I value my life
> and sanity, and I don't want to be startled awake... LOL ;)
>
> Do you happen to remember the name of the book from APH?
> I've found some books of interest from Through the Looking Glass, but I'm
> wondering if I can find them for much less than they are being sold by 
> TLG.
> I completely understand the need to recover costs of printing and such, 
> but
> $35-$45 per book is a bit pricy in my opinion.
> The books are:
> The Adoption Experience: A Prospective Guide for Parents with Disabilities
> and their Advocates
> Ella Callow, JD
>
> You May Be Able to Adopt: A Guide to the Adoption Process for Prospective
> Mothers with Disabilities
> Linda Toms Barker, Megan Kirshbaum, PhD, et al.
>
> Mothers with Visual Impairments Who Are Raising Young Children
> (Sorry I don't have the author's name.)
> I've looked on Bookshare, and they do not have these books available. My
> next place to look is NLS.
> Thanks again to everyone for your wonderful help, and happy new year!
>
> In Christ, Miranda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of sharon howerton
> Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 11:04 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with
> avisualimpairment
>
> Miranda, I think Debbie's suggestion about the pamphlet is a good one; 
> sorry
> I forgot about that.
> As for the audible alarm or chimes, you might check with a Lowe's or
> somewhere like that to get an economically priced alarm system; it doesn't
> have to be anything fancy, just something to alert you when a door is
> opened. Again, good luck; I hope we can provide answers for you and those
> with whom you are working.
> Sharon
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Miranda B." <knownoflove at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 8:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with
> avisualimpairment
>
>
>> Hi Sharon,
>> Thanks for your comments and encouragement! We're actually looking
>> into the door chimes, and we'd appreciate any information anyone can
>> give about models of chimes. We're wanting to put chimes on the
>> child's bedroom door and our front door in our home. So, we're hoping
>> to not spend a ton of money on these chimes.
>> Thank you also for the other tips and again for your encouragement.
>> We're very interested in the book from APH and will be looking into
>> this. We've also referred our new caseworker to "Parenting without
>> sight", and we've encouraged her to send this to the state workers as
>> well as a resource to view and share.
>> Happy New year!
>>
>> In Christ, Miranda
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On Behalf Of sharon howerton
>> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 8:08 PM
>> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with a
>> visualimpairment
>>
>> Miranda, do you have an auditory indicator on your outside doors that
>> might beep when a door is opened? We had this when my sons were young,
>> I noticed it in a friend's house (both parents are blind and they have
>> two grown children but when I was there, the kids were in their teens)
>> but more recently I noticed it in a condo we looked at. Another
>> interesting tip came from one of my first Parenting students, a
>> grandma taking care of her then two or so year old granddaughter. She
>> said she closed the doors to rooms where she did not want her little
>> one to go and put different kinds of wind chimes on the doors so she
>> could tell which one was opened.
>> Finally, APH is coming out with a new book with strictly tips for
>> blind parents. I read the preliminary version but do not know when it
>> will be available to the public; I reviewed it a year ago.
>> I sincerely wish you well and if can be of any further help, please
>> let me know.
>> Your comments about foster care remind me of another student who is
>> volunteering at a daycare center. One part deals with foster kids and
>> the other with children of more normal families. She said she was
>> being observed and scrutinized so much when she worked in the foster
>> care section that she finally just got out of it altogether so I
>> empathize with your concerns and hope you will be able to succeed. You
>> and Andy have sure worked hard and long at this process.
>> Sharon
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Miranda B." <knownoflove at gmail.com>
>> To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 6:51 PM
>> Subject: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with a
>> visualimpairment
>>
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> For those of you who know me and have talked with me for any length
>>> of time, you may find the subject of this email a bit puzzling, so
>>> please let me explain.
>>>
>>> As some of you may know, my husband and I are currently in the
>>> process of being licensed as foster parents. After sending our home
>>> study to the state for approval, our caseworker (through a private
>>> agency) received notice from the state that they are requesting more
>>> information. They are asking her to investigate further resources and
>>> information about how we will keep a child in our home safe as foster
>>> parents who happen to be Blind. The state has made it very clear that
>>> they are not wanting to discriminate in any way, but that they are
>>> requesting more information from many families regarding child safety
>>> due to recent incidents in our foster care system. They are also
>>> wanting more information than usual from those applying to be foster
>>> parents who have never been parents before this.
>>>
>>> In return, we have answered basic questions of safety as best as we
>>> can and we've reiterated that we have all childproofing in place in
>>> our home (our case was recently transferred to a caseworker who knows
>>> us but has not recently been in our home.) We want to approach this
>>> situation with the intent to educate the state about resources for
>>> Blind parents, and adaptions we make as parents who are visually
>>> impaired. We have made it clear that there is a fine line between
>>> wanting more information and discrimination (whether intentional or
>>> not) and that we will appeal any denial for licensing should the need
>>> arise. We are taking a Hadley parenting course, and this has been
>>> documented. We've told our caseworker about the NFB and other
>>> Blindness organizations. Now, we are coming to you for tips and
>>> advice. Can you tell us adaptions you made to keep your children safe?
>>> These
>>> could be adaption for medical care, making sure they didn't run out
>>> the door of your home, keeping them safe while you are cooking, ETC.
>>> Anything you cn think of we'd appreciate it! Also, for those of you
>>> who have adopted or been licensed as foster parents, if you could
>>> provide any tips or advice on this matter this would also be greatly
>>> appreciated!
>>>
>>> Lastly, if you can think of any resources at all to pass along to our
>>> caseworker and the state, we'd appreciate any thing you can think of.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any help you can give, and happy new year!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> In Christ, Miranda
>>>
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>>
>>
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