[blparent] what blind parents should know:

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

The biggest thing I would have wanted to know is that it's okay not to have 
all the answers.  When someone asks, how will you do this or that or thus 
and such, it's fine to say well, I never considered that, but I'll think on 
it, and I'm sure when the time comes, I'll have an answer.

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

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From: "jan wright" <jan.wrightfamily5 at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 11:53 AM
To: "blparent" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] what blind parents should know:

> i think that when i was a new parent i would have wanted to know that
> there is a solution to each challenge. And, there is usually more than
> one solution because we all do things differently.
> For example: each of us might use different techniques when feeding or
> changing a diaper. That is ok. And, it is ok  if it looks a little
> different to sighted people. Focus on the objective: not how it looks.
> When my daughter was three months old -- quite a long time ago -- I
> was on a greyhound bus and had to change her clothes. The well-meaning
> woman beside me said: "that's not the way you dress a baby." i put my
> daughter's legs in the sleeper first and then the arms. i had not even
> thought about doing it the other way and until then, thought that i
> was doing it like everyone else.
> but, it worked for me.
> most sighted people feed the child facing them. But, this just does
> not work for me. i get some flack for it -- as well as the fact that i
> am always putting my hand on their mouth/chin/etc.
> so what!
> It is my baby and as long as she/he is getting the required food,
> people need to keep some of their advice to themselves.
> it is a different thing if they say:
> "hey, can I show you a way that might be easier?" or "Have you thought
> of doing it this way?"
> I'd take some of those 'what professionals need to know about blind
> parenting,' pamphlets that the NFB has.
>   You might want to do some role playing to see how parents might
> just act in certain situations and get them comfortable with speaking
> up against an authority figure. Sometimes professionals like doctors
> and social workers can catch you off guard. Encourage them to find
> someone that they feel comfortable being vulnerable with. We are not
> "super parents," but sometimes we feel like we have to act like it
> because sometimes common questions are attributed to our blindness
> instead of just being attributed to normal parenting.
> And, frankly, it is draining enough as a parent; but even moreso if
> you have to be in the "i have to proove that I am a worthy candidate
> for parenthood," stage or if you have to continue to defend your
> positions on every single decision and activity.
> infant CPR would be a good thing to learn: although this is not 'blind
> specific'.
> hmmm, i'll have to think of more!
>
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