[Nfbf-l] Fw: [rehab] National Federation of the Blind Successful in Returning Infant to Her Parents

[Beth]

This is great.  I will have to work hard with my org skills intructor
at CCB to learn childcare techniques.  Should I perhaps bring my
Freedom Bell when I get it to a hospital when giving birth to my first
baby? lol
Beth

On 7/22/10, RJ Sandefur <joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
> To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 2:01 PM
> Subject: [rehab] National Federation of the Blind Successful in Returning
> Infant to Her Parents
>
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> CONTACT:
>
> Chris Danielsen
>
> Director of Public Relations
>
> National Federation of the Blind
>
> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>
> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>
> cdanielsen at nfb.org
>
> National Federation of the Blind Successful
>   in Returning Infant to Her Parents
>
> Family Reunited After Wrongful Seizure of Child
>
> Independence, Missouri (July 22, 2010): The
> National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and its
> Missouri affiliate announced today that they have succeeded in
> a legal fight to bring a two-month-old infant,
> Mikaela Sinnett, home to her parents, Blake
> Sinnett and Erika Johnson of Independence.  The NFB of Missouri
> hired an attorney to assist the couple after
> Mikaela was taken from them at Centerpoint
> Hospital almost immediately after she was born.  For fifty-seven
> days the couple, both of whom are blind, were
> allowed to visit their child in foster care but
> were not allowed to bring her home.  The sole reason given
> by Missouri's Department of Social Services was
> that the couple was blind and could not properly
> care for Mikaela without the assistance of a sighted person
> twenty-four hours a day and seven days a
> week.  An evidentiary hearing was scheduled for
> July 20, but at the last minute the state of Missouri dismissed
> the case against the couple.
>
> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
> Federation of the Blind, said: "The National
> Federation of the Blind is pleased that the state of Missouri has
> dismissed its case against Blake Sinnett and
> Erika Johnson and returned baby Mikaela to their
> care.  Despite the fact that blind parents are successfully
> raising children across the nation, blind
> Americans continue to find that misconceptions
> and stereotypes about the capabilities of blind people too often
> result in hasty and unwarranted decisions to
> remove children from the custody of blind
> parents.  The worst nightmare of parents everywhere-having a child
> taken away-is sadly part of the lives of too many
> blind parents.  The National Federation of the
> Blind stands ready and willing to help state officials
> across the country understand how blind people
> use alternative techniques to care for their
> children.  But the blind of America will not tolerate our children
> being taken from us."
>
> "We were and are outraged at the action of
> Centerpoint Hospital and the state of Missouri,"
> said Gary Wunder, president of the National Federation of the
> Blind of Missouri.  "Children's services have the
> job of protecting children from abuse and we have
> nothing but admiration for that work.  Taking a child
> away because her parents are blind is an entirely
> different matter which violates state and federal
> law.  We have gotten Mikaela back home, but we must
> fundamentally change a system that presumes the
> incompetence of blind parents and operates on a
> principle of guilty until proven innocent rather than the
> reverse.  We cannot help but think that new
> parents who are blind in Missouri will avoid
> seeking medical and social services that they may need for fear
> that they will experience a similar ordeal.   We
> can never give back the two months this family
> has lost, nor can we restore to Erika the joy of nursing
> her child that this separation has made impossible.
> What we can do is use their adversity to change
> the system that allowed this atrocity and educate
> the people who have mistakenly equated blindness with
> a lack of perception, intellect, and judgment."
>
> On May 21, 2010, Erika and Blake went to
> Centerpoint Hospital, where Erika delivered
> Mikaela.  When trying to nurse the baby for the first time, Erika asked
> for assistance from a nurse when she thought
> something was wrong.  The nurse said that the
> baby was turning blue and helped reposition the baby, who then
> began to take nourishment.  The nurse assured
> Erika that it was common for new mothers to need
> some instruction and that she was doing fine.  Blake and
> Erika were therefore surprised when, some four
> hours later, they were met by a children's
> services worker who made inquiries about their vision; asked
> how they would feed, diaper, and supervise their
> child; and eventually decreed that Baby Mikaela
> would not be allowed to be discharged with her mother
> unless the social worker could be assured there
> would be constant supervision by someone with
> sight.  On the recommendation of Missouri's Children's Protective
> Services, Mikaela was placed in foster care and
> one-hour visits were arranged for several times
> each week.  When the National Federation of the Blind of
> Missouri determined that blindness was the only
> reason the child was taken by the state, the
> organization hired attorney Amy Coopman to handle the case.
> The National Federation of the Blind now has the
> option to file complaints with the Missouri Human
> Rights Commission and/or the federal Office for Civil
> Rights, as well as at least three options that
> can be pursued in the state's courts.
>
> ###
>
> About the National Federation of the Blind
>
> With more than 50,000 members, the National
> Federation of the Blind is the largest and most
> influential membership organization of blind people in the United
> States.  The NFB improves blind people's lives
> through advocacy, education, research,
> technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.
> It is the leading force in the blindness field
> today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In
> January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the
> Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and
> training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.
>
>
>          David Andrews and long white cane Harry, dandrews at visi.com
> Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920
>
>
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