I’ve often asked myself this very question when reflecting back upon my own childhood following the “sink hole” that manifested in my life when I was a youngster. I still have so many unanswered questions; even today, over 30 years later. Perhaps someone can help me here.
For example; why no cane? What about Braille? How was I going to take care of myself on my own some day when my parents were gone? Why weren’t my parents asking themselves these questions?
Going to school and living every single day without being able to see where I was setting my feet was terrifying to say the least.
I remember the shock to my system when I would misjudge the distance to the top step on the flight going down to the basement at school. It was always a very traumatic experience as I was hurtling through the air on my way to the bottom. Imagine that? You’re just walking along and suddenly the ground isn’t under your feet and you’re hitting the edge of various steps on your way down so by the time you land in a heap at the bottom; your black and blue and sore all over. Just another day in the life of Becca, the blind girl who had no cane at school.
You think I’m exaggerating? They also sent me away to camp in the summers with all the other children without a cane. Imagine how much fun camp was for me? Trees, stumps, ditches, large stones… It was an absolute nightmare.
My parents’ refusal to acknowledge the situation seriously hindered my development.
Every single step I took, no matter where I was, if I was away from home, could literally mean a serious injury or potential death if I fell.
Imagine what was in my mind the day I graduated from high school?
How was I going anywhere when I couldn’t even cross the street? This killed any dream I might have had for a future of my own back then. My parents succeeded in crippling me for real with their decision to ignore my blindness.
I really believed back then that my parents didn’t love me and actually wished me dead. Why else was I being forced to live like that?
Needless to say; I had absolutely no social life when I was in high school; who would ask me to go hang out anywhere when I was always falling down everywhere?
I learned early to hide the tears of shame as I was picking myself up and assuring worried passers-by around me that I was fine; it was perfectly normal to fall down the stairs all the time. It was so very embarrassing.
When you think about it; this is a fairly easy concept to figure out. If you’re blind; you either need to take notice of it or you will die; period. I almost did
I have met many blind people as an adult. To a person; they all claim that they were taught Braille and how to use a cane when they were young and in school. What happened in my case? I say that it was a clear act of child abuse and neglect.
I am on a mission to prevent any other blind child from having to experience
This kind of horror. Please check out my book if you want to know more about my story.