Whether you are a parent with a disability or a child of a parent who has a disability, life comes with a unique set of challenges and successes. One parent and one child each share their perspectives on blind parenting.
On Being a Blind Parent
Nicole was born with oculocutaneous albinism, a genetic condition causing a lack of melanin pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes. It also causes visual impairment. While Nicole admits that being a blind parent has challenges, she doesn’t see them as any more difficult than challenges every other parent faces.
“Truly, I think the most significant difference as a blind parent, as opposed to someone with no disability who is a parent, is in transportation, and the way we plan and execute travel plans with children, since we are unable to drive.”
Sure, there’s more planning and travel time, usually via public transportation, involved when getting from here to there, but Nicole and her family make it work!
When it comes to parenting in general, creative solutions are common among parents with disabilities. “When our children were very young,” shares Nicole “we utilized babywearing in order to keep our children close, safe, and secure. In terms of baby playing, I used various methods, including closing off certain spaces, childproofing all areas, and, as our children became more mobile and independent, we would stay in close proximity.”
On Being the Child of a Blind Parent
Heather grew up with a mother who was blind, and shares some unique experiences when her mother’s other heightened senses came into play.
“I can recall a few times when friends visiting our house would be shocked by my mom’s keen hearing. She could hear us whispering to each other from the next room. Or when my mom’s keen sense of smell would get me in trouble. I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup before high school, and my mom could smell when I was wearing compact powder.”
And now a mom herself, Heather uses her mother’s ability to thrive as a parent to help shape her own parenting experience: “Seeing my own mother’s resilience to life’s challenges, and recognizing how she did the very best she could given her situation, has absolutely put my own parenting in perspective.”