[Nebraska-students] Parents

[Rachael Vacanti]

Hi!  I'm Rachael Vacanti.  I'm a senior in high school in Omaha, Nebraska and I have a huge problem on my hands.  My parents do not understand my blindness.  They deny the fact that I am even blind.  They use the term visually impaired and when I do things under my sleepshades, they don't give me the encouragement or support or praise I want and slightly need to keep going.  Every time I try and talk about it with them, we either end up screaming at one another, or I won't have the words to explain things, or the conversation will go in a totally different direction or I get interrupted and ignored.  I just feel like my parents don't care about my other world with my blind friends.  Whenever I've tried to explain it we usually end up  mad at one another and so they have pretty much decided they are not even going to try to understand it.  At least that's what it feels like to an 18-year-old.  I'm just not sure what to do or how to approach this subject with my parents. I know I should have a talk with them about all of this and I will, but I just don't know how to approach it and keep the conversation focused on me and not drifting off somewhere else.  If anyone has any advice, that would be highly benificial right now because I really feel lost.

Rachael E. Vacanti