Category: Parent Talk
I am totaly blind for those of you who don't know, I had my eyes removed at the age of 17 because of glocoma. and It's tough to remember to turn on the lights all the time. when he's playing and I walk in to a different room where the light isn't on and he can't see me any more, it scares him. also i've forgot to turn on the light wile givving baths and sutch and man do i feel like an idiot and bad when i do that. It's getting better over time, now that he can comunicate a bit, but it use to be alot worse. is there any tricks for remembering to turn on lights? my husband is parshally sighted, but he's at work 13 hours a day so usually it's just me and the little one.
What a great question. I also have found myself forgetting to turn on lights while my daughter is playing. I try to constantly remind myself I don't need the lights but she does, and it's one of those socially exceptable things to do. I don't have any tips or tricks on how to remember but just know you aren't the only one who forgets. smile
I'll be watching this thread with interest.
LOL, I'm not a Mom, but a simular issue does arise when you're married to someone completely sighted who works evenings and hopes to have light when he walks into a house that looks like it's been hit by a tornado...We just moved, and haven't finished unpacking yet. LOL, no solutions though.
i still have a decent amount of sight and so i really don't have any advice except to just do your best to attempt to make turning lights on a routine. i did want to write on here though. my little sister is also blind and so is her fiance. they have a little girl who is sighted. yet they keep their place super dark. I've tried saying something to them about just because they can't see, doesn't mean she can't. blah i don't know. it just bugs me that she is living in the dark.
I had this put in for my guide dog. Its a motion detector that turns on your lights when you enter the room, and after a while of inactivity, turns them off again. You might try some electronics or home improvement stores. Mine is small and it just sticks on the back of my front door so she can see where she going when she comes in the house, but the same idea might work for you.
Both Louis and I are both blind and it's very hard for us to remember. Now, Nathaniel can talk and when it's dark and he can't see, he says, "Light? Light? On? On?" But, not always and it takes a minute for me to realize that he's freaking out because he can't see. Louis has some light perception so therefore, remembers better than I do. There are sensors you can buy from the various blind-related stores that vibrate or beep at different pitches so you can see if there are lights turned on or off; some even pulsate to indicate blinking lights. I've always considered buying one, but can't seem to find them anymore. Anybodyseen anything like that?
I'm not a parent, but the motion-senser thing sounds like a good idea. I also have this light detector/color identifier, but I actually got it for the opposit reason *smile*, because my sighted family members would keep forgetting/failing to turn off the lights in my room and I would never know until another family member would come and turn off my lights and inform me of that. The color one I got is the Colorino, and I got it from APH for over $100 (I don't remember the exact price), but I think it was worth it since I use it quite a bit. You can find it at the Future Aids, at APH, and coprobably at other places. There are also ones that are just light detectors that I think you can find at APH and probably ILA or Maxi-Aids or other places.
remember that 20 years ago, when my kids were little, they didn't have a lot of this electronic stuff. what i would do is every day call the weather and find out the sunset time. then I'd turn the lights on a half hour before that happened. I had a talking alarm and would set it to remeind me. Once a week, I'd change the set time. The coming of twilight doesn't change that much during that amount of days. the report would tell me if it were going to be cloudy etc. if that were the case i'd just turn lights on as a matter of course. Hope this makes sense. I need moore caffeine.
that's an aussom idea, but i'm not sure where to find a number to give me the time of sun set around here.
Very interesting topick.
For sunrise and sunset times try www.timeanddate.com
In the searchbox type your city and it might be included.
If it is not there perhaps try a city next to you so the times might be simmilar.
If not perhaps a local newspaper or a weather website might include sunrise and sunset times.
here you go my darlin'. http://www.weather.gov. youwhere it asks for city and state put in your location. you will get more information then you ever wanted to know.
Call your local home center. What you need is a timer or several of these. You plug a lamp in to it and set it at the time it gets dark, or a bit before. As long and the electric doesn't go off the light turns on at dark and goes off in the morning. You can set these timers to say be on from 8 tell 12 or whatever bed time is for your child. A lamp in each room or some can be added to your switch, but that is tricker and you'll need someone that can install them. A more expensive approach is running your house using your computer. You can get a program and you can set each room to do as you wish, but that requires more cash. The timers are cheap, reliable, and easy to use. I'd bet independant living aids, or beyond sight would even have some that are brailled.