[blparent] Introduction

Mon Jun 12 14:06:44 UTC 2017

well, I already know Heather, but I never did an introduction when I joined the list.
my name is candice, and I am a white king user. My husband and I are both totally blind. we also live in Rochester, and I am the treasurer of our little Rochester chapter.
I have two children Apryl is 6 and Kian is 2.
Both  of my kids have bilatteral colobomas. They are high partials. Apryl is spirited and sassy, but also can be really sweet. Kian has a few delays, but he is working with a great team. He is always making every one laugh. I am a stay at home mother, I also am recently voted in as recording secritary for my daughter's school PTA. I also have been vuleniering at our local YMCA  in the child watch room. I look forward to connecting with some of you at convention this year
Candice!

> On Jun 11, 2017, at 9:14 PM, Melissa R Green via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Welcome heather.  Your family certainly keeps you busy.  Look forward to hearing more from you on the list.
> 
> 
> 
> Best,
> Melissa R. Green And Pj
> -----Original Message----- From: Heather Bird via BlParent
> Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 1:57 PM
> To: blparent at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Heather Bird
> 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,
> 
> 
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