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

Fri Jul 23 03:38:28 UTC 2010

Yes
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Beth" <thebluesisloose at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 9:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Fw: [rehab] National Federation of the BlindSuccessful 
in Returning Infant to Her Parents


> 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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