[blindkid] feelings of blind children
Alison Stephens
amspencer at yahoo.com
Mon Mar 4 18:35:21 UTC 2013
I wanted to say, Arielle, I appreciate your comments about how you felt as a child regarding how your parents reacted to your blindness. It provides some good perspective for me as a sighted parent of a blind four year old.
Right now my son does not know that he is blind, but I can see the wheels turning in his head. He asks me about the paper I read stories from and yesterday he asked what was the purpose of some piano sheet music I was using. The other day, a boy ran up to him and grabbed his cane ignorantly, and asked several questions about its purpose and about Nate's blindness. I was very aware that Nate was listening to what I said. I try to answer in an honest and non-judgmental way. I often say to other kids that he can't see with his eyes but that he uses his hearing, cane and touch instead. When asked why his eyes don't see, I say they formed differently when he was a baby. I don't know if these are the best answers, so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
And in the future when Nate asks me about it, I want to be honest, yet not make him feel bad about it in any way. Do I tell him that most people see with their eyes, or do I let him figure this out on his own? I feel that telling him that fact might make him feel bad, but should he know? I would think the gradual approach might be better. As in some other topics with bringing up a child, maybe I should match the complexity of the answer to the complexity of the question?
Thanks for any thoughts,
Alison
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