[blparent] Explaining vision loss to children

Thu Mar 1 02:01:06 UTC 2012

Kids are very smart and pick up very quickly. :)
keri

"Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away; and all the things I want to 
say can find no voice. Then, in silence, I can only hope my eyes will speak 
my heart."
--Robert Sexton

"For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there 
is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to 
receive it."
--Ivan Panin

Find that guy that will pick up every piece of your shattered heart & put it 
back together; Replacing it with a piece of his.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at att.net>
To: "Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 7:43 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] Explaining vision loss to children

>
>
> Thanks for all your ideas.  To most of us blind parents none of this is 
> ground-breaking, but to someone new to the whole topic you offer a lot of 
> great material for reflection.
>
> Debbie
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
> To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 5:50 PM
> Subject: [blparent] Explaining vision loss to children
>
>
>> Debbie,
>>
>> With my nephews and nieces, and now Penny, it has been just a natural
>> discussion and progression. They all have pretty quickly realized my
>> husband and I didn't always respond the way others did, and on their own
>> volition have started doing things like handing objects to us or tapping
>> us when wanting to be picked up instead of holding arms up or using
>> words, once speaking, instead of visual cues when wanting something.
>>
>> Perhaps we have had it a bit easier than some, but the blindness "issue"
>> hasn't been that big of a deal. The kids range in age from eight to two
>> now, but it has never been odd when Uncle Ross and Aunt Bridgey do
>> things a little differently like actually touching their food to see how
>> much has been eaten or placing a hand on their head to feel if they are
>> nodding yes or no or asking them to use words or come to us when we call
>> their name. We did at some point start discussing that Bridgey and
>> Ross's eyes don't work very well, but that's not a bad thing, it just
>> means we sometimes may use a different tool to accomplish things.
>> They've had questions as they grow older and understand more and more,
>> but it has never been awkward for either party.
>>
>> I think the constant exposure has helped along with their parents not
>> making it a big deal either. They also see us doing "normal" things like
>> house chores, reading, cooking, going to the park or running errands,
>> etc, which continues to instill the idea that we are like everyone else
>> even if we do some things a bit differently. They all love riding the
>> bus when with my husband and I, grin. It is a novelty to them, something
>> cool. And all the kids have asked to learn Braille at some point in
>> time; our six-year-old niece actually picked up grade 1 Braille at age
>> four.
>>
>> And of course, each has wanted to play with the canes. We have always
>> told them that a white cane is not a toy, and shown them how to use it,
>> and they all now know how to use proper cane technique. Penny, who is
>> two, picked this up around age one and continues to use it properly when
>> wanting to hold one of our canes.
>>
>> Because they have all been around us so much, it is not unusual or
>> weird. Whenever we leave the house, one of the first things Penny does
>> is hand us our canes. And when the now eight-year-old was four, he poked
>> holes in his Christmas wish list for Ross and I so we could read it.
>> None of them have ever been scared or concerned when in our care either.
>> I think the most important element is to reiterate that being blind is
>> not scary, and that people with blindness do things just like everyone
>> else, but we do use some different tools and methods at times.
>>
>> Since the children you refer to are older, perhaps they can help grandma
>> bake cookies or clean the house to see how she does things. This can
>> reinforce how different techniques work just as well along with
>> "showing" instead of "telling" how grandma can do things, and allaying
>> any fears and concerns the grandchildren may have. I've found that
>> approaching the subject naturally and in a laid-back manner works best.
>>
>> And let the kids ask questions. I often come across parents who stifle
>> their kids questions when encountering my husband or me, and I'd rather
>> they ask questions than grow up thinking this is wrong, and most likely
>> perpetuating negative ideas towards blindness. Kids are very willing to
>> have faith in something whereas many adults find it difficult to grasp
>> certain ideas. If more people were exposed to positive ideas about
>> disability at a younger age, we may have more adults not so willing to
>> buy into old notions.
>>
>> 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: 11
>> Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:13:07 -0600
>> From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at att.net>
>> To: "Multiple recipients of NFBnet blparent Mailing List"
>> <blparent at NFBnet.org>
>> Subject: [blparent] Explaining Vision Loss to Children
>> Message-ID: <00d801ccf66e$89745600$d70aa8c0 at Debbie>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>> reply-type=original
>>
>>
>> I received a query from a sighted mom who wants ideas about how to
>> explain
>> her mother's progressive vision loss to her children - i.e., her mother
>> is
>> the children's grandmother.  The children are eight and five years old,
>> and
>> have always known their grandmother as fully sighted.  If you have any
>> thoughts or suggestions, I'll pass them along.
>>
>> Debbie
>>
>>
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>
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