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Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by isoprophlex on Thursday September 19, 2024 @02:16AM (#41589088)
I have, I think, no real expert advice to offer you. Except this small anecdote.

One of the kids in my 4-year old son's class is blind. I went along for a day to help out on a school trip to some massive playground, which involved loading 60 kids into a bus (they usually walk/bike to school, so not everyone was used to the idea of large buses); keeping track of them in the playground, feeding them, etc etc. Lots of potential for disaster, haha.

Throughout the day, it struck me that for the most part this blind kid was just another kid amongst peers. It was very wholesome to see the kids understand his limits instinctively, help him out whenever needed but mostly just bantering and playing alongside him.

I never gave these things much thought before, but observing this I saw the importance of having quality, supportive peers to interact with. I hope you can find a supportive, nurturing environment for your boy: one that highlights and reinforces his strengths, not his weaknesses.

Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by YinglingHeavy on Thursday September 19, 2024 @06:08AM (#41590273)
Hijacking this to give advice critical for a baby who is only a few months old.

OP, are you in the US? Contact your states "Birth To 3" program immediately. You can get a Vision Specialist to come to your house. I imagine other countries have similar programs.

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Reading the rest of the thread, you HN'ers are very blessed to be ignorant that such a program exists.

Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by Disruptive_Dave on Thursday September 19, 2024 @08:52AM (#41591343)
> Reading the rest of the thread, you HN'ers are very blessed to be ignorant that such a program exists.

By this logic pretty much every single person in existence is "blessed to be ignorant" of the thousands (more?) of potential ailments they aren't facing right now. Seems like a silly POV.

Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by icepat on Thursday September 19, 2024 @09:17AM (#41591571)
Yes? I don't see a problem with this line of reasoning.
Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by majewsky on Friday September 20, 2024 @08:56AM (#41601540)
"Ignorant" implies that they are actively avoiding this information. A less inflammatory choice of words would be "unaware".

For instance, it is extremely silly to consider non-Americans "ignorant" if they don't know US-only programs.

Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by icepat on Saturday September 21, 2024 @01:10AM (#41607644)
No, it does not imply that. Ignorant simply means "lacking knowledge". You're implying the separate term "willfully ignorant" means the same thing as ignorant. If it did, then willfully ignorant would be redundant, which it is not.
Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by dunghill on Thursday September 19, 2024 @10:31AM (#41592312)
It's interesting how kids can adapt so naturally. We've got so many preconceived ideas about difficulties.

When I was young there was a deaf kid in our school. We just figured out communication as needed. Kids don't overthink things like adults do. The environment matters, but sometimes we should just let kids figure it out.

Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by fsckboy on Thursday September 19, 2024 @10:38AM (#41592396)
>We've got so many preconceived ideas

they're not preconceived, you didn't have them when you were a child. I think this points to the benefits to their own development (and then to the rest of us) that abled children get from disabilities being mainstreamed as much as is practical.

Re:Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support by webspinner on Saturday September 21, 2024 @05:44AM (#41608792)
As soon as you turn 25, they become preconceived. Or probably before that.