Archive for the “Writing for Children” Category

Helping Kids Think Outside the Lines

October 18, 20183 CommentsPosted in blindness, guest blog, parenting a child with special needs, public speaking, questions kids ask, Seeing Eye dogs, travel, visiting schools, Writing for Children

This morning my Seeing Eye dog Whitney and I take off for Union Station to head to the Chicago suburbs. It’s Disability Awareness Week at Wilmot Elementary School in Deerfield, and we’re slated to give a presentation to eight- and nine-year-olds. The third graders are studying Helen Keller, and you can bet I’ll be publishing […]

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Is that a rude question, or a curious question?

February 17, 201816 CommentsPosted in blindness, parenting a child with special needs, questions kids ask, Seeing Eye dogs, visiting schools, Writing for Children

It never fails. Every time my Seeing Eye dog Whitney and I visit a school, one of the kids comes up with a question I’ve never been asked before. Here’s my favorite from a trip we took to suburban Glenview earlier this month. “If you were never blinded, which would you rather be: a cat […]

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If you're blind, are you still able to cry?

January 11, 201723 CommentsPosted in blindness, Braille, questions kids ask, Uncategorized, visiting schools, Writing for Children

My Seeing Eye dog Whitney usually leads me to Chicago’s Union Station to catch rides to the suburbs to visit schools, but when a friend from our Hackney’s days offered to drive us to Kindi Academy, a Montessori school in Lisle, Ill., yesterday I jumped at the chance. It was raining in Chicago yesterday, and […]

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Bennett, the Brailliant, and my visit to Tess Corners Elementary in Wisconsin

April 27, 201616 CommentsPosted in blindness, Braille, careers/jobs for people who are blind, parenting a child with special needs, questions kids ask, technology for people who are blind, travel, Uncategorized, visiting schools, Writing for Children

Last week my Seeing Eye dog and I met a second-grader I’ve been hearing about for years. Bennett is a student at Tess Corners Elementary School in Wisconsin, and Whitney and I spent the entire day at his school Friday. I first heard of Bennett back in 2013, when his mom wrote to tell me […]

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