Making it on the Playground

A Resource for Parents and Teachers of Blind and Low Vision Children

Apr 1

She’s Got Legs…and Knows How to Shave Them!

by Making it on the Playground

Intrigued?  You should be.  Especially if you are a parent or teacher of a pre-teen girl.  Despite the fact that most of the country is still buried in snow or hovering below freezing, the calendar does say its spring, and eventually, warm weather will come, bringing with it an innate desire to don cute shorts, skirts, swim suits, and caprice once again.  But whether you’re blind or not, there is nothing that will detract from one’s cute summer outfit faster than a pair of stubbly, harry legs peeking out from underneath it. 

Feeling a bit awkward about this subject?  You’re probably not alone.  Talking about shaving (for females) is something us women usually save for conversations with our girl friends or for the day spa, or if you’re a guy, just something you’re not interested in talking about.  AS a parent though, this topic can be extremely awkward as it’s generally a sign your little girl is growing up, and a gateway to more difficult conversations to come—puberty, sex, dating, and boys.  YIKES!  As a parent of a blind or low vision daughter, you might even have greater trepidation about this topic.  You worry your daughter will harm herself because she can’t see what she is doing, or you are unsure as to how to show her how to do this in general, let alone safely.   

            A couple of days ago, this issue came up on a listserv I follow, which inspired this post.  .  Of course, the list was flooded with replies from blind females sharing their own experiences of how and when they learned to shave.  Some common themes I saw however were that most blind females learned much later than their sighted peers, and most learned from someone other than their parent—like a blind mentor or friend.  One female even shared how her mother was so concerned about her using a razor that she purchased leg waxing sessions for her instead which turned out to be disastrous—in her opinion. 

sThroughout my experience working with blind youth, I’ve come across a lot of adolescent and young adult females who did not know how to perform a lot of these kinds of “personal or “socially age appropriate” practices.  (For example, how to shave, put on make up, do their own hair, choose their own clothing, etc.) Hopefully,

This post will help ease some of the anxiety parents may have about at least the issue of shaving, and share some practical advice for teaching your daughter how to safely implement this skill at an age appropriate time.    So, here we go.

 

When is it the right time for girls to start shaving?

            For starters, this is something that you will need to determine based on your own principles and values for your children.  (i.e., some people may have other cultural issues about shaving, or rules about when certain “rites of passage” practices like shaving, dating, wearing make-up, etc. will begin for their children.) Generally, however, most females start practicing this habit as “pre-teens” or when they begin entering puberty( around ages 11-13) or around the time they are in junior high (grades 6-9).   Again, this is something that you as a parent will determine with your child, but in so doing, remember to keep in mind what is age appropriate for your child and to try not to let blindness be a factor in making your determination as there are ways to teach this skill in a nonvisual and safe way—which we will discuss later in this post. 

 

Who should be the one to teach this?

            I add this section because there are a number of teachers of blind students who read these posts.  Perhaps you have an adolescent student whom you think needs to learn this skill, but are unsure of what your role is.  In that situation, I would suggest you speak to the parent.  Given that this can be a bit of an awkward topic because of its ties to puberty or just that it’s a practice that we all generally do when we shower or bathe, it seems more appropriate for you in your role as a teacher to not be the one to provide the instruction.  However, you can be a resource for a parent or even connect a parent to a blind mentor if they do not feel comfortable teaching this to their child themselves. 

 

Why should I teach my daughter to shave rather than just allowing her to wax her legs or use other alternative ways for hair removal?

            This is certainly a personal call which you and your daughter can decide together.  However, in making this determination, I encourage you to not let fear or blindness is a determining or detouring factor.  As I have said, there are safe ways for a blind person to use a razor.  Knowing this skill can still be valuable for other reasons (i.e., alternatives can be expensive, time consuming, result in skin irritations or unexpected reactions, or not as effective).  Learning to use a razor safely and effectively can

Also help establish confidence in your daughter’s ability to tackle something that at first might seem scary.  I would encourage you and your daughter to give the basic practice of traditional shaving at least a try at first before ruling it out and moving on to other alternatives.  Then, if you and your daughter choose another method (and many women do) at least your daughter will know that she made an informed choice and not just a choice because of any fears blindness may have presented. 

How do I teach this in a non visual way?

            Contrary to how callace this post may sound, I really do understand where a lot of parents are coming from with respect to their fears or anxiety of their daughters using a razor which could potentially inflict harm.  My daughter fell down our outside stairs yesterday and scraped her forehead nose, and lip –didn’t even draw blood–and I cried for a half hour after it feeling like the most terrible mother in the world.  Yes, Unfortunately there is a possibility that your daughter could cut herself a time or two, but with a little practice and some nonvisual techniques, she can minimize or eliminate these risks entirely.  .  It is also important to keep a little perspective—most of the hand-held razors on the market are pretty small blades which can’t inflict too deep of a wound, and shaving the surface of the shins, thighs, or under arms has a pretty low risk of hitting any major arteries, .         

To get started, I would suggest you find a razor with a cap or guard on it.  Disposable razors might be a good choice for this as they are light weight, have a very small blade, and have a cap which protects you from the blade.  With the cap on, your daughter can explore with her hands what the razor looks like and how to distinguish the side of the head with the blade and the side without.  This is an important first step which will allow you to explain how the blade sits on the skin and the way to hold the razor safely. Next, decide whether you want to demonstrate the motion of using your hand to move the blade along your shin (or arm if easier for demonstration purposes) while your daughter holds her hands over yours to feel the motion, or if it is more effective for your daughter to hold the razor and you move her hands in the right motion.  Even a combination of these two hand-over-hand methods may be effective.  With her hands under or over yours, she will be able to feel the motion of how to pull the razor up in straight rows along her shin or arm.  The other hand will serve as a guide and move along each row to feel if it is clean.  You’ll also want to help demonstrate to her her how much pressure to apply with the razor to her skin surface so that she doesn’t press too hard and risk a cut, or too lightly so as not to be effective.  Instruct your daughter that she will start the shave of the next row to the side of where she did the last swipe.  Don’t worry about preciseness of even swipes as the other hand will feel patches that might get missed in the actual process.  In some ways, shaving nonvisually may be more effective in preventing missing spots and leaving stubbly patches.  Just encourage your daughter to swipe each time as close as she can to where she last finished.  This is where the other hand can also be a guide.  After working her way around the leg , it might be effective to encourage her to go back over the surface one more time to make sure she doesn’t miss patches between swipes –until she gets more comfortable with the practice.  Sometimes I even run my other hand right behind the hand with the razor at the same time to feel if I miss anything.  Shaving with a lather of soap or cream will also help with this as your daughter will be able to feel where she wiped the foam away and where to make the next swipe. 

            Once your daughter has demonstrated that she is comfortable with the motion and concept while doing the dry run with the blade on, you can move to the real thing.  You’ll definitely want to supervise the first time or two.  I recommend sitting on the side of the bathtub with your feet soaking in the water.  You’ll also want to demonstrate how to work up lather or how to apply shaving cream to the skin surface too before beginning.  You may even want to do a couple of practices with the blade still on while using water and lather.  There’s not much more to it after that except more practice of the real thing.  To be honest, I think over the dozens of years since I started shaving, I’ve only cut myself once or twice—and usually this was because I ran the razor across the scaly part of the back of my ankle or was using a really dull razor.  The worst “pain” I’ve ever really inflicted on myself while shaving was to shave on dry legs (not in the shower as opposed to dry skin) with no lotion or anything.  I don’t recommend doing that. And if you think, “Well, sure, you can see a little bit,” I can assure you that I’d have to be a ballerina with a magnifier to get my legs close enough to my face to see if they were smooth. 

            Once you’ve helped your daughter master this skill, your next problem will be having to deal with her pestering you to take her shopping for all those cute new shorts and skirts she’ll want to wear to show off her smooth legs.  Good ludk.  This might even be a bigger challenge than the shaving instruction!

