[blindkid] Preserving memories

Mon Dec 26 23:49:33 UTC 2011

Jennifer,

Since loosing my eye sight I have turned to digital recorders to replace the
family albums. My nephew was born  2 eyears after loosing my eye sight. I
had the distinct pleasure of having spent his very first three months of
life with him. I recorded his gurgles and coos. In addition I recorded his
cries and giggles. I even remember when I played back his own sounds for
him, by the silence that fell when he heard me play back his own voice. i
have since made recordings every  time I see him. I have recordings at 3
months, 2 years, and 3 years. He will be 4 in April. I have since done this
with my partners nieces and nephews, well mine too I should guess, and it is
a really fantastic  replacement for the pictures  I can no longer
appreciate. I would think that as Steven said, a recording would certainly
invoke the same memories as those that visual stimuli do. digital is a great
way to go for sure. I do however, make the occasional video recording,
complete with audio, just in case there will be that day when science allows
me to see once more. Peace. 

Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York  10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."

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-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
Sent: Monday, December 26, 2011 6:08 PM
To: Jennifer Weisner; NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind
children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Preserving memories

Hi Jennifer,

First, I grew up in a time when there were no easy ways to make videos or
recordings and my parents would describe 
pictures that were taken.  It wasn't something I gave a gread deal of
thought to as I grew up, so please understand 
that whatever you do will be a plus.  Still, your idea of videos with sound
is a good one, not just to talk about the day's 
events but also to capture some of the real sounds of the day as well.
Also, small audio recorders have become so 
inexpensive, that it might provide another option in some situations.  As
time passes, you will become more aware of 
what kinds of things capture his interest.  He may be a child who loves
touching objects that trigger memories, or it is 
possible they won't mean that much to him, he may lean more toward the
actual sounds.  It could even happen that 
he won't care about the memories as much as you think he should.  

I have some old recording of such things as old music recitals and concerts
in which I participated, and they are 
important to me.  I am also glad that I have some recordings of persons who
were important in my life but who have 
passed away.  

Mostly, it is my belief that you will do well just by thinking about it.
There is so much to raising a child, though, blind or 
not, that you aren't going to do a perfect job with this and you just can't
get too concerned about the fact that you may 
miss a memory now and then.  As blind kids, it is also important for us to
learn that there are going to be certain kinds 
of things that may not mean a lot to us such as reviewing picture albums.
Still, there are a lot of ways of making 
memories real, and it sounds to me as though you have given it some good
thought already.  

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:20:10 -0800 (PST), Jennifer Weisner wrote:

>Hi everyone, this is my first time posting to this listserv, but I have
been reading it since our son Hudson was born in 
July of this year. Hudson's eyes did not develop correctly in utero which
caused his blindness. It has definitely been a 
roller coaster of emotions since his birth, but we have found acceptance and
are enjoying our sweet funny boy. We 
have services in place for him, and he seems to be thriving. 
>In looking back over our pictures from Christmas today, it struck me that
Hudson won't be able to see them (I'm still 
getting used to how things like that just catch me by surprise). We did
record a few videos, but I didn't think about 
doing something specifically for him so he can listen to it later. I have
always made photo albums for our older 
daughter, and she loves to look back at them and talk about past events. I
would love to hear your ideas about how I 
can preserve memories for Hudson. Maybe videos where we talk about the
events of the day? Or some sort of box 
with tactile items related to the special occasion? I'm sure you all are a
wealth of knowledge, so please share it with 
me and help ease my "mommy guilt"! Thanks so much!

>Jennifer Weisner
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