[blparent] Have youy also thought of joining the writers' Division??? LOL!!!

[Adele Nolan]

Wait, what there is a writer's division?   
Adele

On June 13, 2017, at 11:50 PM, Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:

I've thought about joining the Writers Division, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. My life gets chaotic in the summer, and it only slows down slightly during the school year. There's an old country song that comes to mind, "I got both ends meetin' in the middle but I can't seem to get 'em tied." And I only have one child. I'm not sure how you moms with more than one kid manage. :)


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: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 6:59 AM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List' <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Heather Bird <heather.l.bird at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blparent] Have youy also thought of joining the writers' Division??? LOL!!!

I saw it on the list of divisions and groups, but I think if I join too much
else that my head will explode. I love all of the neat things that NFB has,
but between NAGDU, blind parents and occasional participation in parents of
blind children and blind veterans my plate is pretty full. *smile* Thank you
for the vote of confidence though. I love to write and to read, although I
wind up doing a disproportionately large amount of the latter and far less
of the former.

Heather Bird
"They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a
Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." -
Martin Niemöller
In our diverse society we must never fail to speak up in the face of Human
Rights violations lest we be the next targets of such violations.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bernadette
Jacobs via BlParent
Sent: Monday, June 12, 2017 1:44 PM
To: blparent at nfbnet.org
Cc: Bernadette Jacobs
Subject: [blparent] Have youy also thought of joining the writers'
Division??? LOL!!!

Good Afternoon Miss Heather and everyone else!!  Miss Heather, I found
your description here being colorful, quite entertaining as well!!  I
do hope we'll have a chance to get to know you better here!!

Have a great day Everyone!!