 

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Mar 29

Eggstremely Easy Easter Fun!

by Making it on the Playground

Sorry this post is coming out a little late, but hopefully it might give you a few ideas at the last minute to test out with your little ones this Easter and spring season.  As most of you may know, there are a lot of traditional Easter fun activities like decorating eggs, hiding eggs, and egg rolls which are practiced around this time of year.  But, for our blind kids, these aren’t always the most fun in which to participate. So, I have been thinking of some ways to modify these popular practices in a way that would make them more inclusive for our blind children.  Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with and wanted to share.

1.  Decorating Eggs with Feel-Appeal

Perhaps many of you have traditions of dying and hiding Easter eggs.  Here are some easy modifications you can do to enhance this activity for your blind child.  Instead of coloring your eggs, consider giving them some “feel-appeal.  This will make the eggs tactually appealing and provide a great hands-on activity which you and your child and other family members can do together.  You may even want to consider having other family members do this activity along side your blind child while wearing a blind fold to help enhance the “feel-appeal” aspect of the activity. 

For this activity, I recommend finding some of those plastic eggs that open in half for filling with candy.  They come in a variety of sizes, but I recommend the larger size ones.  They will hold more weight on the outside and give you more surface area on which to work than the really small ones.  I also recommend using a glue gun, spray glue, and even some general white craft glue.  Each can be useful depending on what you are going to adhere to your eggs.  Hot glue obviously works the best for gluing items, but if your child isn’t ready to use a glue gun yet (and yes, a blind person can use a glue gun, but that’s a post for another time), I recommend the craft or white glue instead.  Rubber cement also could work, but it’s a bit messier and takes longer to dry.  Non-hot glue also is good because you can use your fingers to feel where to place the item rather then a prodder like you’d do with the hot glue.  It’s a little messy, but washable.  I tested this out earlier this week with some plastic eggs I bought, with the hopes of providing a picture or two, but my almost-Two-year–old got hold of them and had way too much fun carting them around the house in the egg carton and picked off most of the tactile pieces.  So, you’ll have to use your imaginations. 

Here is a list of a few suggestions of items which would work well for decorating:   (Most can be found around your house or in the craft isle at a local store like Wal-Mart or Target)

  • Small jewels (these come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes and one side      is flat for sticking to items—think bedazzling!)
  • Small foam stickers (come in a variety of shapes, colors, themes, and sizes; and      some also have an adhesive back.)
  • Uncooked Elbow macaroni noodles
  • Sand
  • Glitter     
  • Small shells or rocks
  • Tactile stickers
  • Small round candies like M & M’s (the minis ) or Red Hots
  • Cake or cookie decorating sprinkles

I found in my experience that the smaller or lighter the item, the better it stuck to the plastic eggs.  I especially found the jewels to work well.  I could also make Braille letters on the eggs with these which was fun.  For the sand or glitter, I used spray glue (which comes in an aerosol can and can be found in most craft isles).  I sprayed the surface of the egg and then rolled it around on a small plate of sand.  (I didn’t actually get to try with glitter or the sprinkles since I didn’t have any on hand, but I think it would work much the same way. There may be a concern with the sprinkles and the spray glue though if too much glue is used as it might cause the sprinkles to dissolve.)  This is a bit more of a messy process and really sticks to your fingers, but was still fun to create.  If you have a child who is a little tactually defensive, this could be a good messy play-kind of activity to test out with them, but you’ll definitely want to monitor that it’s not too much sensory overload for them as it is very messy on the hands.  It washes off easily though. 

            Basically, I would just recommend you look around your home and see what crafty things you can find.  I did experiment with foil and tissue paper, but it was hard to adhere it to the egg without using so much glue that it made it look like maudge-paudge.  The problem with this effect is that it feels the same despite the fact that your paper might have different textures.  The foil was okay, but it bunched a lot and didn’t stay smooth as I tried to wrap it around the obscure shape of the egg. 

            One other thing to remember is that sometimes things with feel-appeal may not always be the most aesthetically pretty or pleasing to see.  For example, the sand covered eggs aren’t really visually that nice, but tactually, they add a different kind of feel if you’re looking to design a variety of textures.  Just be creative and have fun.

 

Alternative Decorating Ideas

If your child doesn’t feel like creating tactile eggs, you could always place Braille labels (like ones made from sticky contact paper or dimo tape) on eggs with phrases or names written on them. 

            Another alternative is to create “Audible Decorations.”  Instead of distinguishing the eggs on the outside, you could place a variety of different sounding materials inside plastic eggs.  Each could create a different sound when shaken, thus still making each egg unique like decorating the outside does.  For example, rice, sand, beans, water, or small gravel would each make a different kind of sound.  (Just be sure to tape the plastic eggs together so that the contents won’t leak out.)

 

2.  Eggstra Fun Ideas

Traditional egg hunts are fun, and not really necessary to adapt as long as there aren’t eggs peeking out where someone with 20/20 vision can spot one from across the yard and sprint to it.  But here are a couple of suggestions for leveling the playing field some. 

  • hide all the eggs in ways that would require participants to feel with their      hands in and around something before locating the egg
  • try having all the participants hunt for the eggs with blind folds on (when I      was younger, we always took turns hiding and finding the eggs for each other,      so you could switch up the rounds and make some rounds be with blind folds      and others without) Just make sure there are penalties for peakers. 
  • With very young children, you could insert some kind of continuous noisemaker      like a luggage locator (this is a device you can purchase from an independent      living aids supplier which attaches to your suitcase and has a remote that      you press to activate the beeper on the locator connected to your      bag.)  or small alarm from an old      digital clock inside that would emit a sound continuously (I once had a      friend who dismantled one of these small inexpensive alarm clocks and      taped the mechanics of the clock that made the alarm beep on the under      side of a Frisbee so that a couple of blind friends and I could play      Ultimate Frisbee with some sighted friends of mine.).  You could also try some of those music      players that come in greeting cards which have an on/off switch so that      you could make it play continuously.       Then, hide the egg and let the children take turns hiding and finding      the egg by using their ears.  This same method could work for an egg roll so that your child could hear and follow his/her egg.  

 

Well, I hope these ideas have been helpful and maybe even helped wet your creative whistle.  .  Happy Easter and Passover to all.  Welcome Spring!  Again, I’m sorry for not providing a picture of our eggs we made this week, but there wasn’t really anything left to show except a very happy child.  I’d love to hear from you if you try out some of these methods with your family or students.  Also, if you have any suggestions of your own to share, please do so as I’m always looking for new ones.   

 

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Mar 13

Pages from the Hartle Playbook: Trying Out a New Alternative Technique

by Making it on the Playground

I’ve been meaning to write this post for several weeks now, but for various reasons have found little time to sit down and pound out a blog post. But, finally, here it is. So, a couple of weeks back, I was asked to give a talk in church. This meant, I was given a topic and asked to prepare essentially a fifteen minute speech (for lack of a better word) to present in our sacrament meeting service. It’s not the first time I’ve ever done this, especially since my work experiences have always required a number of presentations, but the first in awhile. Usually when I’m asked to give a speech of some kind, I typically have to memorize it, or I come up with a general outline of what I want to say and memorize that. This also means I can’t ever use direct quotes either unless I memorize them. I spend day’s first writing up the talk and then a few more trying to memorize it or at least the main points. I’ve written up outlines in large print, but never want to refer to them when I’m actually giving the talk because I’d have to hold the paper so close. Now that I know Braille better, I’ve also tried writing my outlines in Braille, but seeing that I’m not a very fast Braille reader, I am self conscious of using this method too for fear I’ll lose my place. My notes in whatever medium usually just end up keeping the podium warm as I usually result to just memorizing what I want to say, or “winging it”.

I’ve been complimented often in the past on my public speaking presentations, but I’ve always felt a little insecure or stressed about my public speaking abilities. I always come away remembering things I didn’t say, feeling that I could have been more articulate or concise, frustrated at my non verbal pauses )um, or ahs) or disappointed that I couldn’t refer to a quote directly rather than having to paraphrase it. I’ve always admired people who are really good at public speaking and have tried to develop this skill personally. I’ve always been slightly jealous of those individuals who can write out and deliver a great talk because they can read or refer to their notes easily.

Anyway, when this opportunity came up to speak in church, I decided to test out a new technique for giving my talk.

