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<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>That is so wonderful that the baby is back home where
she belongs. I have wanted to become a foster mother to blind children but don't
know if I would be able to. Just for the same resones that the baby was taken
from her mother at 3 days old.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>Meg</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=souljourner@sbcglobal.net
href="mailto:souljourner@sbcglobal.net">Susan Tabor</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, July 21, 2010 9:20 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=home-on-the-range@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:home-on-the-range@nfbnet.org">home-on-the-range@nfbnet.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Home-on-the-range] Infant Returned to Blind
Parents</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal>Here is the story from the Kansas City
Star.--Susan<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><BR>block quote<BR><BR>Infant is returned to
blind couple after state places her in protective <BR>custody<BR>By LEE HILL
KAVANAUGH<BR>The Kansas City Star<BR><BR>Fifty-seven days after she was born,
Mikaela Sinnett was home for the first <BR>time Tuesday with her parents, Erika
Johnson and Blake Sinnett of <BR>Independence. State officials had worried they
were unable to care for her.<BR><BR>DAVID EULITT | The Kansas City
Sta<BR><BR>Fifty-seven days after she was born, Mikaela Sinnett was home for the
first <BR>time<BR>Tuesday with her parents, Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett of
Independence. <BR>State<BR>officials had worried they were unable to care for
her.<BR><BR>A folding cane used by Blake Sinnett rested in the baby carrier used
to <BR>carry home his daughter. On Tuesday, Blake Sinnett, guided by his mother,
<BR>Jenne Sinnett, carried his 2-month-old daughter, Mikaela Sinnett. Behind
<BR>them was Mikaela's mother, Erika Johnson.<BR><BR>Erika Johnson will never be
able to see her baby, Mikaela. But for 57 days <BR>she couldn't keep her newborn
close, smell her baby's breath, feel her downy <BR>hair. The state took away her
2-day-old infant into protective custody - <BR>because Johnson<BR>and Mikaela's
father are both blind.<BR><BR>No allegations of abuse, just a fear that the new
parents would be unable to <BR>care<BR>for the child. On Tuesday, Johnson still
couldn't stop crying, although <BR>Mikaela was back in her<BR>arms.<BR><BR>"We
never got the chance to be parents," she said. "We had to prove that we
<BR>could."<BR>Tuesday, she and Blake Sinnett knew their baby was finally coming
home to <BR>their Independence apartment, but an adjudication hearing was
scheduled for <BR>the afternoon on whether the state would stay involved in the
rearing of the <BR>baby. Then from a morning phone call to their attorney, they
learned that <BR>the state was dismissing their case. "Every minute that has
passed that this <BR>family wasn't together is a tragedy. A legal tragedy and a
moral one, too," <BR>said Amy Coopman, their attorney. "How do you get 57 days
back?"<BR><BR>Arleasha Mays, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Social
Services, <BR>said privacy laws prohibited her from speaking about specific
cases. But she <BR>added, "The only time we recommend a child be removed is if
it's in imminent <BR>danger."<BR><BR>Johnson said she knew the system eventually
would realize its horrible <BR>mistake, but<BR>she often was consumed with
sadness. Sinnett tried his best to keep Johnson <BR>hopeful. For almost two
months she and Sinnett could visit their baby only <BR>two or three times a
week, for just an hour at a time, with a foster parent <BR>monitoring.<BR>"I'm a
forgiving person," Johnson said, but she's resentful that people <BR>assumed she
was incapable.<BR>"Disability does not equal inability," she
said.<BR><BR>Representatives of the sightless community agreed that people were
<BR>well-meaning but<BR>blinded by ignorance. Mikaela was born May 21 at
Centerpoint Medical Center <BR>of Independence. The doctors<BR>let Sinnett "see"
her birth by feeling the crowning of her head.<BR><BR>For Johnson, hearing
Mikaela's whimpers was a thrill. The little human <BR>inside her<BR>all these
months, the one who hiccupped and burped, who kicked and moved, <BR>especially
at night, was now a real person whom she loved more than anything <BR>else she'd
ever imagined.<BR><BR>In her overnight bag was Mikaela's special homecoming
outfit, a green romper <BR>from<BR>Johnson's mother, with matching bottoms and a
