Authors: Diego and his mom, Veronica Alvarez, Round Rock, TX

Keywords: blind, rock climbing, Enchanted Rock, Family Wisdom, Expanded Core Curriculum

Editor’s note: TAPVI (Texas Association for the Parents of Children with Visually Impairments) is a non-profit organization of parents and professionals committed to providing support to families of children who have blindness or visual impairments including those with additional disabilities. The board has been organizing Family Fun Days across Texas. These events provide opportunities to develop recreation and social skills, components of the expanded core curriculum. Become a member of TAPVI and your family can be part of the fun. Information about joining this organization can be found at www.tapvi.com.

The next writing is from my ten-year-old son, Diego. He was born at 24 weeks and developed ROP Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and is legally blind. He is learning to read and write in braille and uses a braille notetaker. It is amazing to see his little fingers go so fast over the keys of the BrailleNote. It’s been a long journey to accomplish this step in his academic skills and we are so proud of him. We took a trip to Enchanted Rock Park with TAPVI and he wrote about his experience for school homework.

In Diego’s words:

On a beautiful Sunday my family and I went to an Enchanted Rock adventure! First on Saturday we traveled to Fredericksburg, Texas in our car. I was with my family and other families with VI kids. Then we went to have dinner at a pizza place.

The next day we arrived at the Enchanted Rock Park. We climbed the steps up the mountain. We took breaks because we were tired. We hiked to the top of the mountain. When we got to the top I felt the wind. The rock is made of granite. I saw the valley of trees. I heard the wind blow. We took pictures too.

It was a fun day for me for the first time to hike on a mountain. I recommend to all the people to go and explore the Enchanted Rock Park.