The National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) is a membership organization of parents from throughout the United States and around the world. The organization is lead by its National Board of Directors who are parents representing different geographic locations and our statewide and metro affiliate parent groups.
Please let me introduce to you one of our parent leaders, Pam Stern, the NAPVI Region 3 Representative for the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Pam is a mother of a daughter who is blind, who has graduated college, and now has a successful career.
Pam is devoted to the mission of NAPVI to provide parent education, connection to much-needed resources, and emotional support when raising a child who is blind or visually impaired.
One of the ways Pam has communicated with parents living in her region is through her column that she sends out electronically. She often asks parents questions to provoke discussion and ideas amongst parents. Recently she posed the question to set a positive tone for the new year, by asking parents to complete the following phrase: “My child is amazing because….”
Our first response came from our new Region 5 Representative, Steve Walsh, a father of a blind son from Texas:
“My child, our son Will, is amazing because each and every day, he continues to show others how much they can see because he cannot. He approaches his blindness as a nuisance not a disability. He turns most all things into a unique ability. He has snow skied since he was 3 years old, drives jet skis on the lake, plays in the school band (marching band next year), has greater technological savvy than most people we know, and his courage is unsurpassed. He is truly his mother and I’s hero day in and day out. He is always willing to help other kids with visual impairments and continuously enriches the lives of others who he comes in contact with. He attends a mainstream Junior High (always been mainstreamed educationally) at 14 years old and is an A/B student. A hero is someone with exceptional courage, fortitude, and will. That is our son and why he is so amazing. Thanks for allowing me to tell others why my son is so amazing! We, Will included, love being a resource for others. Our hope is to enable and inspire other parents and children who live with visual challenges.”
Pam and all of us here from the FamilyConnect community would love to hear from you by completing this phrase, “My child is amazing because…”