Hi Phil and Everyone,
This is so heart breaking. It makes me cry to hear such awful stuff.
I will be praying for this loving couple. I'm glad they got the
little girl back, but there's nothing like those first days, weeks,
and months, with a new born child. I hope they go after the people
who started this. Including the hospital nurse, and the social
workers. This makes me cry.
Loving you all bunches,
Pat Ferguson
At 11:16 AM 7/21/2010, you wrote:
>This will get your attention. Years later, Sandy and I learned they
>were saying similar things about us being blind and raising a
>sighted child when we were in the hospital.
>
>Phil.
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Olver" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "NFB Chapter Presidents discussion list"
><[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>; "NFB of
>Missouri Mailing List" <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 6:57 AM
>Subject: [Blindad] Fw: [Missouri-l] Infant is returned to blind
>couple afterstate placesher in protective custody
>
>
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: Chip Hailey
>>To: MCB Listserve
>>Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 7:47 AM
>>Subject: [Missouri-l] Infant is returned to blind couple after
>>state placesher in protective custody
>>
>>
>>Posted on Wed, Jul. 21, 2010 12:15 AM
>>Email
>>Infant is returned to blind couple after state places her in
>>protective custody
>>By LEE HILL KAVANAUGH
>>The Kansas City Star
>>Fifty-seven days after she was born, Mikaela Sinnett was home for
>>the first time Tuesday with her parents, Erika Johnson and Blake
>>Sinnett of Independence. State officials had worried they were
>>unable to care for her.
>>DAVID EULITT | The Kansas City Sta
>>Fifty-seven days after she was born, Mikaela Sinnett was home for
>>the first time
>>Tuesday with her parents, Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett of
>>Independence. State
>>officials had worried they were unable to care for her.
>>
>>A folding cane used by Blake Sinnett rested in the baby carrier
>>used to carry home his daughter.
>>
>>On Tuesday, Blake Sinnett, guided by his mother, Jenne Sinnett,
>>carried his 2-month-old daughter, Mikaela Sinnett. Behind them was
>>Mikaela's mother, Erika Johnson.
>>Erika Johnson will never be able to see her baby, Mikaela.
>>But for 57 days she couldn't keep her newborn close, smell her
>>baby's breath, feel
>>her downy hair.
>>The state took away her 2-day-old infant into protective custody -
>>because Johnson
>>and Mikaela's father are both blind.
>>No allegations of abuse, just a fear that the new parents would be
>>unable to care
>>for the child.
>>On Tuesday, Johnson still couldn't stop crying, although Mikaela
>>was back in her
>>arms.
>>"We never got the chance to be parents," she said. "We had to prove
>>that we could."
>>Tuesday, she and Blake Sinnett knew their baby was finally coming
>>home to their Independence
>>apartment, but an adjudication hearing was scheduled for the
>>afternoon on whether
>>the state would stay involved in the rearing of the baby. Then from
>>a morning phone
>>call to their attorney, they learned that the state was dismissing
>>their case.
>>"Every minute that has passed that this family wasn't together is a
>>tragedy. A legal
>>tragedy and a moral one, too," said Amy Coopman, their attorney.
>>"How do you get
>>57 days back?"
>>Arleasha Mays, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Social
>>Services, said
>>privacy laws prohibited her from speaking about specific cases. But
>>she added, "The
>>only time we recommend a child be removed is if it's in imminent danger."
>>Johnson said she knew the system eventually would realize its
>>horrible mistake, but
>>she often was consumed with sadness. Sinnett tried his best to keep
>>Johnson hopeful.
>>For almost two months she and Sinnett could visit their baby only
>>two or three times
>>a week, for just an hour at a time, with a foster parent monitoring.
>>"I'm a forgiving person," Johnson said, but she's resentful that
>>people assumed she
>>was incapable.
>>"Disability does not equal inability," she said.
>>Representatives of the sightless community agreed that people were
>>well-meaning but
>>blinded by ignorance.
>>Mikaela was born May 21 at Centerpoint Medical Center of
>>Independence. The doctors
>>let Sinnett "see" her birth by feeling the crowning of her head.
>>For Johnson, hearing Mikaela's whimpers was a thrill. The little
>>human inside her
>>all these months, the one who hiccupped and burped, who kicked and
>>moved, especially
>>at night, was now a real person whom she loved more than anything
>>else she'd ever
>>imagined.
