With the annual salute to mothers this coming weekend, here are a few sources of cards and gifts, as well as messages commemorating the day and its meaning, especially for those with vision loss.
Card and Gift Ideas
Cards in braille, recordable greetings, large-print, and pop-up cards are among the offerings reviewed in an article from USA Today. For details, including pricing, visit the webpage featuring 18 Accessible Mother’s Day Cards for Moms with Low Vision.
Blind in Mind, The Braille Superstore, has 19 different Mother’s Day cards available for purchase, some humorous, others with loving thoughts and memories, and more. Additional information is available on their webpage for Braille Mother’s Day Cards. They also have a variety of gifts in their Gift Shop.
A variety of gift ideas are offered by VisionAware peer advisors. Suggestions include braille, large print, and tactile board games, cooking tools, book recommendations, arts and crafts, technology, to name a few. For details, visit the APH ConnectCenter webpage with Gift Ideas for People Who Are Blind or Low Vision.
Messages and Reflections from Mothers with Vision Loss
Author Jo Elizabeth Pinto’s book, Daddy Won’t Let Mom Drive the Car, features vignettes about many aspects of being a blind mother. It is critiqued as “tender and hilarious…capturing the joys and challenges of being a mother, the techniques she uses, and the adventures she has raising Sarah.” A review of this book and other reflections related to motherhood and Mother’s Day are covered in an APH ConnectCenter post. For example, Mary Hiland’s recollections about being asked to stay on to care for a grandchild by, of all people, her son-in-law. Deanna Noriega’s writing about motherhood with vision loss are cited as well, notably her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer when her daughter was born. For more about these mothers, and other reading suggestions, visit the webpage on Celebrating Mother’s Day as a Blind or Visually Impaired Parent.
On a humorous and poignant note, a few mothers with vision loss share their stories via Messages from “Blind Mums.” These brief vignettes, and their “Happy Mother’s Day” message, are available as a YouTube short.
