[blindkid] talking to a child about blindness

[Carol Castellano]

Hi,

I think your instinct to talk about being blind in a normal way is 
absolutely correct and one of the keys to having your daughter grow 
up to calmly accept all parts of herself, including her 
blindness.  Others have mentioned the many ways we in the Federation 
help parents do this.  Our kids are listening.  As we speak to our 
families, neighbors, teachers, and others in the community, they are 
hearing the words we use to describe and discuss their blindness.  So 
learn and use the positive language; then, when your child is older, 
this will be familiar and natural to her and she will begin to take 
on her own self-advocacy.  Make sure she meets other blind children 
and adults so that she has an expanded sense of normalcy.

You've probably heard or read that we often describe blindness as 
just another characteristic.  You might hear someone say, "my son, 
who happens to be blind..." etc.  This is another helpful way to 
discuss her blindness.  "Daddy's tall.  Mommy's short.  You're going 
to be tall just like Daddy.  Mommy's got red hair.  You've got red 
hair just like Mommy.  Our friend Joe is blind.  You're blind like 
Joe.  We all have different parts to ourselves and that's part of 
what makes the world a wonderful place."  That sort of thing.

When Serena was little, we called her brother (sighted) Eagle Eye, 
because he really had a great visual talent and could always find 
little items that had fallen on the floor.  We called Serena (still 
do) the Big Ears and the Family Memory.  I think you can figure out why!

Another aspect of this is that sighted parents usually do not know 
how blind people accomplish various tasks, so when things like this 
come up, you can tell you're daughter, "Oh, we'll have to call Joe 
and find out how grown up blind people take the cookie pan out of the 
oven" or whatever.  In other words, in all parts of life, you can 
facilitate your daughter's feeling comfortable and empowered.

Best of luck!

Carol

Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nfb.org/nopbc


At 05:58 AM 3/12/2010, you wrote:
>Hi, I wondered if any of you could share with me the different ways 
>you have talked to your children about being blind. The ways to 
>explain it, or how to answer questions they might have. My daughter 
>is 2.5 and I want to talk with her about it in a normal sort of way. 
>I don't want to make her feel like there is something "wrong" with 
>her, don't want to use the "your eyes are broken", as from my mind, 
>that would be negative. I want to just be able to talk about it in a 
>gentle normal sort of way, any help would be appreciated. I just 
>don't want to say the wrong thing.
>_______________________________________________
>blindkid mailing list
>blindkid at nfbnet.org
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
>for blindkid:
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/blindchildren%40verizon.net