[blparent] Introduction

[David Andrews]

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Dave

At 06:14 PM 6/11/2017, you wrote:
>I'm not sure how this works. How do you post to the thread.  I'm brand new.
>My family is moving to the more rural Montana from Portland and I have a
>teenage daughter that is blind. Trying to make connections any way I can.
>Kimberlie
>
>On Jun 11, 2017 3:06 PM, "Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent" <
>blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> > Heather,
> >
> > The "Ranger in Time" books are wonderful. There's a lot of great history
> > slipped into the fast-paced stories. Plus, a golden retriever. How much
> > better can it get?
> >
> > As for the circus, I know what you mean. I feel that way even with just
> > one service dog and a kid. Not so much now, but when my daughter was little
> > and I had the dog, the car seat, the diaper bag, the baby, and all the
> > trappings, and I finally got settled in a place, I would sometimes say,
> > "The circus has arrived."
> >
> >
> > Jo Elizabeth Pinto
> >
> > "The Bright Side of Darkness"
> > Is my award-winning novel,
> > Available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats.
> > http://www.amazon.com/author/jepinto
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Heather
> > Bird via BlParent
> > Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 3:30 PM
> > To: Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> > Cc: Heather Bird <heather.l.bird at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> >
> >      Jeremy loves the Magic Tree House. I pre-read everything that he is
> > going to read, and they just about drove me batty, but I got through it.
> > Ranger in Time? I've got to snag those. Summer is upon us and I am
> > seriously limiting his Apple TV time, so I need to pack his USB thumb drive
> > with as many books as possible. He reads just about everything I can find
> > on NLS Bard, including some books that are typically thought of as "girl"
> > books, like the American Girl books, Little House Books, although he lost
> > interest after finishing the Long Winter, the Ramona books and similar. Go
> > you, I can certainly read Braille, but not in a way that makes it pleasant
> > to listen to me read aloud. I pre-read the board books and short story
> > books that I am going to read for Caleb, so I am just using the text as a
> > cue for the memorized text. I believe strongly in the value of Braille, and
> > my sons are learning Braille, but my reading aloud will just never be even
> > anywhere close to their dad's.
> > He does crazy funny voices and accents too. That's OK, I am the chief
> > story maker-upper in our house, and with eccentric kiddos on the spectrum I
> > have to make up some weird stuff. Jeremy loved vacuum cleaners from age 2
> > until around age 5 and street sweepers from around age three to six, so I
> > had to make up stories about those. Caleb is obsessed with shapes, so our
> > current crop of bedtime stories are all about adventures with discovering
> > shapes. What the heck on a nature walk or a grocery store run is shaped
> > like a trapezoid? *palm to forehead* Oh, a black labby. My mom Bernice has
> > a black lab named Octane from the Seeing Eye. We are a circus everywhere we
> > go with three adults, two of them blind, two kids and three service dogs. I
> > swear, restaurant owners quake in fear when they see us coming.
> >
> >
> > So nice to meet you.
> >
> >
> > On 6/11/2017 4:42 PM, Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent wrote:
> > > Hi, Heather. It's great to meet you. It sounds like you have a busy,
> > active family.
> > >
> > > My daughter is nine years old, entering the fourth grade in the fall.
> > She enjoys all things Barbie, princess, and sparkling. But she also has an
> > adventurous streak, and many times her Barbies and princesses will get
> > prettied up to go mountain climbing or spacewalking. She's sighted, and
> > loves reading out loud to me from the "Magic Tree House" and "Ranger in
> > Time" books. I've been reading "Dr. Dolittle" and "Little House on the
> > Prairie" to her this summer in braille. Her dad owns a watch and clock
> > repair shop, and I proofread braille books, mostly textbooks, from home. We
> > live in Colorado. I have my third guide dog, a black Lab, from Guide Dogs
> > for the Blind, in California. Actually, this one, Anlyn, came from the
> > Oregon campus in 2014.
> > >
> > >
> > > Welcome to the list,
> > > Jo Elizabeth Pinto
> > >
> > > "The Bright Side of Darkness"
> > > Is my award-winning novel,
> > > Available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats.
> > > http://www.amazon.com/author/jepinto
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> > > Heather Bird via BlParent
> > > Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 1:58 PM
> > > To: blparent at nfbnet.org
> > > Cc: Heather Bird <heather.l.bird at gmail.com>
> > > Subject: [blparent] Introduction
> > >
> > > Hello. My name is Heather and I am the middle generation of a three
> > generation blind family. My mother is blind and my father sighted. My
> > husband is sighted and my two sons, ages 3 and 8 are also blind. The four
> > of us have LCA, a rare autosomel dominant form, as LCA is typically
> > recessive.
> > >
> > >
> > > My older son Jeremy is about to turn 9 in August, and he is my extreme
> > child. He is on the autism spectrum and he never acts his age. He either
> > acts far more considerate and mature than his peers, like a 12 year old, or
> > he acts incredibly immature and difficult like a 2 year old. So, Its like
> > having my 3 year old son Caleb, and two other children, a 2 year old and a
> > 12 year old with some weird custody arrangement where the 2 year old and
