[blparent] Please, Please Read: Parenting Questions the Court Will Want Me ToAnswer:Any Advice?

[Si]

Jo- Elizabeth, thank you so, so much for all these answers.

I am taking the Hadley course and it is very helpful. *smiles*

Saving this message for reference. LOL!

Si



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jo Elizabeth Pinto" <jopinto at msn.com>
To: "Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 3:06 AM
Subject: Re: [blparent] Please,Please Read: Parenting Questions the Court 
Will Want Me ToAnswer:Any Advice?


> Si, I'm going to write my responses below your questions so the thread of 
> the message might be easier to follow.  Again, I hope you obtain a copy of 
> "Parenting Without Sight" from the NFB.  The print booklet is a very good 
> overview of blind parenting, complete with quotes and pictures, geared 
> toward professionals who need a crash course on the subject.  I also hope 
> the Looking Glass was helpful.  The organization has a lot of experience 
> in advocating for disabled parents in the legal system.
>
> I would also recommend the Hadley correspondence course on blind 
> parenting. I took it, mostly because I had family members who were ready 
> to challenge my abilities as a blind mom legally, but I ended up gathering 
> a lot of excellent tips for my journey into motherhood, even though I 
> started the class primarily to get the completion certificate.
>
>
> Q: What were some of the blindness-related safety precautions you took 
> when your little one began to crawl / walk?
>
> Besides the standard answers of bells on the shoes or the Pipsqueak shoes 
> that you can get that squeak when a child walks, one of the tips I got 
> from the Hadley course was to put a plastic box of Tic-Tacs in a toddler's 
> pocket because you can hear the candies rattling from relatively far away. 
> If you are worried about choking, which is unlikely because the Tic-Tacs 
> are tiny and quick to dissolve, wrap the box in duct tape.  It will still 
> make noise. I bought the "Mommy I'm Here" child locator on Amazon for 
> about $30, and there's also another electronic device that tracks a child 
> for up to 30 feet, emitting a low beeping sound, so you can go to the park 
> and such. I'll find the link and send it.  But the best plan is to listen 
> closely. You'll get to know how your child moves, what she sounds like, 
> and it's amazing what you can figure out by what you hear, or sometimes 
> don't hear. More often than not, I was the one who noticed what my 
> daughter was getting into before the sighted people around me.  It became 
> second nature to always have an ear tuned to what was going on.  I taught 
> my daughter as soon as she started to walk and talk that she needed to 
> listen to me, not run, and answer when called if she wanted her freedom. 
> I also used a child leash, purchased from the baby section at Wal-Mart and 
> commonly used by sighted parents.  When she got older, I made sure her 
> tricycle and bike had horns or other noisemakers on them.
>
>
> Q: How did you teach your child his or her colors?
>
> You have some very good ideas already.  Honestly, I didn't have to try 
> that hard to teach my daughter her colors.  Baby toys are often bright and 
> bold, and there are many kid TV shows and movies that also work on colors. 
> But if your daughter is exposed to sighted people such as your friends and 
> family, and especially if she goes to preschool or daycare, colors will 
> largely come naturally to her, since kids are drawn to them.  My daughter 
> learned her colors at about the same age and rate as other children.
>
>
> How did you teach your child that pointing at objects and saying "What's 
> that?" don't work for you?
>
> Children are amazingly adaptable.  I don't truthfully recall my daughter 
> ever pointing and asking what something was.  If she did and I didn't 
> notice, she changed her mode of operation very quickly on her own.  She 
> would put my hand on things, and her verbal skills developed quickly so 
> she could make her needs and questions known.  I was always very hands-on 
> with her, so often we explored the things in our environment together, 
> which worked because I knew there was nothing unsafe for her to get.  As 
> she's gotten older, she'll ask questions, and I'm not afraid to say, "I 
> don't know.  Let's see if we can figure it out together."
>
>
> Q: How do you know when the baby has a bruise or abbrasion? How do you 
> treat the area without being able to see it?
>
> Babies aren't particularly good at suffering in silence.  So after the 
> first line of defense, which is being vigilant and preventing mishaps, the 
> next step is to notice when your baby hurts herself.  She'll usually be 
> only too glad to tell you.  I taught my daughter at a young age to take 
> deep breaths and calm herself so she could tell me where she was hurt. 
> She's always taken my hand and showed me her little scrapes and bruises, 
> and because she's learned not to go off the deep end, she doesn't consider 
> a scuff here and there a major catastrophe.  Many people have commented on 
> her toughness--her favorite expression is "no blood, no foul."  If your 
> child is bleeding profusely or has broken a bone or something, you'll know 
> it by her actions.  If she hasn't, then little more than a kiss and a 
> Band-Aid is probably needed.  It's not hard to learn the basics of ice 
> packs, Ace bandages, and TLC.
>
>
> Q: How would you respond in an emergency?
>
> What kind of an emergency?  Anybody can dial 911.  Anybody can follow 
> basic safety precautions--seat belts and boosters in cars, life vests 
> around water, keep low and get out of a burning building with something 
> over your face to keep from breathing smoke.  Carry a cell pohne when 
> you're out and about.  Don't travel with your child at night in high-risk 
> places.  Sort of a silly question, common sense.  Biggest thing, don't 
> panic.
>
>
> Q: Are there any special devices or adaptive technology you use to make 
> caring for your child easier? If you guys can provide any links, that 
> would be so awesome.
>
> Talking thermometer, although you'll get very good at gauging your child's 
> temperature without it.
> Child locator.
> Talking scale if you want one.
> I serve snacks in small bowls, also a tip from the Hadley course, so I 
> know how much of something my daughter is eating.  A toddler bowl with a 
> suction cup on the bottom also helped dishes not to get thrown on the 
> floor during the messy stage.
> Baby gates are your friends.  You can also use motion sensor chimes if you 
> want them, so you know when your child leaves a room.  A lock on the 
> screen door will keep her from wandering out of the house.  If your 
> persnickety about clothes, you can get a color identifier that says the 
> colors of different items aloud when you scan them.  Again, not rocket 
> science.
>
>
> Q: How do you measure your child's liquid medicine when they are ill?
>
> Like you said, the syringe is the best way, or a plain teaspoon.  You can 
> also often get prefilled syringes at many pharmacies.
>
>
> I hope some of this helps.  Stay strong and calm, don't get rattled by 
> questions.  Most of the answers are plain old common sense.  Don't forget 
> to tell the judge about this list and the advice of those who have gone 
> before.
>
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