Last summer, I heard about this great idea from another blind individual for whom I have a great deal of respect. Like me, he is one of those “high partial “kids who never got Braille instruction in school and struggled over the years to “get by” with some of the strategies I mentioned above. Anyway, he introduced me to the idea of using a VictorStream as a kind of “audio teleprompt. for those of you who are unfamiliar with what a VictorStream is, you can learn more at the product website, but it’s basically a portable book player that can play digital audio files. You can also record audio files with the Stream. This individual shared with a group of us how he’d been practicing using his Stream to read aloud publically and had become pretty proficient at slowing the speed to the right pace for reciting along with it while listening to an ear piece. Because of some other features on the Stream, he could navigate to verses or pages just as quickly as if he was reading it and had become pretty proficient at using this technique for presentations. So, I decided to test it out.

This might sound like more work than it was worth, but I have to say, this method worked out really great for me as an alternative for not being a proficient print or Braille reader. So, first, I wrote out my talk on the computer like anyone would do. (BTW, I use JAWS on my computer). Then, after I got the talk to sound the way I wanted it to, I used the record function on my stream to record myself dictating my talk. Basically, I put headphones in my computer and had jaws read my document to me as I read it into the stream. I could have just uploaded the word file and listened to it as a text to speech file on the stream,(with a computerized or synthetic voice) but I wanted to put in voice inflections, pauses, etc. and have a more natural thing to listen to. Then, after a couple of run throughs with JAWS, I had a pretty good recording of myself “reading” my talk on my stream as an audio file. It sounds complicated, but it really wasn’t, especially if you’re used to using audio as a means of reading like so many of us blind or low vision people are. Then, I practiced listening and talking along with the audio recording on the Stream about a dozen times to get comfortable with the speed and listening to the talk in an ear piece. –just like how someone would read through or practice giving their talk aloud. . Going through it several times helped too because I became pretty familiar with pauses or tricky phrases so that I could anticipate them when I was “giving the talk.”

I have to admit, I was feeling very self-conscious about giving a talk this way since I’d never done it publically before, and as this method is a little unorthodox—especially wearing an ear piece in front of a congregation at church. But, I felt like I’d written a really good talk, and I knew there was no way I could memorize it well enough or in time to speak for fifteen minutes or to convey all the examples or quotes I had chosen . So, there was no turning back.

This strategy turned out to work fabulously for me and I have to say, I felt like I nailed my talk that Sunday. My delivery was great, and I got so many complements afterward for it. Some friends of mine even said they didn’t realize I had the ear piece in. One lady told me her teenager was blown away that I didn’t even mess up the whole time I was speaking. Several people told me they thought I must be a professional speaker—I wish. It’s been several weeks since I gave it and I am still hearing things about it. It was the first time in a long time I actually felt confident in my delivery and message. My husband—one of those great Braille readers who writes out his talks and delivers them flawlessly and who has brought audiences of 1000+people to their feet on more than one occasion even gave me more props than he usually does for my presentations which brought a smile to my face.

So the take away from this post is not that audio is best and that we should throw out all uses for Braille. I’m still a huge proponent for Braille, even by those of us with some vision who may be able to read large print in various circumstances –that’s a whole other argument for another post. But, I just thought I’d share how this alternative technique worked out for me as I’m never going to be a great Braille reader since I didn’t learn it earlier—unless I spend hours each day practicing , but as a busy mom, I can tell you this isn’t too likely. My print reading abilities are also limited, so having another strategy that is effective is comforting. I’m just introducing one more tool for the tool box. It’s definitely a tool I’ll be using again.

FYI, I’ve included the talk below. Keep in mind, the content will be spiritual or gospel centered, but I did use some personal blindness experiences to illustrate some points, so if you’re interested, feel free to read it.

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A time to prepare to meet God

I’d like to take a few minutes to introduce myself and my family to you as we are still fairly new to the ward. WE moved in to this ward a little over six months ago. Prior to moving here, we had been living in downtown Baltimore for the past seven years. I am originally from Utah and my husband is from Louisiana. WE have been married for about three and a half years now and have a little girl who will be two in April. My husband and I met back in 2002 when we were both scholarship winners for the National Federation of the Blind. Later that year, our paths crossed again when I was accepted to graduate school in Louisiana and it was there that we became netter acquainted with each other. AS luck would have it, our paths crossed again after I graduated from Louisiana Tech in 2004 and after Jesse finished an internship for Congressman Kingston of Georgia in WashingtonD.C. We both ended up getting jobs at the national headquarters for the NFB located here in Baltimore in 2005. Jesse is still employed there as a government programs specialist and works on passing legislation related to blindness issues on a national level. I am a certified teacher of blind students and up until our daughter was born, was serving as the Director of Education for the NFB. . In case you hadn’t realized yet, both Jesse and I are blind. My vision loss was caused accidentally when I was 12 years old. Jesse has a genetic degenerative eye condition called RP which he has had since birth. Usually the next question people ask us is whether or not our daughter can see. She is sighted and truly a blessing to us, not because she is sighted, but because she is ours.

WE consider ourselves to be your average All-American family with two parents that just happen to be blind. In short, we’d rather be known as just “Mary Jo and Jesse” rather than “The blind couple.” We’ve learned that our blindness doesn’t have to be a big tragedy and that life can go on. That being said, we always welcome questions about how we do things. We just want to help educate people on how we try to lead normal, meaningful lives just like all of you are striving to do.

Speaking of our lives, I’d like to talk for a few minutes about one of life’s important purposes. In Alma 34:32 we read, “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God, yea behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.” From this scripture, we are taught that it is the little things we do today, choices we make, and experiences we are having now that will help prepare us for the time when we will meet God. I hope you will indulge me as I share some personal experiences which I think may help illustrate this point. I was reluctant at first to do so, because I try not to make everything we always talk about to relate to blindness, but this seemed like such a perfect example that I felt like I should share it.

Since Jesse and I are blind, we both had the opportunity several years ago to attend one of the top blindness skills training centers in the country. In this program, blind and low vision individuals participate in a full emersion blindfold training program for six to nine months to learn skills of daily living, technology, Braille, cane travel, and positive attitudes about blindness. I would liken this a little bit too how we as members of the church are spiritually trained through church attendance, scripture study, prayer, and guidance of church leaders. Just as we were taught blindness skills each day that would help us in our lives, the gospel can teach all of us on a daily basis important skills that will help us throughout our life’s journey. Our goal as blind individuals was to prepare to meet the challenges blindness may bring our way. AS Disciples of Christ, our goal is to prepare for the time when we will meet our Savior and our Heavenly Father.

