[blparent] Introduction

[Star Gazer]

				Hey, Heather, Seeing Eye just called, they
say you're next dog will be a boy!
We have family near the Rochester NY area too. 


-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Heather
Bird via BlParent
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 3:58 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,


_______________________________________________
BlParent mailing list
BlParent at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
BlParent:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/pickrellrebecca%40gmai
l.com