> > the 12 year old are never in my home at the same time.
> > > *smile* Jeremy is extremely bright, but has poor planning skills and is
> > often seriously lacking in basic common sense. His reading comprehension is
> > two to four grade levels above, but his actual reading is about one grade
> > level behind his peers. He can do mental math one or two grade levels ahead
> > of his class mates, but getting him to sit down and write out his work on
> > the Braille writer for math is like wrestling a rabid, really pissed off
> > squirrel. His primary interests are space flight/NASA history, Mine craft,
> > collecting figit spinners, amusement park rides, science and watching other
> > people play various games on YouTube. Like his father, Jeremy cannot carry
> > a tune in a bucket, has an aptitude for math and technology and a fondness
> > for Bruce Coville books and doing Lego models. Jeremy is also my child of
> > contradictions. He wasn't fully potty trained until around age 4, we are
> > talking about "sit on the plastic froggy potty and I'll give you an M and M
> > and a penny to put in your toilet piggy bank that you flush to get the coin
> > to go down into the base, and please for God's sake can we get you out of
> > cloth training pants by the start of Kindergarten?" But, at age 3 he could
> > take the old empty toilet paper cardboard tube off of the holder and
> > install a new role for me. He can read children's books on difficult topics
> > like the holocaust or the underground railroad, and have meaningful
> > conversations about their content, but if he drops half of a cheep, crappy
> > 20 cent freeze pop, it is the same bursting into tiers and carrying on like
> > a wounded animal that you would expect to accompany something serious like
> > his cat dying.
> > >
> > >
> > > My younger son Caleb is 3. He is my easy going sweet. He is quite
> > > smart, but rarely brilliant. He has tantrums on occasion, but he
> > > rarely misbehaves. He's very dependable, for a 3 year old, and a very
> > > amusing, lovable kiddo. If he is on the spectrum, it is much less
> > > significant than with Jeremy, as he is pretty typical in most ways. He
> > > loves music, car rides, shapes, visiting his nana and his grammie, and
> > > scented products. The only sensory things we have really seen with him
> > > is that he screams his head off as if we've poured sulfuric acid on
> > > him whenever Ilsa licks him, and he is not thrilled about having messy
> > > things on his hands or face, although he is able to cope if I give him
> > > a cloth napkin to use whenever he gets something on his fingers or
> > > face. He has done everything either on time with or slightly behind
> > > his peers, whereas Jeremy did just about everything way ahead of or
> > > way behind his peers. I see more of myself in Jeremy, but I have an
> > > easier time with Caleb. I love them both dearly, but, honestly? I like
> > > Caleb better. On a day-to-day basis, I far prefer spending time with
> > > Caleb. Jeremy pushes my buttons constantly, although on the rare
> > > occasions when Jeremy can focus and control his behavior, he is
> > > responsible for the majority of the extraordinary, epic or memorable
> > > moments in our household. Caleb keeps me sane and Jeremy helps me grow
> > > as a person, and both are very valuable aspects of my life. We want to
> > > have one more child, and we are hoping for a girl, but we are stopping
> > > at three even if the next one is a boy. Although, with three little
> > > boys, my husband, with his male service dog and Jeremy's male cat, I
> > > might have to go and spend some time with the little girls of friends
> > > to keep from being overwhelmed with testosterone. At least Ilsa is on
> > > the girl team with me. *smile*
> > >
> > >
> > > My husband is sighted and he is one of the few sighted people that I
> > feel really "gets it" about the blindness thing. He is an Iraq War veteran
> > of the United States Marine Corps. He just graduated with an under graduate
> > degree in computer science and is looking for a job. He has moderate to
> > severe PTSD and is a service dog handler. His service dog is a smoothe coat
> > collie named Dante, who we owner trained.
> > >
> > >
> > > We also have a grey and black Maine Coon cat named Houston, who is
> > Jeremy's pet. One of my catch phrases regarding the cat, as I fish him out
> > from under something, extricate him from a tight spot or shoe him away from
> > something he's stolen is "Houston, you are a problem."
> > >
> > >
> > > I have a black and tan German Shepherd Seeing Eye dog named Ilsa. She is
> > still quite young as I got her in September of 2016 and she wasn't yet two
> > at that time. I have previously had a yellow lab from GEB, two GSDs from
> > Fidelco and one GSD from TSE prior to Ilsa.
> > >
> > >
> > > I am the chapter president of our local Rochester chapter of the
> > National Federation of the Blind of New York. My husband, Jim is a board
> > member, and my mother, Bernice, who is also blind is our secretary. I am
> > also the vice president of the New York Associations of Guide Dog Users.
> > > Jim and I are members of IAADP and Jim is a member of the VFW, the DAV,
> > and also of NOPBC. He might be joining the blind veterans division as well.
> > I am an attachment parent, in most respects and a green parent whenever I
> > can be. Our chapter is very new and very small, but is growing rapidly. Wee
> > were chartered with 7 members in October of 2016 and we now have 15
> > members, and of those 15, 5 of them are blind parents, my mom, my self, a
> > single blind mom and a blind couple.
> > >
> > >
> > > It will be great to get to know all of you here on list.
> > >
> > > Have a great Sunday,
> > >
> > > Heather and family,