A couple of summers ago Jesse and I encountered a big test on our skills to travel as blind individuals. WE had been helping out at a summer camp one night which was held at TowsonUniversity. At the time, we were still living downtown. We wrapped up that night around 9 p.m. and headed out to catch a bus home. WE got directions from a friend of ours on how to get to the closest bus stop along York Road which would take us back to the light rail station so we could catch a train home. He had told us that the stop was a good ways away from where we were at the dorms, but that it was walk able and that he’d done it before. So we headed out to find the bus stop. I should also mention that we also had our three month old daughter with us. WE are no strangers to finding our way in unfamiliar areas, but that night, after about twenty minutes into the walk, we started to get a nagging feeling that we were going the wrong way, despite the fact we had followed our friend’s directions. WE got to the intersection where we were supposed to turn and should have found a bus stop, but there was no bus stop. We were also supposed to now be on York Road, which as most of you know is quite a busy road, but this road was nothing like that. At that moment, back behind us at the intersection, we heard a bus come by and turn the other way. WE knew then that we were on the wrong road and needed to figure out not only where another bus stop was, but which area we needed to get to to catch the bus going the direction we wanted. So, we headed back to wards where the bus had come, not even sure it was the number we wanted, or whether this was York Road. A few minutes later, we flagged down a passer-by pulling out of a parking lot to confirm what street we were on, only to find out we were blocks away from York road. We continued in the directions this driver gave us, but again found ourselves no where near any kind of major intersection or bus stops or near York Road. This same situation happened three more times with passers by assuring us that York Rd. was just another light down, or just a few blocks down, but somehow we never seemed to find the elusive York Rd. By this point, it was really getting late and starting to thunder and lightning. We were growing exceedingly more frustrated and concerned about getting home. WE surveyed our options again trying to figure out what to do. The most logical thing would have been to call a cab, but seeing as a cab driver would want something silly like an actual pick up address, this option was out. We also contemplated calling some trusty friends who may be willing to go on a wild goose chase to try and find us, but given that it was getting late, and that most of our friends live downtown, we ruled this out as well. So we did the only thing we could—just plodded along hoping that sooner than later we’d figure things out. We are no strangers to traveling in unfamiliar areas. IN fact, part of our skills training included drop routes which basically require you to be dropped off in an unfamiliar area and to find your way back to a designated location. So, we just looked at this like another drop route. My concern was however, the fact that it was getting late, less people were out to get directions from, and that we had our baby with us. I said a little prayer that Heavenly Father would help us be safe and figure out how to get home, before the rain started too if possible, and put my faith in mine and Jesse’s skills. . By 11 p.m. we somehow found ourselves near the Towson mall, having walked almost two miles from where we first started. Originally our plan had been to catch the bus from the dorms back to the light rail and then take the light rail home. Now that we were near the mall, we had an even better option as there was a bus that ran passed the mall which would take us within a block of our apartment. This was such a relief to us and worked out to be an even better solution than we hoped. WE found the right stop and prayed that a bus would come soon. Fortunately, we boarded a bus just as the rain began to come down harder and made it home safe and sound that evening around Midnight. (For the record, after chastising our friend for his crummy directions, he admitted that he had left out a turn.)

That night as I put our daughter to bed, an overwhelming feeling of love and inspiration came over me. I remember never feeling so happy to be home as I was at that moment and thinking that this is what it would be like when we finish this life and return to our Heavenly Father someday.

So what does this example have to do with our theme today of “A time to prepare to meet God?” Well, it is this. We are all working to find our way home, our spiritual home that is. Along the way, there are always challenges and “bad directions” that will come up and test our abilities. But it is our preparations or “performing of our labors” each day that will help us be successful in returning to him.

From the experience I just shared with you, I’ve come up with the following three lessons which I think each of us can apply in this time as we prepare to meet God:

First, developing important skills: Jesse and I weren’t exactly born knowing how to travel independently as blind people. WE had to develop these skills through practice and application. With respect to our travel training, we were taught how to problem solve, cross a variety of intersections, recognize traffic patterns, use cardinal directions, and so forth. As children of our Heavenly Father, each of us have important skills we need to develop in order to help us on our spiritual travels. Such skills include practicing meaningful personal prayer, learning to recognize personal revelation, learning how to study the scriptures, practicing repentence, cultivating a serving heart, and exercising faith and discipline, to name just a few. Our Heavenly Father sent us here to learn these valuable skills much like we as parents send our children away to school to learn and develop their own knowledge and abilities, and we would be remiss to return to him without them.

Second, our Heavenly Father has blessed us with families and other influential individuals in our lives to help encourage, teach, and guide us on our path home. While Jesse and I were trying to find our way home that night, it was easy for me to become frustrated with him because I was frustrated with the situation. Part of me was upset with him for being a cheapskate and not wanting to pay for a cab to take us from the dorms home in the first place. WE also disagreed from time to time on which direction to go. But, the bottom line was that we were in this together and being upset or frustrated with him was not going to help the situation. We both had valuable skills and perspectives to contribute to solving our dilemma. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us with family members, friends, and church leaders to be our companions along our path. Our goal is to value and seek out those who are well-meaning individuals as we perform our labors. These relationships also can require us to humble ourselves, be more forgiving, slow to take offense, and to admit that we may not always know what is best for us.

Lastly, we need to learn to see things as our Heavenly Father sees them. Even though I am considered legally blind, I do have a fair amount of residual vision. However, this vision sometimes is not the most reliable. I’ve been known on occasion to walk up to windows thinking they are doors, mislabel colors, or to say “excuse me” to manikins in a store. , Sometimes I find myself trusting my Swiss cheesy vision more than the blindness skills I’ve learned, which the majority of the time gets me into an awkward situation. How many of us find ourselves thinking we see the whole picture and know where we are going only to find out our Heavenly Father’s vision is far better than our own? . Just as I am learning to rely on my blindness skills in conjunction with my usable vision, we each need to learn to rely on our Heavenly Father’s vision or will for us in conjunction with our own agency.

I know that if we will truly do our part to prepare ourselves today by performing the labors outlined by our Heavenly Father, there will come a time when we find our way home and are reunited with our loving Heavenly Father.

I’d like to close by sharing my testimony with you.

Pages from the Hartle Playbook

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Jan 22

Using Our Voices

by Making it on the Playground

A few months ago I became acquainted with an organization called “The Power of Moms. The organization’s mission is to help encourage what they refer to as “deliberate mothering.” In any case, I’ve found it to be a great resource, and truth be told, have become a little obsessed with it. But that’s a story for another day. . The organization also produces podcasts of which I’ve also become a fan. I recently listened to one which I think is a great one to pass along to parents of blind children. It is entitled, “Using Our Voices.” (Episode 45.)

In this podcast, one of the organization’s co-founders is interviewing a mother of a child with spinabiffita. The message of the program however is not really about caring for, or being a parent of a child with spinabiffita, but about how this mother learned to use her voice to advocate for the needs of her daughter. I strongly recommend that those of you reading this post as a parent of a blind child go and listen to this podcast.

Often I come across parents like this mother who don’t know or believe that they have a voice when it comes to advocating for the needs of their blind or low vision child. Many have experiences where they ignore their “gut” instincts as to what their child needs because they are intimidated by “the professionals” in both academic and medical realms. Others find their suggestions or beliefs as to what might be best for their child dismissed as “not a best practice” or “not deemed appropriate” for the child. For example, this past fall I completed and Orientation and Mobility assessment for a kindergartener. His parents strongly felt that he would benefit from using a cane and having more cane travel instruction than what he was presently receiving. (He saw his O and M instructor for a half hour a month despite the fact that he is documented as being legally blind and has a doctor’s report in his file stating that his vision is degenerative and expected to be completely gone within six months.). The parents were concerned because his vision was worsening and he was extremely fearful of traveling in unfamiliar areas. Unfortunately, the school administrators and his O and M professional did not see any reason for him to have a cane or to receive additional services because of the level of vision he presently displayed. Needless to say, these parents felt like they had no voice and continually saw their young child struggling. Their gut instinct was that things needed to change. Fortunately for them, they became connected with individuals who validated these feelings and helped them find their own voice for their child.

Our blind and low vision children have the same rights, opportunities, and potential as their sighted peers. They need only to be given the experiences and opportunities they need. I especially liked how this mother pointed this fact out in this podcast with respect to her own daughter’s potential. I think this is an important lesson for our parents of blind and low vision children to hear. Just because our children can’t see as well as other children does not make them inferior, unintelligent, or incapable.

I could spend hours sharing similar stories and write pages on how parents are the best advocates for their children. But, it all comes down to the fact that you have your child’s best interest at heart and you know your child and his needs better than anyone else. You and your child have rights. I think hearing this from another parent is one of the best ways to help convey this message. I hope you will check out this podcast and that it will inspire you to go out there and find your own voice when it comes to advocating for your child. WE need more parents of blind and low vision children out there to speak up for what is best for our children. Good luck!

Expectations and Attitudes Uncategorized

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Jan 4

Pages from the Hartle Playbook: What a Jonah Day!

by Making it on the Playground

What a Jonah day! (I hope you Ann of Green Gables fans out there appreciated that reference). Today is proof that you’ve got to be tough to be blind.  Our lives aren’t always as glamorous as you might think they are.  So, I thought I’d share my day today with you all, just for the fun of it. 

            Last night, because it was late, and I was distracted, I let my daughter run off with my phone for a few minutes.  My husband was doing the dishes in the kitchen, and well, you can probably see where I am going with this.  Yes, the phone took a bath in the dishwasher.  We realized it about 10 minutes later when I tried to find my phone and we couldn’t hear it ringing, even though we knew it was in the kitchen.  Who knew this one little momentary lapse of attention would result in such a day as today! 

