30 Aug 2013

NZ Society: Children with Challenges - Part 3

From Children With Learning Challenges, 2:30 pm on 30 August 2013

Caitlin Smith is legally blind, or more specifically she has achromatopsia; with 5% vision in her left eye, 10% in the right, total colour blindness and extreme light sensitivity. She describes sunlight as complete "white-out". Caitlin and percussionist Mark Lockett both use their visual disability as the inspiration behind the launch of Stories to Tell, as part of the recent Disabilities Awareness Campaign, 2013. Stories to Tell is a charity performance raising awareness for PVINZ, or Parents of Vision Impaired New Zealand, the unsung heroes advocating for their differently abled children. Lynda Chanwai-Earle braves a storm to hear Caitlin perform and speaks to two dedicated parents and founding members of PVINZ whose battles over the decades have brought remarkable change to the way we perceive children with disabilities.