[Nfb-krafters-korner] Being a Blind Kid

Tue Aug 31 19:37:58 UTC 2010

That reminds me of when I was a kid growing up in Montana; we had an
old riding mower that Dad took the mowing parts off of and turned into
a go-cart for me.  With directions from my friend, who was sighted but
used a wheelchair, I drove that thing all around our neighborhood, and
had a blast at it, too.  Oh yeah, and there was the old sailboat that
Dad let me play all over too.  And though I also had my share of
scrapes and bruises, I have never, to this day, broken anything.

On 8/31/10, Susan Roe <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net> wrote:
> I lost my sight at 15 and I had the most wonderful parents and sister!  They
> let me try/do anything I wanted as long as I cleaned up after myself.  So,
> needless to say, I was in the kitchen, in the barn, in the fields/gardens,
> in the wood lot and wherever my dad went, there was I.  Believe it or not, I
> had a lot of bumps and more than my share of black and blue splotches, but
> never stitches or a single broken bone.  I drove our tracter with directions
> from daddy on the ground, road and fell off my horse, went fishing, climbed
> all over our local fire trucks (my dad was the chief for many years), and
> now 32 years after I lost my sight I'm not sure if I would have had as much
> fun if I had been a sighted teen.  Oh well, go figure!
>
> Susan R.
> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Terrence van Ettinger" <terrencevane at gmail.com>
> To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 12:51 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Looking around
>
>
>> That happens all too often.  Mostly, where I work, we get adults
>> coming through.  But occasionally, we get some youth that pop in.  I
>> was lucky enough to be able to talk with the guy's mom and explain how
>> blind kids benefit from the same experiences as sighted kids, how yes,
>> they may fall and get a few bruises here and there, and/or even break
>> a bone.  But these are things that happen just as easily to sighted
>> kids playing around too.  Plus we had a recent high-school graduate
>> who was here at the time as well, and he talked with the family too,
>> talking about his own experiences doing all kinds of sports and rec
>> activities.  I think sometimes parents feel that if something happens
>> to their blind kiddo, they're going to take flack for it.."How could
>> you let this happen to this vulnerable child?"  It's up to us, I feel,
>> as blind adults to help parents understand that blind kids don't need
>> to be extra-protected, any more than sighted kids do.  Sure we may not
>> totally change their minds in a heartbeat, but just planting the seed
>> is important.
>>
>> Terrence
>>
>> On 8/31/10, Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E] <Terry.Powers at nih.gov> wrote:
>>> Terrence;
>>> I love your aditude!  Sure wish my adopted mother and grand mother had
>>> been
>>> like that.  They were over protective.  When I wanted to learn to cook,
>>> my
>>> grand mother would not let me in the kitchen.  I was not exposed to a
>>> cane
>>> until I was a teanager and then I was ashaimed to use it.
>>>
>>> Terry Powers
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Becky Frankeberger [mailto:b.butterfly at comcast.net]
>>> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2010 11:26 AM
>>> To: 'List for blind crafters and artists'
>>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Looking around
>>>
>>> Oh Dick, bless you a zillion times.  My husband is the man who
>>> experienced
>>> first hand an over protective mother who would not let him do anything.
>>> His
>>> mother had a brother like you.  Uncle Carlos taught my husband how to saw
>>>
>>> a
>>> piece of wood, farm in the soil, fix machine equipment, hunt, fish, my
>>> husband has some sight and at twelve he was driving farm equipment and so
>>> much more.  My husband got his love of learning from his mother.  He got
>>> his
>>> confidence from his Uncle Carlos.
>>>
>>> Guess what his first job was in college, smile. He was a maintenance man
>>> at
>>> an apartment building.  Pretty cool, smile, he got sighted help from time
>>>
>>> to
>>> time.  But changing out a toilet, no big deal, Uncle Carlos let him help
>>> at
>>> the farm so he had a basic idea, smile.
>>>
>>> I did not have an Uncle Carlos and sat home with my parents for nearly
>>> thirty years feeling less then dirt.  I was smart but had no confidence
>>> or
>>> life skills.
>>>
>>> There is a lady on this list who can give you fun artsy things you can do
>>> with this little guy.  Give him fun things to touch.  Then move them a
>>> bit
>>> away from him forcing him to look around and explore his world.
>>>