            So, I set off for the Apple store today to see if anything could be done.  (we don’t have a house phone, just our cells.) After getting off to a late start (my daughter has been sick and was up a little bit last night with some congestion), I finally left the house and headed to catch the bus to the mall around 11:30.   The mall is only a little less than two miles away from my house.  It takes about 7-10 mins. To walk to the bus stop, and about ten minutes on the bus to get to the mall.  So, we headed out, bundled up and ready to brave the cold.  Twenty-five minutes after arriving at the bus stop, the “every 10 minute bus” decided to make an appearance.  I struggled onto the bus with my rebellious stroller and wiggly toddler.  Fortunately, this nice woman took my daughter and helped get her to a seat while I wrestled the stroller and tried to keep my cane from hitting the bus driver in the head while doing so. 

Ten minutes later, we were at the Apple store, only to learn that I’d have to buy a new phone.  “Ding, ding,” I remembered I had purchased insurance from AT&T, so we left that store and headed upstairs to find the AT&T store.  Keep in mind, mall navigation for the blind isn’t the easiest thing in that it’s not like you can just walk directly to the stores.  You have to find landmarks and sometimes ask directions to get to the stores you need, unless you’ve been there a lot and really know the place.  So, this took me a little longer.  I also had to find elevators since I had a stroller and it seemed like they were a little out of the way.  I’ll even admit to you that I went in a complete circle around the rotunda of the mall because I missed the hallway that I needed off of it.  This really nice gentleman I’d seen in the elevator, also with a stroller, came up and told me this, right about the same time as I was realizing it, and walked with me back to the right hallway.  I finally found the AT&T store and went in side hoping to hear the great news that my insurance would cover the cost of the phone in full.  NOPE!  The “AT&T Deductable” was as much as the cost of a replacement phone at Apple.  So, I  could either place an insurance claim with AT&T and have a new phone mailed to me, or else go back downstairs to the Apple store and buy a new phone which would be ready for me right then to use.  No brainer right? Fortunately, the Apple tech must have known I’d be back because he scheduled another appointment for me before I left.  I had an appointment across town at 2 p.m., so I’d made the second Apple one for later just in case I needed to come back.  So, by this time, it was nearly 1 p.m. and I still needed to get back home, drop off my daughter with our babysitter, and head out to my other appointment.  The “every 10 mins. Bus” only kept us waiting for about 15 mins. This time luckily, and I got home right at 1:30, just in time to meet the sitter, had she been on time.  She showed up forty mins. Later.  It wasn’t really her fault though.  She had bad transportation issues too and missed her train and had to wait another hour for the next one.  (She is also blind.) In her defense, she tried to call me, but alas, I didn’t have a phone.  Had I been able to drive, I still could have made my appointment within the “late grace window”, but no deal.  So, needless to say, I rescheduled my appointment and hung out with the sitter for a bit at my house while my daughter napped.  Around 4, I reluctantly started the whole process over again and headed to the bus.  This time, we waited for nearly forty-five minutes for the “every ten minute” bus to arrive.  By this time, it was getting dark, and even colder. My toddler didn’t want to wait in the stroller, didn’t want to leave her hood on, and didn’t want to wear her gloves.  Oh yeah, did I mention that five, yes five buses passed us going the other way.  Something was really off with the bus schedule today. 

They say that necessity is the mother of all inventions, and so it was today as I had to invent some pretty creative games to play with my daughter to keep her hands warm and to entertain her while we waited in the cold. An hour after our Apple appointment time, we strolled in to the store.  Fortunately, they squeezed me in since I’d been there earlier, and I was able to get a new phone set up. 

            An hour later, after a quick trip up to Macy’s to return a Christmas gift, we were back outside in the cold waiting on the same dumb bus.  My daughter enjoyed pulling me up and down a step near the stop, and I’m sure my melodious rounds of“If you’re happy and you know it…”or recitations of “Daisy’s dance” from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse had nothing to do with a near-by couple’s decision to move down the sidewalk a few yards.  

When our bus arrived this time (late again), our boarding of it was quite the scene.  Usually I’m a pro at collapsing the stroller, scooping up my child, and looping the stroller through the other arm, all while still using my cane and getting out my bus pass in a reasonable amount of time.  (I don’t like being that person that holds the bus up for everyone.) But, not tonight.  Instead, the stroller jammed and Kayla started throwing a tantrum –you know the ones where the child arches their back making it nearly impossible for you to hang on to them.  She’s a master at this one.  WE really made a scene too.  A couple of people offered to help, but I couldn’t exactly give them my temper-tantrum-throwing child , nor could I show them how to close the stroller.  And,I couldn’t put my child down to close it myself.  Finally, this sweet young guy grabbed the stroller and drug it onto the bus for me.  He probably just wanted to get me out of the way so the line of people behind me could get on the bus and get warm, but whatever the reason, it helped.  So, I got on, set my daughter down on the seat, and started to wrestle the stroller again.  I lost.  While trying to collapse it, the driver started moving (I thought she was waiting for me, but she wasn’t), and Kayla fell forehead first off of the seat behind me and onto the adjacent seat.  I quickly stopped messing with the stroller and attended to her, announcing that I would not be closing up the stroller.  People would just have to deal with it.  Kayla was okay, and we made it home safe and sound.  I should mention that Kayla also face planted off the bus earlier this afternoon when she stepped off ahead of me before I could grab her hand.  Did I mention I hate public transportation?  Turns out the cold had somehow jammed my stroller’s handle and that was why I was having so much trouble with it today. 

            When I got home, my husband was lying in bed sick with a stomach bug and not really in the mood to hear my rant. So, I tended to him for a few minutes and then headed downstairs to start dinner. Bbut, we’re out of groceries, and I couldn’t just “stop off at the store “on my way home like most people would have done, so we “made do.” This meant eating cheese casadillas (melted cheese on a tortilla) and popcorn for dinner.  Healthy I know. 

            So there you have it, a day in the life.  I really hope tomorrow is a little bit better.  I think I’ll go take a couple of aspirin now and head to bed. 

 

 

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Jan 2

Need some Ideas for New Years’ Resolutions?

by Making it on the Playground

Happy New Year to you all and welcome to 2013! Unless you’ve been living in a cave or something for the past seventy-two hours, you’ve probably been bombarded with commercials, TV shows, church sermons, or friends and co-workers talking about New Year’s resolutions”. Generally, when it comes to resolutions, there are two kinds of people: the optimists who make them (myself), and the realists who don’t. But whatever your personality or feelings on the matter, I thought I’d share a couple of ideas of New Year’s resolutions you could try with respect to your blind or low vision child. Below is a list of ideas. I’d encourage you to check them out and choose one or two which you think might be possible for you and your circumstances. Don’t worry if you’re the type whose resolutions typically peter out around Jan. 10th either. There are ideas for you too.

