[blparent] Child Protective Services & blind parenting

[Amanda Winkler]

congratulations on the baby.  My husband and I are also both blind.  We made 
it a point for both of us to be at each ob appointment arriving on our own. 
We answered there questions with facts and examples.  We never took there 
questions as insults but as an opportunity to educate them.  By the time it 
was for the delivery my ob had no concern about us taking care of our child. 
I guess that telling them that we were parents of two teenagers was help in 
showing them that our daughter will be in good hands.  We will have to wait 
and see what he says when we finally decide that we are going to have one 
more child.

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From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 1:13 PM
To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] Child Protective Services & blind parenting

> I think parenting classes for any new parent should be provided and
> mandatory whether disabled or not, adopting or biological pregnancy, but
> no laws currently enforce such classes except for adopting parents. No
> parent should require a certification just because they are blind. I'm
> not admonishing Hadley for offering this, but making a comment on
> society because we have to consider doing such a thing. New parents, and
> even people with children already, can benefit from learning parenting
> skills, and though much of it is common sense, parents who are blind
> feel more comfortable learning certain alternative techniques and
> methods for parenting, but classes like what Hadley offers should not be
> taken simply because blind parents may require "proof" of their ability
> to parent. It's abhorrent that anyone in 2012 still fear this issue.
>
> I didn't plan on announcing this until next week, and I request anyone
> who is Facebook friends with me not post anything just yet, or post
> anywhere outside this list serve,  as we will tell my in-laws this
> weekend, but my husband and I are expecting our first biological child.
> We are eleven weeks along, and so far, none of our doctors have given us
> a reason to suspect they doubt our ability to parent as a blind couple.
> They have been supportive, encouraging and just pleased as punch about
> our pregnancy. I know the med team working with us when I go into labor
> may have some concerns outside the team we currently work with, but
> nothing so far has given us a reason to be overly concerned with this
> issue. That being said, we are aware, informed and armed should, God
> forbid, something come up once the baby is here. It's sad to me,
> especially since I wasn't always blind, that any parent with a visual
> impairment need be concerned on any level about this. And trust me, when
> mama bear's claws come out, well, it doesn't bode well for those
> provoking me. That bear poking stick will quickly turn into kindling.
>
> I will need to stop soon because this topic makes my blood pressure rise
> through the roof, grin, though I have low BP so I guess it's not to bad,
> LOL! It's just ridiculous and egregious that we need potentially "prove"
> anything to anyone based solely on the purpose that we are blind. The
> rant is done for now, smirky grin.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
> Read my blog at:
> http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>
> "History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
> The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:40:54 -0600
> From: "sharon howerton" <shrnhow at att.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Child Protective Services
> Message-ID: <AD4C487FB83F4BB78F9BE5F2CBE5CA1D at sharonlaptop>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
> Heather, congratulations on your upcoming birth. I hope things are going
>
> well. Many of us on this list are blind parents and have never had a
> problem
> with child protective service. Many years ago when I was a rehab
> counselor,
> I found that the only time I got calls about expectant moms was when the
>
> medical people felt that the baby did not have adequate care or
> inadequate
> support for the parent(s), thus not enough care for the baby. . Also, I
> am
> an instructor with the Hadley School and teach a three course parenting
> series, the first course of which is Preparation. It is a lengthy course
>
> with assignments and all but is at least affiliated with us, provides a
> certificate upon completion and is just one more resource available to
> you.
> My own sons are 28 and almost 26 years, I am totally blind and their dad
> who
> is my ex has some vision. If you have any questions about Hadley or
> would
> want to contact me directly, you are welcome to do so at my home email
> shrnhow at att.net or Hadley sharon at hadley.edu The other two courses in our
> series, for those who are new here, are Infancy
> which covers the first year and Early Years which covers ages 1 to 5. We
>
> don't pretend to be the be all and end all, but at least these courses
> can
> get you started. As many of you know, there is no charge for our
> courses. Sharon Howerton
>
>
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