Resources

Hands-on parenting: a resource guide for parents who are blind or partially sighted

Debbie Bacon wrote this book because she was aware of the feeling of isolation, experienced by so many blind and partially sighted parents.

She certainly manages to give a sense of a whole group of people sharing a common struggle to be accepted as capable adults. There are differences between the UK and the United States, yet the human responses seem to be very similar. Reading the large number of quotes lets people know that they are not alone – or unique – in getting bad reactions from sighted people.

The book does not attempt to persuade professionals, but instead almost shames them into rejecting a stupid negativity by focusing on success stories. The methods of dealing with practical tasks are often different, but the main message that always comes across is do not assume that anything is impossible. By reading this book, a professional can see the assumptions made by so many before, and the effects their attitudes had upon individual parents.

For readers who are parents, there’s lots of information about tried techniques and information about potential pitfalls.

A lot of this book is just about good parenting skills. For example, the section about looking after children’s teeth has little that relates to sight impairment, and just gives good hints that all parents would benefit from reading. By contrast, the chapters that refer to transportation focus almost exclusively on the issues that blind and partially sighted parents have to deal with. There is an honest admission about what is difficult, without any easy answers. All the subjects covered have clearly arisen from those who have lived the parent role. In no way is this a theoretical study; everything comes from real everyday life.

Reading this book will provide professionals with an insight on the point of view of those who have sight problems. It also offers a good way to help blind and partially sighted people to get things into proportion. It provides the expression of thoughts that break down isolation and educate the uninitiated. As one of the contributors so aptly says: “Y’all don’t know how good it feels to have others say these things”.

Mary Cox

Hands on parenting: a resource guide for parents who are blind or partially sighted by Debbie Bacon. 2006, Berkley, Through the Looking Glass. Price: $40. Available from www.lookingglass.org

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