1. if you don’t already know Braille , enroll in a class at a university with a program for certifying teachers of blind students, , enlist a blind braile reader or individual who knows Braille to teach you, or sign up for a program like the National Library Service Transcribers course or a correspondence class from the Hadley School for the Blind.
2. If your child doesn’t know Braille either, and would benefit from it (even children who have residual vision and can read large print can benefit from being dual media readers), make the decision to incorporate braille instruction into their school day by adding it to your child’s IEP this year. Or, if this isn’t an option at present, you could implement one of the ideas given above where you and your child could learn together.
3. Choose one book a week or even a month to transcribe into Braille. Either way, you’ll add 12 to 52 new books to your child’s library by the end of the year. If brailing your own books isn’t a realistic option right now, you could set a goal to purchase one Braille book a month for your child. There are a lot of sources for Braille children’s books online. Seedlings, National Braille Press, and the American Printing House are good places to start. Selection is a little limited when compared with the wide variety of children’s books out there, but it’s a good start to building a library for your child, no matter what the age.
Quick ideas for brailing your own children’s books: You can do this using a slate and stylus and some dymotape , or use contact (sticky clear sheets) onto which you can directly type with a Braille writer. You can then cut out these passages, or apply the dymotape strips directly onto the corresponding pages of the book.
4. Label appliances in your house with dymotape or other tactile markers to help make them accessible to your child (i.e., microwave, stove, oven, washer and dryer, etc.) Even if your child is not old enough to use this appliance yet, as he naturally explores his environment, he will find these indicators and start becoming familiar with them just as a sighted child would do with print.
5. Tackle one new chore which is age appropriate for your child and begin teaching her how to perform the task appropriately. For example, if you wanted to teach your child how to wash dishes, instruct her in a hands-on way how to rinse the dishes and feel whether they are free of food residue. If you use a dishwasher, help show your child how the dishes stack into the dishwasher and how she can use her hands to feel where each goes in the shelves of the dishwasher. Remember to hold the same expectations of cleanliness as you would for a sighted child—no excuses for a sloppy job because your child is blind.
6. Give your child an age appropriate “independent travel” assignment. For example, if your child is pre-school age, this may be something like taking something by his or her self next door to the neighbor’s house wile you watch from your house. For a young school age child, this could be something like going alone to get a gallon of milk at the store and meeting you back at the register. For an adolescent, you may want to start encouraging him or her to take a bus to the mall or public library independently. Look around or talk to friends and family members to see what kinds of activities their children are doing solo and incorporate something into your child’s experience which she has not done independently yet. You could even set a goal to give your child one of these experiences every week or once a month.
7. Help your child find a blind mentor in your area with whom he may be able to use as a resource. This individual should be someone whom you feel will help your child develop good skills and positive perceptions of blindness. (i.e., you may want to steer clear of a blind person who cannot travel independently, is unemployed due to a lack of skills or ambition, or who is negative about his/her blindness).
8. Encourage your child to take up a new hobby or interest. This is a great way to help your child develop new skills, meet people, and learn to try new things without letting blindness hold them back.
9. Teach an etiquette lesson to your child about table manors. Often, blind children don’t learn appropriate table manners because they are unable to watch others and learn through observation, or no one has taken the time to show them. So, set a place setting and go through some important tips with your child. Some topics you may want to address could include: posture, not eating with one’s fingers, using another utensil or piece of bread as a “pusher” to scoop food onto your fork, and sliding your fingers along a table rather than reaching out across the table when looking for things like glasses or dishes. If your child is a teen, you should consider teaching him or her more formal dining skills. This is a good time to begin preparing them for adulthood where they are bound to have experiences attending special occasion dinners, dating, or even dining with future employers and collegues.
10. Consider sending your child to a summer skills training program. Most of these programs begin taking applicants around January-March, so this is a great time to begin researching such a program. I would recommend one of the Buddy or STEP programs offered at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, Blind Inc. in Minnesota, or at the Colorado Center for the Blind. The National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, MD typically offers some kind of STEM related program during the summers as well. There are also a multitude of sports or music camps for blind children and teens as well. I’ll be posting some helpful tips on what to look for in a good summer program very soon.
11. If you are a teacher of blind students, there is a twitter discussion group which meets on Thursday evenings at 9 p.m. ET. Consider joining/following #BRLchat on Twitter. (BTW, you can follow me on twitter as well: @MJHartle23.)

I hope a couple of these resolutions will appeal to you. I’d love to hear what you choose and how things go. Please share other ideas you may have as well. Happy new year to all!

Expectations and Attitudes Uncategorized

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Dec 21

Gingerbread Houses and Cane Travel ?

by Making it on the Playground

I had what I’d consider a “brilliant idea” a while back. Unfortunately, I’ve not yet had the opportunity to implement said idea, but I hope to at some point. My brilliant idea: Make Gingerbread houses to help teach principles of cane travel (orientation and mobility).

This could be a really fun activity to do with young children around the holidays. Okay, so maybe we’re not actually talking about the real nuts and bolts of cane travel, i.e., how to arc a cane, use echo location, locate landmarks, cross streets, etc., but there are some great foundational pieces which you could introduce through play, a.k.a., constructing a gingerbread house which are just as relevant to cane travel as the afore mentioned skills.

Concepts of Parallel and Perpendicular: These concepts will come up in multiple ways as you place walls, a roof, and other elements on your structure. You can also discuss how in neighborhoods, sidewalks usually run parallel to the houses and the street, but there may be smaller side walks which run perpendicular to the main one or to the street which lead to the entrance of the house. You can also talk about how things like grass or mailboxes can be found along the sides of sidewalks or driveways which sometimes serve as useful landmarks when one is trying to orient him/herself to an area.

Cardinal directions: Cardinal directions are often tricky to teach to children, but this could be a fun way to help instruct a child on how to use cardinal directions. Some people don’t really understand the value of cardinal directions, but here’s a quick explanation which might help you see how they can be useful. Imagine you are driving down Main Street and you live on Smith Ave. The way you are driving right now on main street means you will have to turn left on Smith in order to reach your house. Now, let’s say you are giving a friend directions to your house. She is driving the opposite direction on Main Street. If you told her to turn left on Smith Ave like you did, she would end up driving away from your house. So, even though left and right can be helpful things, they vary in their use depending what “direction” we are facing at the time. But, if you know that when you are traveling north on main street, you will need to turn west on Smith to go to your house, or east if you are going south on Main street, directions can be a lot more useful. . Knowing whether you are traveling north, south, east, or west can be very useful tools in using directions when you can’t always rely on looking for landmarks like a sighted person would do. . . These directions can also help in areas like schools or businesses to help a blind individual orient him/her self to a place. For example, if you enter a store and you are heading north, you can mentally map which direction you are walking while in the store. Then, when you are ready to exit the store, you know that you have to make your way back to the south to locate the exit. This, along with other environmental cues can be very helpful in traveling in different environments.

While constructing your house, you can help give your child directions like, “Should we put the door on the east side?” Or, “If the front door is on the east wall, what wall do you think we should put the back door?”, or “Oh, it looks like you put a tree on the west side of the house.” AS you use this kind of language, you can explain what these directions mean, and how your child can determine which direction is which.

Understanding Structural Concepts: One other idea you could teach your child is about building structure. Often, we take for granted some of the things sighted children learn just by visual observation such as what different stories on a building look like, or how roofs are designed, how doors or windows look in relation to a building’s face, or what different materials such as brick, stone, or siding look like. These can be important concepts for our blind and low vision children to understand too, but unless they experience it in a way that is meaningful to them, and/or we teach them about these things, they may not fully “get” these concepts. This is where a lot of “hands-on” learning is useful and essential. Looking at realistic models is especially valuable, or the real thing” when available, but the idea of making gingerbread houses can be a fun way to reinforce these ideas or concepts in young children. So, for example, when making your house, you can talk about how the mini Hershey bar you are using for a front door should probably not be in the middle of the front wall close to the roof, but instead may be better placed toward the bottom of your wall, or lined up with the ground or side walk like a door usually would be. Or, if your child wants to make a brick house, she could line up small square candies (like caramels or mini candy bars) on her wall, or use chocolate chips for a stone house.

Lastly, here are a couple of quick ideas for fun, easy, gingerbread houses:

  • Use a large, flat piece of cardboard covered with tin foil as your base on which to construct your house/neighborhood (size may vary depending on how elaborate you and your child want to get, but a 1’x1’ sq. piece would work well.)
  • Use graham crackers to serve as walls and roof material
  • “Royal” icing works really well. You need the really thick kind of icing, not the kind of frosting you find in the cans in the baking isle. You can usually order the icing from your local bakery or ask there for the right stuff. You want it to be really thick so it will hold your house up.
  • You will want to have a variety of candy on hand to construct different elements of your house and neighborhood or property around your house. I recommend some of the following : mini candy bars, small round candies like M & M’s, caramels, hard round candies, licorice ropes, chocolate chips, sprinkles, Hershey’s kisses, Lifesavors,candy canes, gum drops (both large and small),and pretzel sticks.
  • Remember to have fun and be creative!

One last idea, covering a pretzel stick in icing makes a great white cane and would look really cute in the hand of a little gingerbread boy or girl out front of your house.

If any of you implement this idea, I’d love to see pictures to post with this post in the future to show off your creations. Let me know how it goes!