baby bow. Questions arose <BR>within hours of Mikaela's birth, after Johnson's
clumsy first attempts at <BR>breast-feeding - something many new mothers
experience.<BR>A lactation nurse noticed that Mikaela's nostrils were covered by
Johnson's <BR>breast.<BR><BR>Johnson felt that something was wrong and switched
her baby to her other <BR>side, but<BR>not before Mikaela turned blue. That's
when the concerned nurse wrote on a <BR>chart: "The child is without proper
custody,<BR>support or care due to both of parents being blind and they do not
have <BR>specialized training to assist them."<BR>Her words set into motion the
state mechanisms intended to protect children <BR>from physical or sexual abuse,
unsanitary conditions, neglect or absence of <BR>basic needs being
met.<BR><BR>Centerpoint said it could not comment because of patient privacy
laws, but <BR>spokeswoman<BR>Gene Hallinan said, "We put the welfare of our
patients as our top <BR>priority."<BR><BR>A social worker from the state came by
Johnson's hospital room and asked her <BR>questions:<BR>How could she take her
baby's temperature? Johnson answered: with our <BR>talking thermometer. How will
you take her to a doctor if she gets sick? <BR>Johnson's reply: If it were an
emergency, they'd call an ambulance. For a <BR>regular doctor's appointment,
they'd call a cab or ride a bus. But it wasn't <BR>enough for the social worker,
who told Johnson she would need 24-hour care <BR>by a sighted person at their
apartment. Johnson said they couldn't afford <BR>it, didn't need it.<BR>"I
needed help as a new parent, but not as a blind parent," Johnson
said.<BR><BR>She recalled the social worker saying: " 'Look, because you guys
are blind, <BR>I don't feel like you can adequately take care of her.' And she
left."<BR><BR>The day of Johnson's discharge, another social worker delivered
the news to <BR>the couple that Mikaela was not going home with them. The
parents returned <BR>the next day to visit Mikaela before she left the hospital,
but they were <BR>barred from holding her. "All we could do was touch her arm or
leg," Johnson <BR>said.<BR><BR>The couple began making calls. Gary Wunder,
president of the National <BR>Federation of the Blind of Missouri, had trouble
believing it at first. "I <BR>needed to verify their whole story," he recalled.
"We had to do due <BR>diligence. . I found the couple to be intelligent and
responsible. "We knew <BR>this was an outrage that had taken place."<BR>He
notified Kansas City chapter president Shelia Wright, who visited the
<BR>24-year-olds. Hearing about the empty crib, the baby clothes, Wright
<BR>recalled, "I felt as helpless as I've ever felt in my life. "I hurt so bad
<BR>for them. This is unforgivable."<BR><BR>They rallied other associations for
the blind nationwide. More than 100 <BR>people at a national convention in
Dallas volunteered to travel to Kansas <BR>City to protest and testify, both as
blind parents and as the sighted <BR>children of blind parents. (Mikaela has
normal sight.) They also hired <BR>Coopman, who watched the young couple with
their baby girl on Tuesday. "I'm <BR>sorry," she said, wiping tears. "But this
should not have happened."<BR><BR>Johnson kept a journal that Coopman is keeping
closed for now. She indicates <BR>that legal action will be taken. "Whether a
couple is visually impaired or <BR>deaf or in a wheelchair, the state should not
keep them from their <BR>children," she said. Now breast-feeding is a lost
option. And the beautiful <BR>newborn clothes hanging in the closet went unworn,
because their baby was <BR>growing bigger in the arms of someone
else.<BR><BR>The couple said they had tried to prove themselves to the sighted
community <BR>since their early years. Sinnett rode his bicycle on the street
with the <BR>help of a safety gadget. Johnson graduated from high school with
honors. But <BR>all the challenges they've endured over the years shrink
compared to the <BR>responsibility of caring for 10 pounds of squirming baby
girl.<BR><BR>Johnson cuddled Mikaela. Gave her a bottle. Patted her back until
she <BR>burped. Mikaela gave a tiny smile.<BR>In their 24 years, the couple
said, they've both endured prejudice from <BR>others. They don't want any other
blind parent to suffer the same obstacle <BR>they did. Fifty-seven days are too
precious to lose.<BR><BR>The Star's Laura Bauer contributed to this report. To
reach Lee Hill <BR>Kavanaugh, call<BR>816-234-4420 or send e-mail to<BR><A
href="mailto:lkavanaugh%40kcstar.com">lkavanaugh@kcstar.com</A><BR><BR>block
quote end<BR><BR><BR><BR><o:p></o:p></P>
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