Discover

Story By Jacque Hilburn
Staff Writer

Many parents experience growing pangs as they guide their children toward adulthood and independence. Even though the gradual separation between parent and child is natural, it can be bittersweet - a mixture of pride and protectiveness.

Tyler mom Paige Parrish is becoming intimately familiar with this confusing rainbow of emotions.

Her 15-year-old daughter, Allie, is among a group of students headed next month to Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes.

The 12-day trip, through the Global Explorers' Leading the Way Program, includes travel through the land of the Incas and hikes in the Andes Mountains.

Adding emphasis to the sting of separation is the fact Allie and about 10 other high school students who plan on making the journey are visually impaired.

Letting her make the trip will be difficult, Ms. Parrish acknowledges, but the lessons learned along the way will give Allie knowledge she just can't get sitting at home.

"It's a calculated risk, but every time she comes back from a trip, her confidence is so much higher," said Ms. Parrish, who works for Tyler Junior College's School of Continuing Studies. "I'd rather her have a broken bone than a broken spirit."

This isn't Allie's first time to venture away from home.

She won a trip to France two years ago to attend a perfume school for the vision impaired, hosted by international retailer L'Occitano in cooperation with the American Foundation for the Blind.

To prepare for next month's journey to the Andes, she attended a mandatory training session in Denver, hosted by Erik Weihenmayer, a respected travel expert and mountain climber.

Weihenmayer is recognized as the first blind man to summit to the top of Mount Everest.

As part of their training, vision-impaired students were paired with sighted guides to learn how to use trekking poles and techniques for navigating the rugged terrain of Peru.

The trip is designed to highlight the various aspects of leadership, community service, cultural trends and conservation.

Ms. Parrish believes those lessons and others will serve her daughter well throughout the remainder of her life, especially when she enters the workforce.

"The unemployment rate for the blind is about 75 percent," said Ms. Parrish. "It's incredibly high."

Exposing Allie to global experiences will improve her chances for success, she said.

Transitional assistance and support is extended by the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, formerly the Texas Commission for the Blind.

Allie said having an opportunity to learn from someone such as Weihenmayer, who seeks adventure in spite of his physical challenges, is very inspiring and motivating.

"This is kind of my comfort zone, to explore and find out about new places," Allie said. "It's what I love to do."

Exposing children to the wonders of the world helps broaden their horizons, but it's especially important when they have physical and learning challenges, child development experts say.

Ms. Parrish agrees.

"It's very gratifying to do tactical exploration," she said. "This opportunity came up and we decided to go for it."

Ms. Parrish said she's always tried to seek out new opportunities for Allie and sister, Megan, 18, who is sighted, to learn by doing.

"It started out with us being bold about what we were doing, trying to get those concepts quickly," Ms. Parrish said.

Occasionally it means stepping outside the boundaries of comfort.

To create learning experiences, Ms. Parrish often resorts to two little words, "Can we?"

To help Allie learn about the eating habits of giraffes, Ms. Parrish turned to Caldwell Zoo.

Spotting an empty swimming pool, she sought permission to show Allie the concept of gradients.

Like most teenagers, Allie seems to have mixed views on her mother's enthusiasm for learning.

"A lot of times my sister and I are saying, 'Don't ask, don't ask,'" the teenager teased.

Allie predicts next month's journey to Peru will give her a whole new perspective on the world and its mysteries.

"I'm excited about learning and exploring, and getting to my destination," she said.

Allie and her mother, Paige, at home in Tyler.
(Staff Photo By Mark Roberts)