[AERNet] Blind kids

[Jody W. Ianuzzi]

Hi all,

I am reading Michael May's biography CRASHING THROUGH. He describes how his 
mom expected him to do everything his brothers and sisters did.  He rode a 
bike and did his chores around the house.  Erik Weihenmeyer's book TO TOUCH 
THE TOP OF THE WORLD also describes normal expectations of a blind kid.

I was lucky too because I was raised as a sighted kid.  I have met too many 
blind adults who literally get lost crossing a room because they never were 
expected to do anything when they were growing up.  The really sad thing is 
that their disability is not blindness, it is lack of normal skills to 
travel and interact with the real world.

I would suggest that these over protective moms read the books I mentioned 
and Tom Sullivan's book IF YOU COULD SE WHAT I HEAR.

I would ask what they want for their kids when they grow up.  Do they want 
them to be adults who fully participate in life or do they want them to sit 
in a chair and have people do things for them.
JODY

"WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH
TO SEE IN THE WORLD" ~ Gandhi