Future Reflections March/ April 1983, Vol. 2 No. 2
Jim Taylor lives in Friend, Nebraska with his wife and two children, Rachael, age 8, and Jamie who is 10 years old and blind. Jim generously consented to give us the interview which appears below.
Question: How did you react when you found your
son Jamie was blind?
Answer: Absolutely stunned! Our doctor was very
blunt. We were told that there was very little
chance he would ever see. That was quite a shock
to us since we thought he had only a minor problem
with one eye.
Question: When your doctor talked with you, what
did he say about blindness?
Answer: He told us there were certainly worse
things that could happen. He told us he had a
friend who was a blind lawyer and so we felt there
was some hope.
Question: What kinds of thoughts did you have
after the shock wore off?
Answer: I thought we had a mountain of problems
to face in getting Jamie raised to an adult. I think
your first instinct is to be overprotective.
Somehow I think you feel some shame about this,
though I don't know why you should.
Question: Did you have any particular worries
about or expectations for your blind child?
Answer: I think I began to worry most about
things in the future, college, a job, etc. All parents
worry about those things, but after a while you
just learn to take one day at a time, one problem at
a time. I also worried a lot in the first year
although many people were assuring us that
everything would be okay. Somehow you just
have to worry until you can reason things out.
Question: Are there certain things you did for
your blind child that you did not do for your
sighted child?
Answer: One problem was giving him more attention
than his sister Rachael. I had to realize that
she needed attention too.
Question: What do you have to do to be a good
father?
Answer: I think you have to be involved and try
each day to spend a certain amount of time asking
questions like how are things in school, what else
did you do today, etc. My parents were very loving
and not afraid to show it. I had friends whose
parents couldn't show it and so I try very hard to
show it and say it.
Question: What advice would you give to new
parents who have just discovered they have a
blind child?
Answer: I could give advice, but it probably
wouldn't be anymore satisfying to them than it
was to me in that first year. Some things you just
have to live through.
Question: If you had it to do over again, what
would you do differently?
Answer: It would be much simpler. I wouldn't feel
like the whole world was lost. Fear of the
unknown is the big thing. I just wouldn't be
scared.
Question: What do you believe about blindness
that now guides you as a father?
Answer: When you lose your sight, you have to experience
things, and I mean everything you can
think of. He's done things that kids with 20/20 vision
haven't even considered. He has climbed to a
mountain top and flown an airplane.
Question: What other comments would you like to
make to other parents who have blind children?
Answer: My comment is that blind kids can be just
as ornery as any kid with 20/20 vision. I deal with
my son the same as I deal with my daughter.