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Show A Page ID North Edition Lakeside Review: Wednesday, September 12, 1984 He's not handicapped. Hes just Bffl blind. Linda Cannon 1T-.- ' . IMAGES THAT Aaron feels and smells stay fresh in his mind for a long time. 2 m$u W--':- ,r ; ' ; ' n1 A N 'tJ: , IJ BEING BLIND, Aaron has to rely on other senses such as sound, which he APRIL ADAMS Review Staff LAYTON of mind. Out of sight. Out But this doesnt apply to Aaron Cannon. An image of the child stays fresh in the mind for hours. Theres the way his childish voice vibrates with emotion when he sings. And how he tapes everything on his tape recorder and listens carefully to it over and over again. Theres the way he marches out to the row of mailboxes and, using his sense of touch, always finds the right one. 'And the way other children love, to gather round him so he can fnake them laugh. For .though his eyes are sightless, he sees so much. Witi his small hands, Aaron tenderly and carefully reaches into the cage to touch his beloved white mouse. Excitement plays across his face when he hears thunder and can distinguish the light images of lightning as it jags across the . t sky. E Though the child was born blind and will never be able to uses to listen to some of his favorite records. him? said his mother, Linda Cannon. Aaron just began his second year of preschool at the Utah School for the Blind in Ogden. Every morning about 7:15 a.m., he climbs aboard the small bus that comes to pick him up. He returns about 4:15 p.m. He may be blind, but hes not handicapped, his mother says frequently. Both she and her son strongly believe the child is capable of doing anything. Hes a normal child. He fights with his brother and sisters one minute and then plays with them the next minute. Aaron has one brother, Eric, 7, and two sisters Mary, who is 1 1 and Janice, 12. He was born with Lebers congenital amaurosis, a rare birth defect in which the eyes are healthy and normal," but the optic tracks have lesions where cells didnt form properly. There is no known cure or operation to restore sight to his eyes, his mother said.. ' He was born at an Army .base in Italy. His mother said sh? knew something was wrong with the baby when he was about 6 weeks old. He was just too good. He would just lay there when he was awake and then sleep too see with his eyes, he has already overcome what would prove an insurmountable obstacle to most much. When taken to Denver for of us. f Aaron is very independent. more examinations, the birth deHe likes to do things for himself, fect was discovered. I felt guilty and he doesnt allow you to help at first, his mother said. I kept' him. wondering what I had done to But then again, what myself or my child to make him is going to let you dress blind. , I think every parent of a child with birth defects feels like this for a while. But until a parent can come to terms with the fact, they cant do anything. Linda says she knows she can handle it now. Before I couldnt look into the future. Now I can, and I see Aaron going to a public high school and after that, to col- lege. , She has come to understand blind people, and how they must use the other senses of touch, smell and sound to overcome what is taken for granted by those who can see with their eyes. Because Aaron had no stimulation when he was a baby, he was like a wet noodle," Linda .said. He couldnt see a red ball and try to crawl after it. He had to be taught these things. Your sighted child sees it all, and sometimes you just dont think about experiencing things that might mean something to a blind person. She taped different textures and materials to the bottom of his baby swing and put Aaron under it when he wasa few months old. He would feel the textures and respond in various ways, she said. He became more aware of the outside world, Linda de- ' , Bqt unknown textures would scribed. . ! . frighten the child, she said. The sense of touch is so important to a blind person. If something has a different feeling, this can be extremely horrifying. Aaron has overcome this fear and now loves to touch and feel everything. Thats how he senses things and communicates, in a way. By making a clicking sound with his tongue when entering a room, he can sense how large the room is and about how many people there are in it, she said. Before I had Aaron, I didnt even know blind people could do this. Aaron frequently goes to visit neighbors, she said. He. follows his way along the sidewalk and always finds the right houses. He memorizes his way. She was afraid at first to let 'the child go outside on his own, but knew she had to. I knew I had to let him do things for himself, or he would never learn these . , things. He doesnt have a full concept of what it is to be blind yet, she said. He knows he blind, whatever that is. He realizes that there is a little difference in how his . VVlTH U and a helping hand .Aaron has learned to walk freely In the darkness. AARON HAS overcome his fears and now loves to touch and feel everthing while attending school in Ogden. g . brother does things and how he does things. When helping to prepare breakfast or dinner, Aaron must rely on his hands and sense of touch more. If we are fixing something, he realizes that we can do it faster than he can. But the child is still irrepressible, his mother said. ' At a church recently when sacrament was being passed around, Aaron took a piece of bread, felt it and indignantly turned toward the individual who offered it to - i him.' Well, you could have at least toasted it, he said. He was dead serious, too," his mother added. Photos by Rodney Wright |