Leading the Blind

Christian & Chris Ulmer My family was honored with a special opportunity this past weekend. We got to meet Christopher Ulmer with Special Books by Special Kids   and be interviewed by him! Christian did a great job being interviewed and Chris really captured Christian's joyful spirit and laughter! (You can watch that interview here .) The video got over a million views in less than two days, which is awesome! But lots of exposure also always seems to bring out those who are jerks  not so supportive. *sigh* It always depends on the situation how I respond to these things. Sometimes I just don't at all, for the sake of our safety or if something just seems really off. However, when appropriate, I have decided that I won't sit by and stay silent. Maybe it's the lawyer in me, but I don't feel like change will ever happen if no one speaks up. It's bigger than Christian. Christian isn't the only person who has been targeted and run down based on their...

We were getting dressed for a fancy, red carpet event. We had been invited to a benefit concert where Christian would go on stage, adorning bow tie and all, and play piano for the crowd. The show was a fancy ordeal, and it was important that we dress well and look put together. My friend was hosting the concert and it was an honor to be invited. At the very least, I had to make sure that we looked the part because we were representing her and her tremendous efforts to put this event together. We HAD to represent her well. The boys were dressed in black pants, button up shirts, and bow ties adorned with music notes. I wore a dress that I can't wear too many places because it's a touch to "fancy" if you will, but it was gorgeous. My hair and makeup were done up and I felt, well, you know how you feel when you dress up and your hair does good and your makeup goes on well, and you just feel like walking a red carpet?! Yep! I felt ready to walk down that red carpet, get ...

Last week we visited Tennessee School for the Blind. This was a trip that I have been hearing about for about a year. I’ve known it was coming, but I had no idea what to expect. There was some anticipation with a touch of dread mixed in about this trip.  The purpose of this visit was an evaluation. That single word is too small to really describe what all took place, really. Christian was evaluated on pretty much everything. His vision was checked (no brainer, but they did have an ophthalmologist just take a look, to confirm his vision impairment. It’s always good to have it documented on paper.) The school AKA TSB also brought in physical, occupational, and speech therapists, vision teachers, orientation and mobility specialists, assistive technology experts, a psychologist, and just an entire array of specialists to do this evaluation. He was ranked against other blind children his age to get a more accurate measure because it doesn’t really give us a good picture to try t...

     February 18th, 2012 will mark a huge occasion for our family, so I MUST share it with my readers! Our amazing little fella will turn the BIG 1!!!!! I remember the first few days after he was born, thinking about a year from then, where we would be, and how we would get there. And here it is already. It is so bittersweet to me. I was overcome with joy and love when Christian was born, but also with fear and heartache at his diagnoses and the pain he endured in the first few months of his life. I am overwhelmed with joy that he is growing and doing so well, but I am also a little sad that he is growing so fast.      We spent February 18th to March 15th, 2011 in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which is by far the main reason that I don't like it now. As sad as it is to say, we were treated terribly during our stay. We encountered way more hatful people than kind. With the exception a few doctors and nurses, most were sterile t...

We wanted to take a minute and thank everyone who stops by our page to leave a thoughtful message, words of encouragement, hugs and kisses, pictures and quotes or to ask how our family is doing.  We are so grateful for all of our friends who have been on this journey with our family since our video went viral and to all of our new friends who join our page daily.  Chris, my parents and I are so grateful for the love you have shown for Christian and his sidekick, Chandler. Our friend, Marisa who helps me admin our page has mentioned that we are asked many of the same questions about Christian repeatedly, and thought we should put together a question/answer sheet of some of the most asked questions so that we can share as much about Christian as possible.  As always, we welcome any messages you may like to send in private and we do our best to try to get back to you all as soon as possible.  To all of our new friends who have just joined our page either throu...