>>In her overnight bag was Mikaela's special homecoming outfit, a
>>green romper from
>>Johnson's mother, with matching bottoms and a baby bow.
>>Questions arose within hours of Mikaela's birth, after Johnson's
>>clumsy first attempts
>>at breast-feeding - something many new mothers experience.
>>A lactation nurse noticed that Mikaela's nostrils were covered by
>>Johnson's breast.
>>Johnson felt that something was wrong and switched her baby to her
>>other side, but
>>not before Mikaela turned blue.
>>That's when the concerned nurse wrote on a chart: "The child is
>>without proper custody,
>>support or care due to both of parents being blind and they do not
>>have specialized
>>training to assist them."
>>Her words set into motion the state mechanisms intended to protect
>>children from
>>physical or sexual abuse, unsanitary conditions, neglect or absence
>>of basic needs
>>being met.
>>Centerpoint said it could not comment because of patient privacy
>>laws, but spokeswoman
>>Gene Hallinan said, "We put the welfare of our patients as our top priority."
>>A social worker from the state came by Johnson's hospital room and
>>asked her questions:
>>How could she take her baby's temperature? Johnson answered: with
>>our talking thermometer.
>>How will you take her to a doctor if she gets sick? Johnson's
>>reply: If it were an
>>emergency, they'd call an ambulance. For a regular doctor's
>>appointment, they'd call
>>a cab or ride a bus.
>>But it wasn't enough for the social worker, who told Johnson she
>>would need 24-hour
>>care by a sighted person at their apartment.
>>Johnson said they couldn't afford it, didn't need it.
>>"I needed help as a new parent, but not as a blind parent," Johnson said.
>>She recalled the social worker saying: " 'Look, because you guys
>>are blind, I don't
>>feel like you can adequately take care of her.' And she left."
>>The day of Johnson's discharge, another social worker delivered the
>>news to the couple
>>that Mikaela was not going home with them. The parents returned the
>>next day to visit
>>Mikaela before she left the hospital, but they were barred from holding her.
>>"All we could do was touch her arm or leg," Johnson said.
>>The couple began making calls. Gary Wunder, president of the
>>National Federation
>>of the Blind of Missouri, had trouble believing it at first.
>>"I needed to verify their whole story," he recalled. "We had to do
>>due diligence.
>>. I found the couple to be intelligent and responsible.
>>"We knew this was an outrage that had taken place."
>>He notified Kansas City chapter president Shelia Wright, who
>>visited the 24-year-olds.
>>Hearing about the empty crib, the baby clothes, Wright recalled, "I
>>felt as helpless
>>as I've ever felt in my life.
>>"I hurt so bad for them. This is unforgivable."
>>They rallied other associations for the blind nationwide. More than
>>100 people at
>>a national convention in Dallas volunteered to travel to Kansas
>>City to protest and
>>testify, both as blind parents and as the sighted children of blind
>>parents. (Mikaela
>>has normal sight.)
>>They also hired Coopman, who watched the young couple with their
>>baby girl on Tuesday.
>>"I'm sorry," she said, wiping tears. "But this should not have happened."
>>Johnson kept a journal that Coopman is keeping closed for now. She
>>indicates that
>>legal action will be taken.
>>"Whether a couple is visually impaired or deaf or in a wheelchair,
>>the state should
>>not keep them from their children," she said.
>>Now breast-feeding is a lost option. And the beautiful newborn
>>clothes hanging in
>>the closet went unworn, because their baby was growing bigger in
>>the arms of someone
>>else.
>>The couple said they had tried to prove themselves to the sighted
>>community since
>>their early years. Sinnett rode his bicycle on the street with the
>>help of a safety
>>gadget. Johnson graduated from high school with honors. But all the
>>challenges they've
>>endured over the years shrink compared to the responsibility of
>>caring for 10 pounds
>>of squirming baby girl.
>>Johnson cuddled Mikaela. Gave her a bottle. Patted her back until
>>she burped. Mikaela
>>gave a tiny smile.
>>In their 24 years, the couple said, they've both endured prejudice
>>from others. They
>>don't want any other blind parent to suffer the same obstacle they did.
>>Fifty-seven days are too precious to lose.
>>The Star's Laura Bauer contributed to this report. To reach Lee
>>Hill Kavanaugh, call
>>816-234-4420 or send e-mail to
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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