[blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with avisualimpairment

Sat Dec 31 18:15:17 UTC 2011

Jo Elizabeth,
I just wanted to let you know that you aren't the only one on the list who 
seeks help from someone with sight at times. I tend to pair up with my best 
friend. Our kids are 2 years apart, but we do a lot of the zoo, play areas, 
children's museums, etc. together. I used to make savannah stay right with 
me or me right with her, but my friend actually said, hey if you want, I can 
keep an eye on her so she can walk with Riley, or so that I can sit back and 
relax with her and enjoy a coffee or such.
I know of a person who has hired someone to basically be her eyes at 
playgrounds and such. Ther person is just that, eyes. If the child does 
something wrong, mom is still in charge.
Sometimes it's a convienence to have someone sighted and as long as you 
aren't "using" the person, then I don't see a problem with it. I'm here to 
have a great time and to provide great times for my daughter. There's 
nothing wrong with taking the easy way out and allowing kids to have a bit 
more freedom and hell us for that matter as well. I'm confident that if I 
had to, I could and would take Savannah to the zoo alone, but why should I?
lol I've rambled on, but I agree with you, that's all.
Pipi
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jo Elizabeth Pinto" <jopinto at msn.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with 
avisualimpairment


>I have the "Mommy I'm Here" device.  It's really loud, but it might work 
>well, especially if you have a lot of different children in your home so 
>that you can't count on the rule about coming when called.  I don't 
>remember how much I spent on the device, but I'm sure it was less than $30. 
>The nice thing about the device is that it will not only grab the attention 
>of your wandering toddler, but it will alert anybody else in the area as 
>well.  So, God forbid, if there really were something funny going on, a 
>stranger might give up and flee.  The problem I have with the device, and 
>the reason I haven't used it more, is that it comes with an opening that 
>would work for a belt, but if your child isn't wearing a belt, there's no 
>good way to attach the teddy bear that beeps when you push the button on 
>your keychain.
>
> Honestly, to please the state and also to make it easier for you to travel 
> with multiple children or ones you don't know that well yet, I would 
> consider trying to rally a network of sighted people who can help you. 
> Yes, I did say get sighted help.  It may get me chewed out on this list, 
> but what's best for the kids comes first, and I've found that it's easier 
> to go to places like the zoo or the fair if you travel with someone who 
> can see where to go and watch your child when he or she wants to stray a 
> little from your side.  Not that I can't, or haven't, traveled alone, but 
> I think my daughter has had a more well-rounded set of life experiences 
> than she might have had otherwise because I'm willing to accept, and even 
> ask for, sighted help when I need it.  Like yesterday, I invited a sighted 
> friend out for lunch at Chic FilA.  She got her lunch paid for, so she 
> drove to the restaurant.  We got to hang out and chat, and she could see 
> Sarah through the glass window that closed off the play area, so I didn't 
> have to check in with Sarah every few minutes.  Sarah got some space.  It 
> worked out.  I'm just saying, the state is going to be interested in what 
> resources you have. That was a question that came up even for my brother, 
> who is sighted and fostering a toddler.  I'm sure it will be even more 
> important for you.  I know you can't leave foster kids with babysitters 
> unless they're authorized by the state, but I bet you can stay with the 
> kids and go places in a group with other adults.
>
> Jo Elizabeth
>
> "How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, 
> compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant 
> of the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been 
> all of these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "January Lifebook" <januaryslifebook at gmail.com>
> Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 7:47 AM
> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with a 
> visualimpairment
>
>> This group had an interesting conversation not too long ago about how to
>> find your toddlers when they start exploring.  One parent suggested 
>> putting
>> bells on her little one so that she could hear him.  I have a friend who
>> found shoes that squeak for her toddler for when they in public.  Her
>> daughter LOVES them and my friend feels more confident in public.  I have 
>> a
>> little device that I found on Amazon.  I think it is called "Mommy I'm
>> Here."  It is a little device that goes on the baby and I have a remote.