>>> Buy him some fun play close and go have fun doing little boy things.
>>> Start
>>> off kind of slow with clean dirty things like shaving cream on a cookie
>>> sheet.  You have to build trust in him.
>>>
>>> The NFB has a parents of Blind Children division.  Go snoop around on
>>> that
>>> web site and look at kids being kids holding canes and exploring this big
>>> beautiful world of ours.
>>>
>>> Oh I just want to hug you so much.  Thank you for opening up this little
>>> person's world.  Just wait until his mother sees him riding a bike or
>>> roler
>>> skating.  The laugh and joy on his face wil be magical.
>>>
>>> Also, please don't be hard on your sister.  We don't come with
>>> instruction
>>> books on how to raise a blind child.  I have to remind myself of this
>>> when I
>>> think back on how much I missed.  You know silly things like I can't
>>> swim.
>>> Oh I can hear my mom's voice "Beck don't go near the water!" My mom said
>>> don't go near horses they will kick you. I rode my first horse at twenty
>>> seven, smile. She just did not know how to raise a blind child.  So get
>>> your
>>> sister in touch with parents who are raising blind children.  There are
>>> summer camps for blind children she can go and see what those kids can
>>> do.
>>> Arts and crafts, swimming, canoeing,archery, horse back riding, rope
>>> climbing things, hiking, toasting marshmellows etc.  Hmm, wonder if those
>>> camps take big kids, giggle.
>>>
>>> Becky who still likes making noises with empty pop bottles, giggle.
>>>
>>> And guide dog Jake who says "What the paw are you saying now.  Let's go
>>> for
>>> a walk. You need to clear your head, arf!"
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dick Carlson
>>> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 11:29 PM
>>> To: nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Looking around
>>>
>>> Hello everyone,
>>>
>>> I'm Dick and found out about this list through a teacher who works with
>>> blind kids.  I hope this list is for everyone, including sighted folks.
>>>
>>> I am helping to raise my little nephew, and he's a totally blind kid who
>>> is
>>> perhaps a tad socially delayed for his age.  I mainly try to spend a lot
>>> of
>>> time with him and wanted to see how much he and I could do together to
>>> stimulate him a bit.  He has been very over-protected by his mom, who
>>> means
>>> very well but sometimes doesn't know whether or not to let him do things
>>> on
>>> his own.
>>> I realize most guys don't really get into crafts, but I think working
>>> with
>>> your hands can be fun and I have no problem with it.
>>> I hope there are other guys on this list to share with as well.
>>>
>>> One of the things my little nephew is not used to doing or maybe doesn't
>>> like doing is to do a lot of exploring with his hands.  He's not been
>>> encouraged.  In addition, he doesn't really like getting his hands dirty
>>> or
>>> into things, because he's always been taught to sit still and stay clean
>>> and
>>> all that stuff that most children don't do!
>>> I'd love to expose him to this sort of thing and perhaps get into things
>>> where it will be inevitable for us to put our hands in things and get a
>>> little messy.
>>>
>>> Is this out of the ordinary for blind kids, and am I doing the right
>>> thing
>>> by wanting to work with him and play doing things with him?  Is this a
>>> good
>>> list for good crafts and such?
>>>
>>> I'd love feedback and ideas.
>>>
>>> Dick Carlson
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org/b.butte
>>> rfly%40comcast.net
>>>
>>>
>>> __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
>>> signature
>>> database 5404 (20100828) __________
>>>
>>> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>>>
>>> http://www.eset.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
>>> signature
>>> database 5404 (20100828) __________
>>>
>>> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>>>
>>> http://www.eset.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org/terry.powers%40nih.gov
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> Nfb-krafters-korner:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org/terrencevane%40gmail.com
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrencevane
>> Facebook: www.facebook.comterrencevak
>> Skype: terrencevak
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
>> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Nfb-krafters-korner:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org/dogwoodfarm%40verizon.net
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Nfb-krafters-korner:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org/terrencevane%40gmail.com
>

-- 
Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrencevane
Facebook: www.facebook.comterrencevak
Skype: terrencevak