WATERTOWN — Amber Bobnar’s son was born blind, and she was terrified. But, just before Easter a decade ago, she went online and found an organization in Hawaii that put on an egg hunt for blind children with beeping eggs.
“Something about that made me say, ‘If there are people out there that make eggs beep for blind kids, we’re going to be OK,’?’’ said Bobnar, who later moved from Hawaii to Watertown so that her son Ivan, now 10, could attend Perkins School for the Blind.
She brought the beeping egg hunt with them. More than 200 people gathered Saturday morning in the playground at the Perkins lower campus, which was dotted with hundreds of colorful beeping eggs and candy-filled plastic eggs.
Perkins has hosted an annual Easter egg hunt with beeping eggs for visually impaired children for the past five years. The renowned special education school was established in 1829 and has about 200 preschool through high school students with some visual impairment and often a mix of other disabilities.
“Good mayhem,’’ said Paul Pilkons of Peabody, wearing white bunny ears on his head as he surveyed the chaotic scene.
Pilkons and his two college-aged nieces were volunteering with the setup and clean-up, though none of them had any direct connection to Perkins. He has volunteered at the event for several years, figuring that outside volunteers would give family members a break from organizing and a chance to participate in the hunt themselves, Pilkons said.
The event is organized by the Massachusetts Association of Parents of the Visually Impaired, a nonprofit headed by Bobnar. She is also the operator of WonderBaby.org, a website for families of children with disabilities. She was determined to see that this type of beeping egg hunt she had learned about when her son was a baby would continue for him and his peers.
“An Easter egg hunt is a tradition, and sometimes unfortunately our kids can’t participate,’’ said Marlene Pedroza, whose 8-year-old daughter, Bella Padilla, is a full-time student at Perkins with four kids in her class.
Bella has had more than 40 surgeries and 300 in-patient stays at Boston Children’s Hospital. But none of that stopped her from finding a beeping golden egg at the Perkins egg hunt, netting her a gift basket full of candy.
“At least with the beeping eggs, she can hear them and find them, and feels like part of her community,’’ said Pedroza, noting that Bella’s favorite part of the event is getting to be with her friends.
By the time 5-year-old Adrian Rodriguez arrived at the Perkins egg hunt with his parents and his best friend, 6-year-old Adriel Montaroso, there weren’t enough eggs left to collect. But two other boys around the same age shared their own candy-filled eggs with Adrian and Adriel, said his parents.
Adrian counted the plastic eggs in his basket and investigated his candy haul while Adriel looked on. The two have been best friends “forever,’’ said Adrian, later clarifying that forever meant since he was 4.
Adrian has juvenile retinoschisis, according to his parents, Ernesto and Johana Rodriguez. He attended preschool at Perkins and is excited to return for a summer camp this year, he said.
Massachusetts has been ahead of the curve in supporting special education for children, said Bobnar. The resources available at Perkins and throughout the state have made a world of difference to her son Ivan, who has a host of medical problems that have left him completely blind, nonverbal, and in a wheelchair, she said.
“If you have a disabled kid, move to Massachusetts,’’ Bobnar said.
Nicole Fleming can be reached at nicole.fleming@globe.com.