>> If I lose track of him (say in a play area or at the playground), I push 
>> my
>> remote and the device gives off a high pitched beep.  I have not had to 
>> use
>> it yet.  My little guy is pretty good at coming back when called, but it 
>> is
>> nice to have!
>> Good luck with everything.
>> January
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 30, 2011 at 9:57 PM, Miranda B. <knownoflove at gmail.com> 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Jo Elizabeth,
>>> Thank you so much for your email! All you are saying is so true, and we 
>>> and
>>> our caseworker agree! :) The one question I asked our caseworker during 
>>> our
>>> phone conversation was, "When will enough be enough?" I then said, "You 
>>> can
>>> not in your right mind tell me that after a point all of these questions
>>> from the state won't be crossing that very fine line of discrimination."
>>> Thanks again, and thanks to everyone who has replied so far for 
>>> reminding
>>> us
>>> that we're not alone and we're not crazy!
>>>
>>> In Christ, Miranda
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
>>> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 11:46 PM
>>> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with a
>>> visual
>>> impairment
>>>
>>> Give the state any information you can find, but Sheila is right.  Like 
>>> I
>>> told my sister when she worried that my baby would put something in her
>>> mouth and choke on it, or get knocked over by the dog, or some other
>>> horrific thing--blind parents don't keep the emergency rooms open by
>>> themselves.  Accidents happen to everybody, and the best you can 
>>> possibly
>>> do
>>> is take every precaution you can think of, and then maybe try to dream 
>>> up a
>>> few more, and then relax, know basic first aid, and hope for the best 
>>> like
>>> all other parents do.  I know sighted parents whose children drank cough
>>> medicine and had to go get charcoal in the emergency room, or swallowed
>>> coins and had to go to the hospital and get them fished out.  I've got a
>>> friend who had a neighbor that lost her two-year-old to strangulation
>>> because of a cord on a window blind.  I've got another friend who knows 
>>> a
>>> couple with a ten-year-old daughter who nearly drowned in a swimming 
>>> pool
>>> last summer.  None of them were bad parents.  Momentarily inattentive
>>> maybe,
>>> but who hasn't been?
>>>
>>> I guess that would be my main stress point for the social workers, is 
>>> that
>>> you realize as blind parents, you have to be more attentive than your
>>> sighted peers.  You have to know what possible dangers are in the
>>> environment, eliminate the ones you can, and take extra care to put what
>>> shouldn't be reached out of reach.  You have to follow safety rules
>>> rigidly--hold hands in parking lots, cut grapes and hot dogs in half to
>>> minimize the choking risk, etc--because you know you can't fall back on
>>> your
>>> vision.
>>>
>>> Jo Elizabeth
>>>
>>> "How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
>>> compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant 
>>> of
>>> the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all 
>>> of
>>> these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>> From: "Sheila Leigland" <sleigland at bresnan.net>
>>> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 8:51 PM
>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as parents with a
>>> visualimpairment> I don't know if we did anything differently than 
>>> sighted
>>> parents should have been doing accept understand that vision was not an
>>> option to be used.
>>> We had baby gates. We had a baby monitor, when we built a deck it was
>>> railed
>>> and had a gate on it. We taught him to come when he was called and that
>>> lule
>>> was consedered unbreakable. We had a fenced yard in fact it was six feet
>>> high and then people complained that it looked like a prison. We had a 
>>> baby
>>> gate separating the kitchen and the living room until our son discovered 
>>> at
>>> the ripe old age of 2 how to unlock it. Then we were told that he 
>>> watched
>>> us
>>> do it surprise surprise he could see. We tried to keep him from climbing 
>>> oh
>>> welll that only lasted so long. We held hands when we crossed the 
>>> street.
>>> There is no way to plan for everything and sighted people can't do it
>>> eiter.
>>>
>>> And if they claim that they do they are deceiving themselves as well as
>>> others.
>>> >
>>> > Sheila Leiglan d
>>> >
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>>> >
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> January Wilson
>> Discovery Toys Education Consultant
>> (520)331-2342
>> http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/home/januarywilson
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>
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