Fun fact: I am totally blind and when I was quite young like 4 or so my mom wrote a book about me and it had a textured page and a scratch and sniff page and a sound page but it was all about how I was a normal kid just like you who liked running around outside and riding my tricycle and it was very cute but did not get published.

Parent of a blind 5 year old giving you permission to write the book. That said you should talk to a Teacher for the Visually Impaired about the techniques used to adapt lessons to make them accessible. It can be more than about Braille. Other ideas would be Universal Design for Learning, white cane use, navigating playground equipment, using texture for painting, having kids announce their name when they say ‘hi’, etc. another important lesson for sighted peers is they only help when asked because otherwise they can help “too” much and the visually impaired child can’t learn.

17 year old low vision here!
One thing I think is important is that the blind kid in the book has more character traits than being blind. I know blindness is a thing that makes a kid stand out and often a thing a kid is remembered for. When I was a kid, I often got the impression that I was “the blind girl” and not “myname who loves to do this and this”.
I know the purpose of the book is to teach kids about visually impairment, but you should try to make the child in the book relatable.

Here’s an example.
How not to do: “This is Billy. Billy is blind. Billy goes to school where he learn how to read Braille and walk with a cane...”
How to do: “This is Billy. Billy is five years old and likes to play with toy cars. He also loves to play in the garden with his sister. One thing that makes Billy different from most other children is that he is blind...”

In the later example, Billy is more relatable since he has character traits most kids can relate to.

Hope this helped you and good luck with the book! I’m really looking forward to read it!

I teach children who are blind. I think it would be a great idea to write about how being blind can mean a lot of things. One eye, no sight at all, blurriness that glasses don't fix, light perception, night blindness. Sometimes kids read braille and sometimes they need extra large print. Sometimes they learn both because they might lose all their vision eventually. I think it's also important to remind kids it is not scary (usually) because it is that person's version of normal.

Anyway I think it's awesome what you're doing! If there is such a thing as the blind community, they do not tend to "gate keep" unless facts are totally skewed. Plus, you are visually impaired so it is your community too! See if you have a TVI through your district. We are busy but if someone wanted to do a lesson on blindness I would totally come through with the brailler and canes and all other fun stuff for the occasion. Good luck with your book!

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