Understanding

"Feels like..."
"Oh, I know what it is."
"What is it?"
"I think it tastes better when I'm not seeing it."
"Mom, my pants are wet.  I mean, the bottom part of my pants are wet."
"Mommy, I don't have my plate."
"Can you feel it?"

If you had been at our house for snack on Tuesday morning, you would have heard these comments, questions, and more.  Along with another family, we are learning about several different life challenges like blindness, deafness, the physically handicapped, autistic, etc.  Born from a desire to have the children experience some of life from Victor's point of view, blindness is our first stop.

This week we learned about how the eye works and some of the things that can go wrong to cause visual impairment.

We experienced eating a variety of foods while blindfolded; pouring our own cup of water, eating pudding, opening a single serve bag of chips before eating, and a pancake with syrup.  It may have been the craziest combination of foods we've ever had a one sitting but the items were chosen with different tasks in mind.

I was happily surprised that each of the children agreed to participate with very little peeking.  They experienced spilled water and syrup that only flavored a tiny corner of the pancake because the child couldn't figure out how to guarantee full coverage.  They had sticky fingers and messes to clean up.  But they all dove right in with a willingness to be uncomfortable to better understand Victor's uncomfortableness.  And we talked about what dining might be like for him.

If you want to help your child understand what life will be like for Victor as he grows older, I'd love to share my lesson plans with you.  You could also prepare a meal for your family to eat while blindfolded.  Our vision therapist told me that sleep masks work best as blindfolds and we found them to be great for this purpose.

And then we let the kids watch a video of themselves eating while blindfolded. How fun to laugh at ourselves and to learn from some of our mistakes.

We also watched these youtube videos about blindness which you and your children might find helpful or interesting:

4 Tips You Can Learn From Blind People

Seeing Through the Lens

And then, completely of her own accord, Eden wrote this poem which shows her empathy toward those who struggle due to challenges they cannot control:

I Wish They Would See by  Eden King, Age 9

I wish they would see that they're not
much different from me.

They play games
And like some of the fames.

I wish people would see that they're not
much different from me.

They play in the sun
And have fun!!!!

I wish they would see that they're not
much different from me.

They have some fun
and run run run

I wish they would see that they're not
much different from me

I am me they are them
What would the world be if they would see?