A New Generation of Blind Children

A New Generation of Blind Children

Future Reflections April/May/June 1985, Vol. 4 No. 2
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A NEW
GENERATION OF
BLIND CHILDREN
(Note: Reprinted from the Spring,
1985 Blind Washingtonian ; the newsletter
of the National Federation of the
Blind of Washington state.)
For those of us in the NFB, there has
always been an awareness of issues beyond
ourselves. We fight, not only for
our generation, but the next.
Due to advances in the treatment of premature babies, that next generation
will be as large as our own, if not
larger. As children are being saved at
lower birth weights, more and more babies
are again contracting R.L.F. (Retrolental
Fibroplasia). In these low
birth weight babies, careful monitoring
of oxygen cannot prevent R.L.F. All babies below 1,000 gr. wt. will have
R.L.F. Many of these babies will become
blind.
There are as many babies being blinded
now as during the peak years of '43 '53.
At that time every blind school in the
country was overflowing and many mainstreaming
programs were founded.
The first wave of Washington State
three year old R.L.F. children will be
eligible for preschool next September.
There are no adequate programs for
these children.
We have a moral obligation to these
children to assure that they have educational
opportunities now and full first
class citizenship as adults.
We need to strengthen mainstream programs
across the state. All blind children
must have access to Braille and
early cane travel instruction. We must
strengthen the Washington State School
for the Blind. It will be needed for
outreach to mainstream programs,
schooling for rural children, those who
"fall between the cracks" or need a
little extra help. We must call for
more Department of Services for the
Blind family workers. There are two
workers for the whole state and they
each have a case load of 600. Most
important, we must work closely with
our new local N.F.B. parents affiliate,
the Northwest Parents of Blind Children.
Together, we the blind and parents of
blind children can assure that the next
generation has the needed opportunities.
For further information on the medical
aspects of the new R.L.F. wave see "A
Re-examination of the Role of Oxygen in
Retrolental Fibroplasia" by Lucey and
Dangman in Pediatrics, January, 1984.
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