[nabs-l] learning independent living

[Rania]

I had to go to Bism because when i was a kid my mom didn't know how to teach 
me how to do things like how to cook. I had chores like cleaning the 
bathroom but that was about it. I did mix batter when she was making 
pancakes or baking a cake but because she didn't know how to teach me other 
things I didn't learn them until I became an adult.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christina Mitchell" <cnaylor073 at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 9:00 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] learning independent living


> My mom is just like your mom.  She wants nobody in the kitchen with
> her helping her cook.  She's the type of person who's into doing her
> own cooking and cleaning.  I never was taught life skills when I was
> little so I had to catch up with it later when I turned an adult.  I
> remember when I was little, I tampered with the stove just to see how
> a stove worked and my mom scolded me for it.  She didn't want me near
> a stove whatsoever.  If I got burned, she would have a fit.  When I
> was 9, I was away from my mom for an issue I won't get into and was
> placed in my aunt's care.  I wasn't as independent with her either.
> My sister and I both had chores but they were simple ones.  We mainly
> had to keep our room cleaned and after dinner, I would take out the
> trash and put away dishes while my sister washed the dishes.  Then
> when I got older I learned to wash the dishes.  My aunt figured that
> because I was too young that I would be more proned to breaking the
> dishes so that's why she had my sister wash them.  I would put away
> the plastic bowls and she would put the plates away.  I learned to
> cook simple things as boiling eggs, making hotdogs ETC, but not
> preparing big meals because she would do all of that.  So as I got
> older, I then went to training centers and had ADL lessons at my own
> apartment.  I still need help with some things I'm still not too keen
> on.  My fiance and I live together and he's also blind.  He was taught
> life skills when he was younger so he's a big help to me in showing me
> things I still don't know how to do.  We help out each other.
> Whatever he doesn't know I teach him and whatever I don't know he
> teaches me.  I too wish I had patient parents and an aunt who would've
> taught me more then what I did.
>
> On 5/24/09, Ashley  Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I know we can attend centers to learn life skills as adults.  But I think
>> its better to learn skills growing up at age appropriate times.
>> Unfortunately, while I recieved great academic services like braille
>> handouts and alternative formats for texts, I did not get much 
>> independent
>> living training. I plan to do something about that of course.
>> I think parents should take an active role in teaching skills so you're 
>> not
>> catching up later on and learning skills you could have learned at age 9.
>>
>> For me, my mom did not want us kids in the kitchen with her.  She wanted 
>> to
>> do things her way on her own.  So this isn't a totally blindness thing. 
>> My
>> brothers were older.  The extent of their cooking was microwaving food or
>> preparing cereal.
>> My brothers didn't do many house chores probably for the same reasons. 
>> They
>> did more than me though.
>>
>> I learned braille and had some O/M in school.  I learned computers and my
>> technology through tutors at the department for the blind and reading the
>> mannual.
>>
>> I was sent a rehab teacher as a teen after school at home.  I had two. 
>> They
>> taught me some basics.  They labeled the appliances, showed me how to do
>> laundry and labeled it and more.  They showed me dimo tape and how to 
>> label.
>>
>> We did some cooking  and cleaning.
>> This was helpful.
>> I'd like to hear what you learned at home since I shared mine.
>> So my questions are:
>> 1. Did you do cooking at the age appropriate times?
>> Were you able to do as much as your siblings if you have them?
>> 2.  Did you participate in doing chores or other tasks as part of the
>> family?  I actually met a blind teen who did house work and recieved
>> allowance.  So I know some parents do this.  This girl, Amanda, was not a
>> federationist but her family raised her with nfb philosophy.
>>
>> 3. What do you wish your parents or family had done differently.
>> For me I wish I had more opportunity and a patient mom to help me learn 
>> and
>> then I would help her fix dinner.
>> I met a few blind peers at camp who said their mothers let them make a 
>> dish
>> for dinner such as a salad or dessert.  I wish I had done that.
>> Unfortunately many of us are  protected and in reality we were pretty
>> capable.  I guess most of you went to centers to rectify any deficits or
>> learned on your own.
>>
>> Ashley
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>
>
> -- 
> Christina
>
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