The world of blind parents

When it comes to parents in today’s world, the task of raising kids has certainly become much more complex, challenging, and interesting. But when you throw in the variable of blind parents raising kids, you have an even more interesting and complex recipe.

I myself am not a parent but I have blind friends who are parents to both blind as well as sighted kids. There are challenges, to be sure, for both cases listed above, but for blind parents I believe that some of the major barriers could be these:

An attitude barrier – where society may still have problems understanding that blind people could be great parents despite not being able to see.
Social barriers – where blind parents may not be easily accepted into the social world of being able to take their kids to various functions.

I believe that many blind parents are more than capable of raising their kids, blind or sighted, and that their determination and propensity to innovate goes a very long way in helping them to cope. Technology continues to make it easier for blind parents to interact more effectively with both their kids as well as with other parents. You could learn more by visiting www.nfb.org.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

So Sad for a Blind Parent

In my humble opinion, one of the saddest things that anyone could ever have to face is that of being a blind parent who is never going to be able to see the faces of their kids. I have had this very sobering conversation with so many persons over the course of my life, and I especially feel for those parents who have lost their vision after having been able to see the faces of their kids. That is, those who have lost their sight after their kids were born.

It's something like this: You receive one or more very precious gems; gems that shine like the stars, moon, and sun. You treasure their precious smiles and their images quickly become imprinted on your mind forever. One day, however, you suddenly realize that you can no longer see them. Poof! Try as you may, you are unable to see the shine and glitter of their smiles. So you start to use your memory to help you preserve the image forever.

You are devastated! You can still hear them, smell them, touch them, but sadly now you are unable to see them. What do you do? What can you do? Sadly nothing but hold on to your memories for dear life. It's not the end of the world, however. Life goes on, and my dear friend, Guido, is a perfect example.

Guido is the proud papa of a loving and adored daughter, Alex. At one point he was able to see her cherished face, but for most of her life he has not been able to do so. This has not stopped him from being a proud and involved papa. So why am I so sad for blind parents?

I guess that as Easter makes its way towards us, and I think of Christ dying for us and rising again, there are certain things that just get to me at this time of the year. Yes, it's sad for blind parents who are unable to see the faces of their precious angels but as my associate Geof told me recently: "I don't think about it. I just keep on going for if I did I would go crazy."

Time for me to do the same.

Happy Easter everyone!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special-needs business consultant wishing you a terrific day and reminding you to go out there and tell the rest of the world that being a blind parent is not the end of the world.

Growing Up With Sighted Parents

In a previous blog, I talked about blind persons being parents. I grew up with two wonderful sighted parents who allowed me to go out there and take the world by the tail. For the most part, it was a delicate balance of ensuring that I fit in and at the same time being realistic enough to understand that being blind had its limitations.

The great thing was that my parents never really said no to my requests for adventure, but they were naturally cautious and timid towards certain things. My dad allowed me to reach for the stars when it came to education, but he was always leery when it came to my choice of career. My mom on the other hand was a bit more outgoing and made very sure that I fit in with the sighted world. With two loving brothers for company, a gentle granny who prodded me along, and wonderful cousins, I managed to grow up in a very unique type of environment.

It was not always easy for me at times, mainly when I wanted to be a bit too mainstream for my own good, but I learned fast. There were the times when I was limited by my lack of sight and my parents had to step in and teach me the reality of the situation. Nevertheless, I soldiered on. As far back as I can remember, it was always my goal to leave home as early as I could in order to be as independent as possible. It has paid off, but not without tremendous sacrifice on the part of both me and my family.

I learned to ride a bicycle and had bike races with my dad along the beach. He taught me how to swim and fly a kite. We went fishing together. He and my brothers played football and cricket with me in the park. My mom and granny taught me how to cook and bake and even played dollhouse with me. My dad was my constant source of knowledge, while my mom and granny were my constant tutors of life. As for my brothers? Well, they were brothers all the way.

If you would like to learn more about how sighted parents can interact with their non-sighted children, then you can contact me directly at donnajodhan@sterlingcreations.ca, and I would be delighted to give you some useful pointers.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special-needs business consultant reminding you to go out there and tell the world that when it comes to sighted parents being able to raise blind children, nothing is impossible.

Can Blind Persons Become Parents?

This is one of the most frequent questions I am asked. My answer is yes, but it is a tempered yes.

It is never easy to be a parent at the best of times whether or not you are blind, but for a blind person the challenges are many. Many significant steps have been taken within the past two decades to make it easier for blind moms and dads to become successful parents, but there will always be many concerns on this topic.

I myself am not a parent but I have several blind friends who are parents. I would hasten to add that if one of the parents is sighted, it makes things a lot easier for the home. Even if one parent has a bit of sight it is much easier than having both parents being without sight. In many cases, if one of the parents is blind and was born with a genetic disease, chances are that their kids will also be born blind. I have seen several situations of a combination of one or both parents being blind and their kids either being born blind or being born fully sighted.

The challenges for both parents being blind and the kids also being blind are different to those for two blind parents having fully sighted children. The challenges for one parent being blind and the kids fully sighted are different to those of one parent being blind and these kids being blind. Confusing you say?

Maybe so but when all is said and done, blind persons are no different in their desire to be good parents to their kids whether they are sighted or blind. There are many techniques that blind persons can use to help them raise their kids and these techniques are improving all the time. The important thing is for persons to be fully educated about the potential challenges that they could face as blind parents. I personally know blind dads and sighted moms with sighted kids, blind dads and sighted moms with blind kids, and blind parents with sighted kids. They each have their own unique suite of challenges to deal with but the ones that I know have done very well for themselves. Parents and kids have managed to overcome.

I was born to two wonderful sighted parents and in a subsequent blog I will tell you what it was like growing up with two sighted parents at the helm along with two sighted brothers. My closing advice to any blind person would be: Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it but you must be prepared to face interesting and ongoing challenges. The road would be a bit longer and bumpier for you but if you really want it, it can be achieved. One of your biggest challenges will undoubtedly come from the rest of society.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special needs consultant wishing you a terrific day and reminding you to go out there and help convince others that blind persons can become parents.