Monday, June 14, 2010

Vision Impairment in my Life

As soon as I tell people that I was raised by a single mom who is also blind (with additional disabilities), people always ask :"Wow, was that hard?" My reply is always the same, "No". It wasn't hard, it was difficult but it wasn't hard. I know my answer sounds a little crazy but let me explain why.
My mom loved me and I knew it everyday. That's the only reason why it wasn't hard. My mom couldn't help me with my homework. She never went to watch me play softball. There are lots of things she didn't do. But none of that matters. She couldn't see anything I did. She lost the remainder of her vision before I was born. This is the point I want families of children with vision impairment to understand: My mom didn't see anything I did. She was limited visually and with resources so I didn't have a lot of awesome things. However, she really did see it all. She was so proud of me that I always felt like she could see whatever it was I wanted to show.
Sure,there were challenges. But, the challenges weren't daunting. I learned early on in my life how to talk with my mom; how to help her see what I wanted to show her.
That is what parents can learn: how they need to talk, communicate, with their children. I'm gonna post more about what it was like but for now, this is a good start!
Do it at home: Take a moment and think about activities you like to do with your child that truly make you happy. Think about the activities where you honestly forget that your child has a vision impairment. Write those activities down then go do them!!

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