Orientation and Mobility/Cane Travel Uncategorized

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Dec 20

When Santa Lost His Eyesight

by Making it on the Playground

When I attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston, LA, (the best blindness training center in the country in my humble opinion) I remember seeing a presentation of a short humourous play at one of our Christmas parties there in which Santa goes blind and comes to the LCB for training. I’d forgotten about it until I saw this post in a blog written by a friend of mine. I thought this was a fun read and have reposted it here for you. Some of your blind children out there might enjoy hearing about a Santa with whom they can identify. Just to give you a little background, the original play about Santa losing his eyesight was written by Jerry Whittle, the former Braille teacher at the LCB. Mr. Whittle is known for his plays in which he always shares some kind of story of an individual’s journey to overcome his/her blindness through training and gaining of a positive attitude towards blindness. These plays are usually performed at local and national conventions of the National Federation of the Blind. This post came from a post in the blog “Slate and Stylish”,found on blogspot, and one of my favorite blogs I follow which is written by a friend of mine, Deja Powell. I hope she won’t mind me sharing this. I hope you enjoy reading it too and that it brings you a little Christmas joy.

****

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 10:03 AM PST

*This is a cute little story written by my good friend Alex Castillo adapted froma play from one of my heroes, Jerry Whittle. Enjoy!

When Santa Lost His Eyesight

Santa winking/

By: Alex Castillo

Most people know about Santa Claus. He’s the Jolly old fellow who along with a team of flying reindeer and tireless elves, work year round so that on one night out of every year, they can bring presents to children and adults all over the world. What many people are not aware of, is that one year, Santa began noticing that his vision was not what it used to be. Of course, he did not want to admit it to himself, but driving that sleigh at night, and being up there in the sky with all of those airplanes zooming by, made him feel quite unsafe.

It was no surprise when news started being gossiped about in the North Pole that Santa had gone blind, and that he was quitting the holidays. He became depressed, and without his work, he lost his sense of purpose in life. The man was a real sad mess. On one of those special Holiday nights, everything started going downhill and Just got worse and worse. The naughty and good lists were becoming a blur, and he handed out the wrong toys to more than 1 billion people. I know what you might be thinking at this moment, If Santa had gone blind, you would have surely heard about it. I’m not saying this is all true, but was there one year in which you received absolutely the most unlikely gift ever? Well, if the answer is yes, then this story might make a little sense.

After getting home that night, Santa could do little more than lock himself up in his office at the toy factory, and no matter how hard anyone tried to cheer him up, he could do absolutely nothing for a very long time. This is the story I heard last year when I was visiting friends in Ruston, Louisiana. They say that one year after he had lost his vision; Santa came down there to receive training at their blindness center. “He could barely even see Rudolph’s nose,” they said, “He had lost about 75 pounds when he had first arrived, and wouldn’t even touch a cookie.” “he’d get real close to ya when he was talking,” they would all whisper, “Couldn’t tell north from south even if he was holding a compass: bless his heart.” And apparently the entire town knew about this phenomenon. So well-known was the story down there that a writer by the name of Jerry Whittle wrote a play about the whole ordeal, and everyone in town came to see the production.

When I asked how come Santa didn’t choose Nebraska to come and train, after all, we have an awesome center right here, and it would seem the familiar choice with all the snow we get, howling winds, and freezing weather, the answer I received was: “well, Nebraska? With all that snow up there? He’d be recognized in a heartbeat if he stepped outside dressed in all red in his Husker gear. “They said: “Down here, he’s just another blind guy with a beard.” The more I thought about the story, about this blind and depressed Santa Claus, the more sense it made. Often when people start to lose their eyesight, they feel ashamed, and even worthless. People find themselves almost transforming from a productive and contributing member of their family, or community, to just sitting passively, watching life and everyone else pass them by.

We often confuse the inability to do, with the inability to see. And all that it would take for us to get back into our routine, or even find a more exciting and challenging one is to simply understand that with some blindness training, many doors can open up with the promise of opportunity. Training centers do not create Santa Claus’s. But they can help Santa figure out how he can do his job as a respectable blind person non-visually. As I recall, the play ended with Santa making the decision to keep the toy factories open and to stay in the Job as Santa Claus, and arriving at the North Pole to continue his yearly duties, with some new blindness skills and alternatives. It was a true happy ending. But the people in Ruston tell a different story. They say that he didn’t go back to the North Pole right away. “Oh, he had some trouble with the training,” they said. At first, he was always lifting those sleep shades. They said he would use the excuse of being overheated to lift them and peek during every class. He didn’t like travel very much, they said: “Oh, Santa, Santa, you would see him just hiding when it was time for travel class,” But what surprised me the most was when they told me: “the first time Santa stepped into the wood shop and heard those live blades running, he almost fainted.”

One would think that someone who has been working with factory machinery their whole lives would be able to handle an arm saw. As time went by, he settled into the center and became an excellent student. But, after training, he didn’t go back to the North Pole right away. He wanted to try out a new career. He went to work at this Cajun restaurant as a cook in the next town. During training, Santa had discovered that he had let Mrs. Claus do all the cooking their entire marriage, but he actually enjoyed working in the kitchen. “Could you imagine that?” they said, “Santa as a cook in a Cajun restaurant?” I suppose he just felt like he wanted some independence.

Like many people after they finish blindness training, he must have felt a bit rebellious and must have wanted to prove to anyone that he could go far beyond the common expectations for a blind person. It wasn’t until the Mrs. Threatened to come and get him that he decided to go back up north. Sometimes the path to independence isn’t obvious and clear. Sometimes, like Santa, we need to figure ourselves out for a little while. Sometimes, blindness gives us an opportunity to learn and make decisions which vary greatly from our past, and that we would have never thought possible if we had not lost our eyesight. And sometimes, we just get a stronger sense of who we are.

But, The first step toward independence, and starting your life, or getting it back is recognizing when it’s time to receive training, and then going through that training in a program that will allow you to fully realize yourself as a respectable blind person. After all, this is our life, and we live through our choices. As for Santa, You can decide to believe this story or not, but the children and grownups are still receiving presents on time and without any strange mix-ups. Polls show that he’s been doing a better job year after year. And just the other day, I read a review about some new restaurant opening up on the North Pole which specializes in southern cuisine. Note:

This Story was based on the play written by Jerry Whittle.

Link: http://nebraskacenterfortheblind.blogspot.com/2012/12/blind-santa-goes-back-to-work.html

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Blindness Skills Uncategorized

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Dec 18

Pages from the Hartle Playbook: Sharing a Testimony

by Making it on the Playground

Sharing a Testimony
“Pages from the Hartle playbook” are posts usually designed to share a little about me and my family as well as our experiences in dealing with blindness on a daily basis. But this post is going to be a little different. While I share insights to my thoughts and personal life in these posts, I’ve aimed to make this blog more of a resource than just a personal “about me” one. But, I hope that you will indulge me with this post as it is something I feel very strongly about.
This past week at church we were issued a challenge to
Have a “missionary” experience during the upcoming week. “Missionary” experiences are moments when we take an opportunity to share with someone not of our faith our testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, something about our church, and/or our religious beliefs. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often known by its nickname of “The Mormon Church.”) I have to admit that I’m not very good about sharing the gospel with people not of my faith. I know and love what I believe, and am willing to share my beliefs with others, but I guess I am reluctant sometimes to invite others to learn more about my faith—mostly because I am afraid of offending others, or having others mock what I believe and hold very sacred. In any case, I was thinking about how easy it is for me to go up to people I see who are blind and start telling them about my philosophy about blindness and high expectations for blind people and yet something that is far more important to me, (my testimony of Jesus Christ and my religious beliefs) is really hard to speak openly about with others not of my faith. So, I wanted to take this missionary challenge and thought maybe I could use this blog post as a vehicle for that today.
I would like to invite any of you reading who may be curious to know more about “The Mormons” to visit http://www.mormon.org or http://www.lds.org to learn more about our beliefs. I would also welcome any personal questions which I will do my best to answer.
This next part is where it gets hard for me as it’s not perceived as “cool” in our society to talk about God sometimes or to share our religious beliefs openly without being thought of as a fanatic or “ultra-Christian” (which usually has a negative connotation), , but here goes. I want to let you know that I have a very strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know he lives, loves us, and knows each of us individually. I’ve seen his hand in my life and been blessed in more ways than I could ever imagine. I know that he came to earth and suffered for our sins thus making it possible for us to return to live with him and our Heavenly Father again. The atonement is something I know I only understand less than a fraction about, but I continue to see its power in my life on a regular basis. I believe this is his gospel restored to the earth today as he taught during his time on earth, complete with all the keys and principles he instituted. I have a testimony of the Bible as a sacred, inspired book of scripture. I also have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and believe it to be another testimony of Jesus Christ written for our day to be a companion book of scripture to the Bible. I have read it and prayed about it and know for myself that this is true scripture from God. I believe that we do have living prophets today who still receive direct revelation from God for us and our world today. I believe that Joseph Smith, a prophet, was called of God to restore Christ’s church to the earth and to bring about the Book of Mormon. I think a lot of people believe that we worship Joseph Smith, and not Jesus Christ, so I want to clarify that we respect Joseph as a prophet, but believe in Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. I also have a very strong testimony of prayer and know it works and that our Father in Heaven hears and answers our prayers—maybe not always as we want, or when we want, but he does hear us and bless us, and he loves us.
So there you have it. I hope that none of you will take offense at this or stop reading my blog as result, or even ridicule my beleifs. This took great guts for me to post this. Instead, I hope you will receive this in the light that it was meant. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share something of great importance to me.