Bernie



On 6/12/17, blparent-request at nfbnet.org <blparent-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Send BlParent mailing list submissions to
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>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Introduction (Heather Bird)
>    2. Re: Introduction (Deborah Kent Stein)
>    3. Re: Introduction (Jo Elizabeth Pinto)
>    4. Re: Introduction (Heather Bird)
>    5. Re: Introduction (Jo Elizabeth Pinto)
>    6. Re: Introduction (Kim D)
>    7. Re: Introduction (Judy Jones)
>    8. Re: Introduction (Melissa R Green)
>    9. Re: Introduction (Judy Jones)
>   10. Re: Introduction (Heather Bird)
>   11. Re: Introduction (David Andrews)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 15:57:42 -0400
> From: Heather Bird <heather.l.bird at gmail.com>
> To: blparent at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID: <e5c0dc86-98c7-7d22-3333-3b646d5659d9 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
> 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,
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 15:35:58 -0500
> From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at att.net>
> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID: <247801d2e2f2$55d3e9c0$017bbd40$@att.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
>
>
> Dear Heather,
>
> Thank you for the delightful description of your family. I look forward to
> hearing more about all of you on this list. Welcome!
>
> Debbie
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Parent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Heather
> Bird via BlParent
> Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 2:58 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/dkent5817%40att.net
>
>
> ---
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 20:42:26 +0000
> From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com>
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID:
>
<BN3PR0601MB1889767C178168916B74EB8EACCC0 at BN3PR0601MB1889.namprd06.prod.outl
ook.com>
> 	
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> 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: Parent [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,
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/jopinto%40msn.com
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 17:29:45 -0400
> From: Heather Bird <heather.l.bird at gmail.com>
> To: Jo Elizabeth Pinto via Parent <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID: <5229f214-64e5-498d-acf7-6a1aff41880a at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
>      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: Parent [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,
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/jopinto%40msn.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/heather.l.bird%40gmail
.com
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 22:01:22 +0000
> From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com>
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID:
>
<BN3PR0601MB1889DD9CB89325A80AE2BEB7ACCC0 at BN3PR0601MB1889.namprd06.prod.outl
ook.com>
> 	
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> 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: Parent [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 Parent <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: Parent [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,
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/jopinto%40msn.co
>> m
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/heather.l.bird%4
>> 0gmail.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/jopinto%40msn.com
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 16:14:33 -0700
> From: Kim D <dobiefly80 at gmail.com>
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAJX31BZ+ioXcXmg9BMWpHV+hNwyOqzSCSz9kW-qD6PnU2wa5Aw at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> 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: Parent [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 Parent <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,
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > 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/jopinto%40msn.co
>> > m
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > 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/heather.l.bird%4
>> > 0gmail.com
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/jopinto%40msn.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/
>> dobiefly80%40gmail.com
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 19:11:20 -0600
> From: "Judy Jones" <sonshines59 at gmail.com>
> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID:
>
<!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAALlvaysiXRpJrGz5gYo3TnkigQAAEAAAAEbfNRTGCihPqWT4uEuI
Tu8BAAAAAA==@gmail.com>
> 	
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi, Kimberly,
>
> You came to the right place.  My name is Judy Jones, and I love being on
> this list, even though our two daughters are grown.  Are you a blind
> parent?
> If you are a sighted parent, you are more than welcome to stay on this
> list,
> but there are resources and an organization for sighted parents as well.
> Welcome to the list!!  :)
>
> Judy
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kim D via
> BlParent
> Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 5:15 PM
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List
> Cc: Kim D
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
>
> 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,
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > 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/jopinto%40msn.
>> > co
>> > m
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > 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/heather.l.bird
>> > %4
>> > 0gmail.com
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/jopinto%40msn.co
>> m
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/
>> dobiefly80%40gmail.com
>>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/sonshines59%40gmail.co
> m
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 19:14:16 -0600
> From: "Melissa R Green" <lissa1531 at gmail.com>
> To: "Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID: <D352F4D084F5428E9B175A8D40A8B1A7 at melissa>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=response
>
> 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,
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/lissa1531%40gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 19:19:40 -0600
> From: "Judy Jones" <sonshines59 at gmail.com>
> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID:
>
<!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAALlvaysiXRpJrGz5gYo3TnkigQAAEAAAAObG3yJ7JuZIvjh2fkAa
Ra4BAAAAAA==@gmail.com>
> 	
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi, Heather, and welcome to the list.  Tell your husband thanks for his
> service to our country.  Glad to have you on board.
>
> Judy
>
>
> -----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
> 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/sonshines59%40gmail.co
> m
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 21:34:28 -0400
> From: Heather Bird <heather.l.bird at gmail.com>
> To: Kim D via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID: <7ea8a57c-183e-350b-cdce-e15316f3672c at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
>      Go you, you just did post t to the thread. If you are getting the
> list in email form, you just reply to the message and it will go to the
> list. If you are doing it through a website, then you've got me. I am
> just tech savvy enough to get by, but I bet someone else can help you
> out. Nice to meet you. Can you tell us a little bit about your daughter?
> Moving to a rural area is going to be tough for her for sure, definitely
> doable, but it will be an adjustment, especially if she was really
> independent and went a lot of places on her own living in Portland. That
> is a beautiful city. A few years ago when we were considering leaving
> New York state we were looking into the Portland area, but we have too
> much family in the Rochester area to leave. Wait, hold up, I may be
> making incorrect assumptions, are we talking Portland Oregon? Or, is
> there a Portland in Montana? Anyway, welcome to the list, we are both
> new here.
>
>
> On 6/11/2017 7:14 PM, Kim D via BlParent 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,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 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/jopinto%40msn.co
>>>> m
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 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/heather.l.bird%4
>>>> 0gmail.com
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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/jopinto%40msn.com
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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/
>>> dobiefly80%40gmail.com
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/heather.l.bird%40gmail
.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 11
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 21:00:50 -0500
> From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
> Message-ID: <auto-000084766864 at mailfront1.g2host.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> If you reply to a message, it will automatically be a part of that thread.
>
> 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,
>
>
>
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> End of BlParent Digest, Vol 157, Issue 7
> ****************************************
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