Tag Archives: Nevada

Playing Catch Up

On November 28th, I published my 75th blog post.  I ended the post with a challenge to myself to post 75 blogs in the next 75 days.  If you follow me, and read my blog regularly, than you have noticed that I haven’t been around these last few days.  Fear not!  This doesn’t mean I will not meet my goal of publishing 75 blogs in 75 days.  This merely means there will be a few days I will be publishing more than one blog.  Starting with today,  I might just publish one, some days I might publish two, and if I’m really ambitious, I might even crank out three.

Where have I been and why did I miss Saturday, Sunday, and Monday?

I spent the weekend at the annual state convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Nevada.   As I play the game of Musical Chairs, I have decided it was time for me to get back in the game and change negative misconceptions and low expectations about blindness.  Stakes have been raised and rules have changed now that my daughter has been thrown into the court.  You can bet your britches that this mom is NOT going to stand on the sidelines.  I will be the loudest, the most competitive, and the strongest advocate to fight on behalf of my daughter’s rights and the rights of all blind children.

During the convention, I met other parents and we are organizing the Nevada Organization of Parents of Blind Children.  It is my hope for this organization to bring together parents, provide resources, connect blind shildren with positive blind role models, and creat and implement programs for blind children in our state.

I fully intended on blogging via my WordPress ap on my iPhone, but the ap insisted it would rather crash on me.  After the fourth attempt, I took it as a sign that I needed to turn off my phone, take a break, and take a nap.

Sunday on Monday were spent catching up with housework, cuddles with the kiddos, and a lovely afternoon meandering through the Venetian playing catch up with one of my oldest and dearest friends.

And here I am now, back in front of the computer with the kids tucked away in their beds.  I will finish this delicious cup of tea, possibly start a second blog for the night, and start on the glass of wine that’s calling out my name.  I’ve enjoyed catching up.  I hope you have too.

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Marley followed this girl around thinking she was a princess. Suddenly out of nowhere, she worked up the courage and ran up and gave her princess a great big hug.

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Jackson didn’t know what to think of this statue guy. He got more and more frustrated as he tried to give him a dollar.

 

 

Calling all Parents of Blind/visually Impaired Children in Nevada

Are you a parent of a blind/visually impaired child living in Nevada?  Do you know a parent of a blind/visually impaired child in Nevada?  Are you a teacher of a blind child, or a medical professional who works with blind children?  If  so, than I am looking for you.

Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Terri Rupp.  My almost 5 year old daughter and I both have Optic Nerve Atrophy.  I wrote about the discovery of our daughter’s diagnosis earlier this year in my blog, “Marley and Me Musical Chairs.”  I feel fortunate to have my own experiences of growing up as a blind child, the opportunity to attend the Louisiana Center for the Blind where I learned Braille and other blindness skills an where I was introduced to the positive blindness philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind.  The foundation has already been laid for my daughter through my own blindness for her to grow up knowing that blindness isn’t anything to be ashamed of.  It will NOT hold her back from a bright future, rather it will  give her strength to overcome any and all obstacles if given the proper training and opportunity.

My husband and I want to share our positive outlook on blindness with other parents.  In all honesty, we both went through our own grieving process upon the diagnosis.  However the self pity, anger, guilt, and tears quickly tried up, and we both realized that this is just another mountain for us to conquer as a family.  During our frequent visits to the pediatric ophthalmologist, we have observed countless distraught, lost, and grieving parents of whom we just want to shout at, “YOUR CHILD IS FINE!  YOUR CHILD IS NORMAL!  YOUR CHILD HAS A BEAUTIFUL FUTURE!”

My dream is to get this message to every single parent in Nevada.  You are NOT going through this alone.  There are so many us out there just like you.  We are dealing with understaffed and underfunded school systems.  We live in a state with very limited resources for equal opportunities for the blind.  We CAN change this!  With the resources and support of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), we can change what it means to be blind, and give your children the future they deserve.

Please join us in organizing the Nevada Organization of Parents of Blind Children.  You can reach me at terri.rupp@gmail.com or join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/653738258066532/.

Sincerely Yours,

Terri Rupp

Oh, and PS, did you know that October is National Meet the Blind month?

 

 

First Day of School, Not Here in Our House Though.

Today was the first day of school for most kids in Las Vegas.  Both parents and kids were full of excitement and maybe just a little bit of anxiety this morning.  Alarm clocks buzzing, lunch bags and backpacks getting double checked so that nothing is forgotten, new shoes laced, tied, and double tied for plenty of playground fun, and we can’t forget about those first day photos getting posted to Instagram, Facebook , Twitter, and texted to grandparents.

But none of that happened here in our house.  The kids and I slept in until 8:30am.  My husband and I enjoyed a big breakfast and coffee out on the patio while the kids ran around in their bathing suits splashing in the rain and the kiddy pool water slide.  Now Jackson is napping, Marley is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, hubby working in the garage, and I’m cranking out this blog.

Why isn’t Marley starting school today?  Well…here’s what I told my next door neighbor when she asked me this morning.

Marley is still only three, and not turning four until November.  This means she won’t be starting Kindergarten until fall of 2015 because of the age cut off here in Nevada.  As a stay at home mom, I don’t think it is necessary to send her to two years of preschool.  We spend a few hours each day working on preschool activities, and also incorporate learning into everything we do; from trips to the grocery store, gardening in the backyard, or strolls through the park.  I run a neighborhood mommy meet up group so the kids get plenty of socialization.  My husband’s work schedule gives him quite a bit of time home, making it easy for us to go camping, hiking, to museums, visit local orchards and farms, and take countless road trips exposing the kids to hands on learning opportunities like our upcoming trip to the Astronomy Festival at Great Basin National Park.  We are even giving a little bit of thought about homeschooling our kids completely.

I go back and forth on homeschooling.  There are so many pros and cons  to consider.  As a blind parent I will definitely have a few more challenges with home schooling than a sighted parent.  I can’t read handwriting, so I will have a tough time teaching my kids how to write.  I am not very tech savvy, and a lot of the curriculum comes from online sources, including PDF format which aren’t screen reader friendly.  However, homeschooling would mean we would have more control over our children’s education.  Nevada has one of the worst public school systems in the nation.  We can continue to incorporate learning in our frequent family trips.  We won’t need to worry about things like bullying, unhealthy school lunches, transportation, etc.  Like I said, so many pros and cons.

So for the next two years, at least until I need to make a decision about Kindergarten, my kids will be getting their education here at home.  I’ll talk to more parents who have chosen to homeschool and do the research so that we can make the best decision for our family.  For the next two years we won’t need to worry about alarm clocks on Monday morning delegating the start of another week.  I am going to suck up every moment of our family quality time.  Whether those moments may be adorable, annoying, or aggravating, they’ll be gone before I no it.