Pages from the Hartle Playbook

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Dec 11

Pages from the Hartle Playbook: Oh Christmas Tree

by Making it on the Playground

I recently saw a question on a listserv for blind parents asking how one decorates a Christmas tree as a blind person. A pretty reasonable question I thought. Sadly, she had never had the opportunity to help with this before, or been shown or figured out any alternative techniques for herself. She was concerned about safety issues as well as aesthetics. So, since this is something that we as blind people do, I shared with the list a reply to her post. I thought some excerpts from my post may be of interest here in showing some alternative techniques we’ve used in doing this.

WE actually have a pre-lit tree, just because they are so convenient whether you are blind or not. But, I used to have a regular tree and my husband who is also blind, and I would put the lights on ourselves. It’s really not that difficult to decorate the tree as it’s all hands-on. Usually, we can just feel the branches and decorations to make sure they are placed correctly. But, there are a few things I’ve found that can help.

Hanging Lights and Garland:

When we used to put lights on our tree, my husband and I would pass a coil of lights between ourselves with either of us on a side of the tree. You want to make sure the strands are evenly spaced out, which you can do by feeling where the strand is running. You can put the strands back deeper in the branches close to the trunk of the tree (or pole if it’s artificial) so that the strands aren’t showing that much. Before you put the lights on though, run you’re hands down the strands to make sure there are no bare wires exposed no fraying, and no broken bulbs. It is probably a good idea to have a sighted person check the strand before too if you can’t see the lights just to make sure the light bulbs are all working and that none have burned out. Sometimes you can run your hand across each bulb and feel if they are hot, but this takes a lot of time; or if they are small lights, sometimes the heat from the lights on either side can make a burnt out bulb still feel warm. It can also be a pain to keep the strands from becoming tangled during this process,(which even sighted people struggle with) so having someone look at the whole strand briefly to make sure it is working can be helpful.

When putting the strands of lights on the tree, just make sure you space each strand out and move it up the tree a few inches at a time. You can do the same thing for garland. Just go back around after you’ve wrapped the tree either with lights or garland and make sure you weave the strands in and over and under the branches some with your hands so that it doesn’t look like you just tied the tree up. You want the lights and garland to look more draped or looped over the branches.

You may want to use your arm or hands to measure how far apart each of the strands of lights around the tree are separated from each other—so as to keep them more evenly spaced apart.

Hanging Ornaments:

These are a lot easier to put on the tree than the lights and garland in my opinion. With these, I usually divide the tree into sections and decorate a section at a time. This way you can make sure not to over decorate a part of the tree and make sure your ornaments are evenly spaced out. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but this seems to help keep our tree from looking really crowded in one place and bear in another. I tend to divide my tree into four sections like a front, back, right, and left side. I then work from the top to the bottom in each of the four sections. I’ve even divided up my ornaments so that I have the same (roughly) amount of ornaments in each section. WE tend to have bulbs and then some specialty ornaments, so by dividing the ornaments into piles or groups first, I then have better chances of distributing them evenly around the tree. I then decorate one section, like the front for example, with one of the groups of ornaments. I tend to put our favorite or most special ornaments that I want to be seen better into the pile that is going on the front of the tree–the part of the tree that is facing out to your living room the most, or wherever most people will see. If you are displaying your tree in a window where your neighbors will see it, you might want this to be your “front” section. Anyway, this strategy has seemed to work well for me. Then, as I’m decorating each section, I can feel where I hang ornaments and then place them a few inches apart. It’s not a perfect measurement, but I spread my hand out like as if I was making a hand print, and then touch one of my outside fingers to an ornament and then where the other outside finger is is where I place the next ornament. This way, I can kind of guide my placing of ornaments down the tree. I start at the top and work down to the bottom rather than just randomly hanging the ornaments so that I don’t miss a spot or put too many ornaments in one place. If it’s helpful, you can even place a chair or something around the tree to use as a border to mark off your sections while you are decorating so that you don’t go over a section while you are working on that section. AS you are also hanging the ornaments, you want to make sure that the ornament isn’t resting against a wire from the lights, or a light bulb so that you can minimize your risk of the ornament melting or causing a fire–worst case scenario. Same thing with garland. It’s pretty easy to check around to see if anything is touching your ornament before you finish hanging it. I hope that makes sense. I actually haven’t put garland on our tree for a few years—mostly because I haven’t found one I liked yet—so instead, I’ve been using this idea I got from a craft store display tree where they draped long ribbon down the tree instead. This design has also proven to be helpful in decorating our tree as it provides a marker or divider on the tree itself which I now use when decorating to divide the tree while I’m hanging ornaments. I have four curled strands of thick Christmas ribbon coming down from the top of the tree and cascading down the tree. Basically, it is two long strands of thick ribbon (the kind with the fine wire on the edges so you can shape it) which I divide in half. Where the fold in the middle is, I make a loop and place it around the tip of the top of the tree (where your tree topper/star/angel/etc. will later go. Then, I drape one side down the front, and one side down the back. I do the same thing with my second strand of ribbon and put it on the left and right sides. When I hang ornaments, I used these ribbons as my dividers. Then, when we put our tree topper on, the ribbon kind of looks like a bow on a package, except the bow is the tree topper. It looks pretty good apparently as I’ve had complements on using the Christmas ribbon instead of garland.

Since our tree is pre-lit, there are so many lights that I think the garland could look cluttery anyway if not done the right way. Using the ribbon is really easy too. It’s kind of hard to explain but I hope this makes sense. I just mentioned this as one way you could divide your tree. Again, I did this because visually it looks pretty, not to help me decorate though, or to get out of using garland which can be hard to space around a tree nonvisually. .

Since Christmas trees are supposed to be visually appealing, it may be helpful to have a trusted friend or family member check out your tree when you’re finished decorating it just to make sure things look visually pleasing –ornaments are spaced out well and wires are hidden, etc. I’ve even Skype called my mom before and showed her the tree to get her opinion and have her point out any things I need to fix to make it look better. AS far as safety issues, I think if you are proactive and checking where you place things as you go, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Good luck. !

So, there you have it. Not a perfect science, and I’m sure other blind people out there have other, even more effective techniques, but hopefully this at least illustrates that it can be done. . On a slightly related note, this year since it’s our first year in a house, we are thinking of hanging up outdoor lights in our yard and on our house. I have yet to figure out how to do this initially, let alone as with any alternative techniques (if necessary); but if we can find some for a reasonable cost, and if I can convince my husband that decorating is fun, and if I can just figure it all out, then I’ll hopefully have a post for you on that too.

Merry Christmas!

Pages from the Hartle Playbook

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