An Introduction

The Sean Project is something my wife, Nancy, and I conceived of. It is a grandiose name for something that we are trying to do. Our son, Sean, lives at home with us. Sean was born deaf/blind and he is developmentally disabled. He is also a fit healthy 25 year old with a lot of energy. He is the sweetest guy you could imagine.

However keeping Sean challenged and learning can be a challenge in itself. So Nancy and I hit on the idea of having Sean work with the horses we have - Bailey and Chuparosa.

Here is a picture of Sean and Nancy going out to feed the horses.




Nancy's first message on the Sean Project Blog: For starters, I will describe my introduction to the deafblind. Then I'll write about Sean's first experience with horses, when he was 11 years old.

Do you have any experience with the deafblind? Have you ever met someone who is blind or deaf?? Or both?

When I was 8 years old, I was fortunate enough to be asked if I'd like to play the young Helen Keller in a professional stage production of "The Miracle Worker". I jumped at the chance! It was very hard work for an 8-year old, working for 3 months from early morning to late nights sometimes, prior to the one week stage run. I had to learn the signing alphabet in addition to learning almost every scene of the play. There were only a few scenes of the entire 3-act play that Helen did not appear in. My older sister, Virginia, was an apprentice at the theatre. She helped me every step of the way.

In addition to the thrill of acting, I met the most wonderful people as part of the experience. Deaf people came to the play; blind people came to the play. They trooped backstage afterwards to meet me and to talk. It was such a thrill to meet them, to be able to talk to them through sign langauge, even though I was a whole lot slower at spelling than they were! Each person I met left me with a sense of awe.

Perhaps that play was my dress rehearsal for my role in life: Sean's mom.

Sean is very different from what Helen Keller was like. For one thing, Helen had heard language and could see before she lost her hearing and sight. Sean however, was born deaf, and with cataracts, due to rubella I contracted when I was pregnant. His cataracts (and thus lenses) were removed before the age of 1. I'm only giving the background here. We have long ago left behind any feelings of remorse about all this so it's probably easier for me to write about it than it is for some people to read about it.

Our next episode will be about Sean's introduction to horses at age 11.