[blparent] Keeping young children safe asparentswithavisualimpairment

Fri Jan 6 12:22:49 UTC 2012

Miranda, with the item you found at Lowe's, I wonder if you could find the 
same or comparable through Amazon which sometimes has better prices. Sad 
about the stairs. Wonder if there would be any way to put a gate part way up 
the stairs. Obviously I can't know what your house is like but sorry you had 
one of those days. You and Andy have worked so hard at this.
Sharon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Miranda B." <knownoflove at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 6:12 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe 
asparentswithavisualimpairment


> Hi,
> We found these alarms at Lowes, but sadly we'd need to spend $70 or so to
> get one for each door we want them for. We found a cheaper one that was
> point-of-contact, but it was 120DB... That's loud!
> We discovered that there is no way we can put a gate at the bottom of the
> stairs either. I really have no idea what the builders of our home were
> thinking! As you can imagine, it's been one of those days... ;)
> Sorry, but I needed to vent a bit.
> Thanks for letting me share my frustration, and have a great week!
>
> In Christ, Miranda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Leanne Merren
> Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2012 6:53 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as
> parentswithavisualimpairment
>
> I am the nursery coordinator at our church, and we were having a problem
> with toddlers getting out of the fire exit door, because the style of door
> knob on those doors is very easy for little hands to grasp.  Child 
> proofing
> isn't allowed since it might keep us from making a swift exit.  So we
> purchased the door alarm to alert the nursery volunteers of the door being
> opened.  It is a box installed next to the door that sends a signal to a
> receiver that is plugged into the wall.  The sound isn't loud, it's like a
> door bell ringing.  It has worked out very well.  I do believe it was
> purchased at Lowes.
> Leanne
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "sharon howerton" <shrnhow at att.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 12:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Keeping young children safe as
> parentswithavisualimpairment
>
>
>> 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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>>>>> e
>>>>> t
>>>>
>>>>
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