Phil, hard to believe, but demonstrates the continued struggle against
societal attitudes and ignorance of disabilities. It is not until
situations like this arise, do you really see what people are thinking, but
don't express it verbally. God bless the young couple and their baby.

Cheers,
David
Profile:  http://www.davebest.info
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  |Phil Scovell <[log in to unmask]>                                                                                                           |
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  [log in to unmask]                                                                                                                    |
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  |07/21/2010 12:18 PM                                                                                                                               |
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  |Fw: [Blindad] Fw: [Missouri-l] Infant is returned to blind couple afterstate placesher in protective custody                                      |
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  |The Electronic Church <[log in to unmask]>                                                                                            |
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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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