Talking with the Parent of A Blind Child

Talking with the Parent of A Blind Child

Braille MonitorApril 1986
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Talking with the Parent of A Blind Child
by Pauline Murphy

(This article appeared in the January,
1986, edition of Insight, the newsletter
of the National Federation of the Blind
of South Dakota.)
It was hard to find the mother because
of the secrecy among "professionals."
Yet, I knew that the family could use
some help. Reports I received told me
that I as a blind parent who also was a
blind child, might be of assistance.
So, find her I did.
It turns out that she was hungry for
material. She soon had copies of Future
Reflections and of the Resource Guide
for Parents and Educators of Blind
Children. She also had some fears,
which came out in her questions as we
talked. "How did you feel when you
discovered you were different?" What
she was really asking is how I felt when
I found I was blind. I replied that I
never really knew myself to be different
because my parents did not encourage me
to believe that. Blind persons are not
different, although we may do some
things differently. My parents taught
me like they taught my brothers and
sisters. Other concerns were: Would her
blind child have to go away for school?
What if she made a mistake as a parent
raising a blind child? We talked some
about these, and she will get some more
materials to help her, as well as
support from us.
Later I could not but wonder aloud why
she had not been at our fine seminar
last December. Had the "professionals"
not given her the information? Was the
news coverage, though we had a good deal
of it, insufficient? I don't know the
answer, but it seems that we are now
communicating. We can go from here.
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