- Overview
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We invite you to a bigger world that goes beyond the boundaries of ‘normal’ and ‘perfect’ with the story of visually impaired mothers and their ‘normal’ children.
- Book Intro
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(English) Just a Mom
How does a visually impaired mother raise a child? And how will this child get to know the world?
This question led Yoon Soyeon, a researcher in early childhood education and mother of two, to a special meeting. Eun-sun was born with total congenital blindness; Ji-young became blind in her late teens due to a car accident, and Min-Jeong lost her sight in elementary school after living with poor vision. The author met three mothers who were visually impaired for different reasons, and all were raising children who could see. As her time observing their daily life grew and the number of deep conversations with the three mothers increased, the author’s initial research to maintain an objective viewpoint turned into a subjective immersion, and the thesis became an essay, going beyond the world of academia. How the visually impaired mothers and the ‘normal’ children adapt to and understand each other and live as unique beings break down her prejudices about disability and motherhood. It also vividly shows the many different and in-depth ways that relationships and communication are possible. This book reminds us how fragile the boundaries are between normality and perfection that society has defined, as well as how strongly they restrain people’s perceptions.
- About the Author
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Yoon Soyeon
(English)Yoon Soyeon is a mother and a researcher. She has two young children and a newborn baby. She values each day with her children and tries to live her life to the fullest. She is happiest in the present moment, living as a mother.She likes to listen to people’s stories. She is particularly interested in listening to the stories of those who are different and then sharing them with the world. The academic interest in infants with disabilities that she had cherished since her undergraduate days expanded as she herself became a mother, to include the lives of mothers with disabilities and their children. Fascinated by the positivity and inner strength possessed by mothers with disabilities, she is trying to tell their stories to many people. She currently teaches early childhood education at colleges and universities.
- Recommendation
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1. “This book reveals prejudices that we didn’t even know about and lets us feel the beauty of our differences. I think I’ll keep the book in the clinic for a while, hoping to change my prejudices into a healing touch for my patients.” -- Lee Byung-ro (Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Hanyang University)
2. “I recommend this book to parents who are concerned about raising children and to researchers who are interested in qualitative research.” -- Park Hye-Jun (Professor, Department of Child and Family, Seoul National University)
3. “This book makes me look back on what precious things I have missed. I am grateful that this story could be put before the world in a form that isn’t a dissertation.” -- Kim Eun-joo (Principal of Seoul National School for the Blind)
