A doting dad from New Jersey who happens to be blind is adding braille to his baby daughter’s storybooks so he can read to her at bedtime.
The small act of love is just one part of the proud papa’s promise to never let his sight-challenged status “get in the way of being a good parent.”
Anthony Ferraro, 28, of Spring Lake, was born blind — growing up, however, he was repeatedly told he could do anything he wanted in life.
And when wife Kelly, 35, gave birth to the couple’s first child just months ago, Ferraro was determined to learn how to bond with his little girl just like any other father would — right down to the timeworn ritual of bedtime story reading.
Thanks to a special machine that adds a braille overlay to a regular book, he’s able to do just that.
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude,” Ferraro, a content creator and motivational speaker, told SWNS.
“I always told myself that no matter what, I won’t let my blindness get in the way of being the best dad I can be,” he said, noting that he’ll “never let excuses get in the way of things” — and definitely not when it comes to parenting.
Not that the experience hasn’t been challenging at times.
“Being a dad has been incredible, the whole journey. Being a blind dad, finding ways to bond with my daughter aren’t so obvious,” he confessed.
“But if I can braille things, I can read it just like normal. I feel it’s a really important bonding moment between us and I feel so grateful I can have that with her.”
Ferraro was born with a rare degenerative eye condition, to parents who always encouraged him to never let his impairment hold him back.
While everyone learned to read and write in school, Anthony studied braille, eventually enrolling in a school for the blind.
For years, he played judo — even at an international level — and at one point was even training for the Paralympic Games, before an injury took him out of the running, at least for the time being.
And while his gold medal dreams may be on hold, in the meantime, he’s a big fan of dad life.
“I always told myself no matter what, I want to be a dad and have a family,” he said.
Besides adding braille to the baby’s books, Ferraro said he’s also taught his daughter different noises she can make in order to get his attention while they’re sharing time together.
“She knows she has to make noise for me to look at her. She has learnt to use more ‘coos’ with me than with my wife, and she is very vocal,” Ferraro said.
“But even when she is quiet, I can’t see the smile on her face, but I can feel it.”
And like a really good father, Ferraro has also learned the art of diaper changing — turns out, there’s nothing to it, just a few “extra wipes” to be sure.
Now, he’s planning ahead for when his daughter takes her first steps — she’ll wear bells on her ankles so he’ll always be able to find her.
“I have blind friends that are scared to have kids in case their kid is blind. But I always told myself that’s not a reason not to have children,” Ferraro said.
“Anything could always happen to any child, but if my kid ends up blind, who would be a better teacher for them than me?”