American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Convention 2024 NOPBC CONFERENCE AND BOARD MEETING
We Believe in Your Children's Dreams
by Denise Avant
Introduction by Cassie McKinney: Denise Avant is from Illinois. She’s very active in many capacities. She chairs our Membership Committee, so she connects with people on many levels. She has some important things to say to parents.
As Cassie said, I chair our NFB Membership Committee, and I think that’s important to you all as parents of blind children. I want to tell you a short story. Every year in June the church I attend recognizes all of the graduates, anywhere from preschool all the way up to postgraduate studies. This past Sunday we recognized one of our graduates. His name is Duke.
Duke is five years old. Duke is leaving preschool and going into kindergarten. He took a test, and for his age he tested in the 98th percentile for reading and in the 97th percentile for math. Duke told us back in May that he was accepted into ten schools, but he would not reveal which school he would be attending until the graduation ceremony.
Duke attends Sunday school. Most of the time when the little kids give their reports about how many people are in their class and what they studied and how much money they took in, the teacher has to say it all to the children so they can repeat it. But Duke actually is able to read for himself what is on the sheet of paper.
The reason Duke is able to do all this, why he is such an accomplished child, is that his mom, who has a PhD in education, and his grandmother, who is an accountant, read to him and taught him how to read. Duke is sighted. Duke says he wants to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a fireman, and an astronaut.
Why can’t blind children have dreams like that? Why can’t our children have scores that look like Duke’s when they’re age five? Why can’t our children read well, whether in Braille or large print?
Our children face low expectations. Sometimes when you realize that your child is blind or has low vision, others around you start to curb what your expectations should be for your child. I’m here to say you’re in the right place. We in the National Federation of the Blind believe in blind people. We believe in the hopes and dreams of blind people. We believe in your dreams for your children and the dreams your children may have. It’s part of our core vision that we dream big, and we will do everything we can to make sure your child can realize his dreams.
Your child’s blindness is not the characteristic that will define their future. Your children can live the lives they want.
We in the NFB have a number of programs. Maybe people have talked to you about them already. When I grew up, my mom didn’t have the programs that are available today. She didn’t have the National Federation of the Blind. She thought, as long as she can see a little she’ll be fine. But if she loses her vision, I don’t know what will happen. She didn’t have a parents of blind children organization where she could get the opinion of experts in the field of blindness. She didn’t have a program like Braille Reading Pals so she could sit with me and share a book that had both large print and Braille. There was no Early Explorers program so she could give me a little cane and let me get the feel for using it. I didn’t learn to use a cane until I was thirteen years old, getting ready to graduate from grammar school. These are some of the things that will give your child confidence as they grow older.
We also have our BELL® Academy. BELL stands for Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning. Our Bell Academies are held every summer. They are designed to expose your child to Braille and other nonvisual techniques. We find that oftentimes if a child has some vision, the way I did as a child, the school will encourage the child to use the vision they have in order to read, no matter how hard it is on their body. In BELL we expose children to the feel of Braille and try to get them interested in learning it.
One of the best things about BELL is that there are blind volunteers who serve as mentors. For what may be the first time, you and your child will see blind people from all walks of life traveling independently, taking care of themselves, and doing the things other people do with sight. In BELL we show the parents that the child is capable of doing things that are age appropriate. A child who is blind can go into the kitchen and make their own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You don’t have to make a sandwich for them. I’ve heard of blind teens who have no idea how to pour themselves a glass of milk!
We also have the National Reading Media Assessment. When a teacher administers the assessment, it will let you and the school district know whether your child should use large print or Braille, or maybe a combination of the two. Maybe your child should be a dual media learner.
Finally, you may want to look into our training centers. The Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB) has a summer program for children where they get to dissect a shark. The Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB) has a year-round program for blind infants and toddlers. You can consult with experts in the field of blindness about the best ways to help your child grow from a toddler to a kindergartener.
These are some of the programs we have in the National Federation of the Blind to raise your expectations for your child and raise your child’s expectations as well, to give your child the confidence to succeed. I’m glad you’re here at this convention, but I urge you to go home and join your local NFB chapter. Join your state parents’ division so you can share with other parents and seek their support. You also can seek the support of other blind people in your local chapter. I think in the long run you will find it to be a confidence builder. You will have support when others try to tell you that your child can’t be in the STEM field, your child can’t become a teacher, because blind people can’t do those things.
I think that belonging to the National Federation of the Blind can help you. It will strengthen you, and ultimately it will strengthen your child.