By Peggy Chong

On Saturday, November 12, a seminar sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota, the YWCA of Minneapolis, and BLIND Inc., was held at the Downtown Minneapolis YWCA for parents of blind children.  The subject was the importance of physical fitness.  One family came from as far away as Bemidji to talk about the importance of keeping blind children just as physically active as their sighted peers. 

While the parents met, the children went for a swim at the Y's pool.

A key presentation was made by the Y's children‑fitness instructor.  He gave examples of the types of activities at the Y for children and young adults and the importance of a healthy start in life.  At the Y, they see no reason why blind children cannot participate in their regular programs.  Suggestions were discussed about how this would be done without disruption to the class.

How well we travel depends a lot on how fit we are.  It is well documented that if we get the right foods in our bodies and get plenty of exercise, our mental outlook on life will be much brighter.

As we have seen in BLIND's Buddy Program in the last two years, this is most certainly true.  The buddies who participated in PhyEd classes, extra curricular activities and were just out there being kids, were the blind kids that could walk faster and had better posture.  Travel was not that difficult for them.  They enjoyed getting out.  Those with a more sedentary lifestyle, had difficulty walking any distance.  We needed to work with them on their posture before going out on lessons so they would be listening to what was in front of them rather than their feet.

Parents were truly interested in what they could do to motivate their children to get them involved in a regular routine for exercise to improve travel skills.  The parents talked of how important they felt it was that their son/daughter use a white cane at all times, even while walking with classmates at school.  But they found that the "vision teachers" said that if a blind child walks with anyone, they need to put the cane away and walk "sighted guide."  The parents felt this was not helpful for their child to learn how to travel. 

Blind adults shared their experiences growing up, and parents shared their concerns for their child.  It was a good start down the road for the next generation of blind kids.