What is Blindness Visual Impairment
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or psychological factors. Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and ...
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How to raise kids when blind
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I am a 38 year old single parent and have been sighted all my life until recently. After years of slowly losing my vision, I am now legally blind and losing my vision rapidly and expected to become fully blind in the near future. My question is how can I make this an easier transition for my children?
I have an 11 year old who is very active and social who doesn't not like to sit around the house and is always going somewheres. Since I can no longer drive and be a taxi, we are having a lot of difficulty and fights over this. I also have a 6 year old with extreme ADHD and autistic qualities. Although very smart, has the emotional level of a 3 or 4 year old. I can now only see him once a week because I am not fully adjusted to my blindness and don't have the ability to care for him correctly. I really miss him. They both have issues with cleaning up after themselves and dressing normal. The cleaning up part is my fault as I always went behind them and cleaned everything along the way. I can no longer do this and I am getting very tired of tripping on things and finding gross food items in spots I can't see. Enough said. I have laid down the new "house rules" but it is tough for me to ask my kids for help. I am not sure of the appropriate way to do this that will not make them feel that I am incompetent or put too much responsibility on them. It is also very scary to think that if I can no longer raise them, I may lose them. Anyway, I would like to know everyone's thoughts on this. Perhaps some suggestions on how you have overcome these obstacles would help me greatly. Thank you - Kristin Posted on 06/24/08, 12:06 pm |
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Have you signed up for your local state's Department of Rehab yet? They also call it "Vocational Rehab".
VR can get you the training you need to remain active in your kids lives. There is NO reason at all you can't continue to pick up after and raise your children all on your own. Vocational Rehab can set you up with what they call "Independent living skills training" which covers all of what you just mentioned. We can tell you exactally what to do, other then to seek help from VR services, because we are not there to show you these things. The trainers they assign you for both Independant living skills, and mobility training, will help you a great deal, but you have to take the initiative and call your states local VR office. Usually people who loose their jobs and sign up for Social Security, the first thing they ask you on the application is "have you signed up for Vocational rehab services yet?" and if you haven't, they put you in touch with your local VR counselor, but I wouldn't want that long, as long as you fit the legal definition of Legal blindness, which is 20/200 or below, then you are eligible for VR services. I was even eligible for it when I had 20/100 back when I was in my early 20's, because i was eligible for Bioptic Driving. If you live in such a state that offers Bioptic Driving, and have 20/200 in at least one eye, then your eligible for that program also, otherwise the only thing we cannot do is drive a car. 
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Here is a list of your local Vocational Rehab offices in your state.
http://www.state.nj.us/labor/dvrs/vrscontact.html If you can't find one in that list, contact the closest one to you, and ask them who is assigned to your county. They come to you so you don't have to worry about transportation. They first pay for you to gat an initial eye exam to prove your legally blind, then they sit down and talk with you and recommend services you may need. They pay for everything so you don't have to worry about that. Its paid for by your local state, each state has one. From what you describe, it sounds to me like you just need some Independent living skills training classes, and mobility classes. They not only got me all that, but they helped me go back to school, and will help me find a job when I'm done. Independant living skills covers everything from cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, all your usual day to day tasks. They'll teach you how to do things around the house so you can continue raising your children. take care my friend,
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Sit down with your 11 year old and explain that mommy can't see to well anymore and really needs the help keeping things picked up so you don't get hurt.
Tom is right, contact your local commission for the blind, they can help with training. I have worked with my local one for 6 months and they have been wonderful. My last day with my rehab therapist ended yesterday, and I am a little sad about it but that just means I have learned alot and am able to do things around the house more safely. I even learned how to properly clean the house, which I didn't even know there was a trick to it. I prolly should mention that my rehab therapist is totally blind and lives by himself. I am still working on mobility training, which is ending soon also. My mobility trainer's girlfriend is legally blind and raised 4 kids on her own. You can do it, you just need a little outside help to show you how.
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