Holiday Ideas for Families

Susan LaVenture It’s hard to believe that it is December already and that the traditional holiday season began with Thanksgiving this past weekend in the United States. Hoping your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend sharing time with your loved ones cooking, eating, and some maybe some R & R, or at least being able to have a looser schedule?

Around the world many families are beginning to plan and celebrate their family’s cultural and religious holidays during the month of December and January to give thanks and to bring in the New Year. The FamilyConnect team has gathered together some great resources and ideas in preparation for the holidays for you and your family by creating a Holiday Guide for Parents of Children Who Are Visually Impaired. For those who celebrate by giving gifts, we have a blog post written by Emily Coleman with her mother’s perspective and ideas for sharing the holidays with a younger child who is blind or visually impaired. Others have added great suggestions in the comments section, and we hope that you will add your ideas as well.

I recently asked a mother of a teenager who is legally blind with low vision what the latest rage was for gifts for teens and she said video games, CDs, iPods, and cell phones were popular—to figure out which gadgets are accessible, you can visit AFB’s AccessWorld magazine, which is a consumer guide to the latest technology for people who are blind or visually impaired, including cell phones and other electronic gadgets that kids love.

Gift cards are always good for teens so they can pick out their own movies and music. Audio-described popular movies for any age are also available through WGBH in Boston. Books and games are always a great gift for children of all ages. There are some great companies that offer wonderful books and games such as the National Braille Press and the American Printing House for the Blind. Both organizations have catalogues available.

For families that will be traveling during the holidays to visit family and friends or choose to celebrate by taking a family vacation—we found a great resource, Road Trip! Tips for Travel with a Visually Impaired Child, that was developed by Hadley School for the Blind, one of our FamilyConnect National Partners. Whether you stay close to home or travel afar this season it is a wonderful opportunity for you and your child to enjoy each other, whether it be interacting and socializing with others, learning to cook a new recipe, trying new foods, or just hanging out watching movies, playing games, or listening to music! Let us know how you’re celebrating, either by posting your comments below, or by joining the conversation on our message boards.

All the best to you and your family this holiday season!