Adaptive Skiing

Yesterday was the final day of winter.  And although I am really looking forward to sunny spring days and warm summer nights, I am going to miss all the winter activities.  I recently learned to ski despite the fact that I thought skiing was something that I would never do.  Mainly because every time I have pictured myself skiing, I envisioned heading straight into a tree or some other object/person not within my field of vision.  Although running into objects makes for some great stories and blog material, it’s not my idea of fun.
Maybe it was the Winter Olympics, or my dad telling me about a skier with RP in the Paralympics that inspired me to try cross-county skiing this year and hopefully alpine skiing next year.  I had no idea that adaptive skiing even existed, but once I started looking into it more, I learned that there are multiple organizations and foundations that support skiers with disabilities.  Although I have not yet had the opportunity to receive any special training or adaptive tools, it is something I am looking into for the future.

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3 Attributes You Will Quickly Develop as a Blind Mom

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A friend recently gave me an article on 4 blind moms featured in “Real Simple” magazine.  I was immediately struck by the beauty and strength of each woman, and I was a bit jealous of them for having such close blind friends.  One of the women, Joy (great name!), talked about how they are each in awe of one another’s feats.  “It’s like each of us has mastered a skill or has a bravery that the others don’t.”  They all have guide dogs and are starting a national group called “Mommies With Guides”.
One of the things they discussed in the article was what they do differently as parents without sight.  This got me thinking about my own parenting, and while I do have some vision, there are definitely some skills I have had to develop as a mom with low vision in order to be a good mom.  Some of these are still works in progress, but they’re definitely the “muscles” that get the most use, and therefore the most strength.

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