Today I had
the pleasure of meeting some very amazing visually disabled young adults. We shared our stories with each other across
a luncheon table eating chicken fajitas.
There are many degrees of visual impairment and this was evident at the luncheon
table today. The degrees range from those who have partial sight and manage the
task of eating quite well to those who need assistance with pesky condiment
packages and placement of food on a plate for example. My friend who joined me today who is sighted
was amazed at how visually impaired folks operate. She is used to clumsy ole me who still has a
fair amount of sight and when you see me sitting without my cane, you wouldn’t know
I can’t see well. I’ll admit the first
time you are around a few blind people, it changes your life. My life was changed forever by going to the
National Federation of the Blind Conference this year, but that’s a story for
another post. The part of this story
that I want to share with you most of all is this. There were three young adults there that I had
the pleasure of having conversation with.
I’ll call the first young man Thomas.
Thomas was in his early twenties and has no vision at all. He had recently been laid off from his job at
a local restaurant. His job at this
local restaurant was rolling silverware.
Thomas wants a more productive, self-sufficient life and is now getting
the training he needs to be a successful blind person through the
rehabilitation center in Daytona Florida and the Division of Blind Services. It infuriated
me that he hasn’t had this opportunity before and that even though the said
restaurant may have thought they were being kind giving Thomas that job in the
first place, it’s an insult. Blind
people have much more to offer this world.
Now don’t get me wrong ive been in the hospitality industry a long time
and rolling silverware is part of many servers jobs and am not saying there is
anything wrong with doing that task. What
I’m saying is that it’s sad that is one of the limited types of jobs a blind
man has offered to him because of lack of awareness and proper training.
The second
story I heard today was also a young man in his mid-twenties, who unlike Thomas
had partial sight, but is considered legally blind. I’ll call this young man Kevin. Kevin has gone through our public school
system but somehow didn’t make it to college.
So for the last four years he’s been trying to find a job unsuccessfully
and living with his mother. The thing
about Kevin’s story is that neither he nor his family knew how to advocate for
Kevin so that he could have the skills & training and the opportunity for
funding to go to college. Nobody came
looking for Kevin to say hey there’s help out there are programs designed just
for the visually disabled. Because Kevin
has sight in one eye he and his family didn’t think he was eligible for
services. Kevin has RP. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP)
a degenerative eye disease which qualifies him even if he can still see. Kevin’s story really touched me because it’s
so similar to mine. Blind in one eye,
sighted in the other. Not getting
assistance until it gets to the point that you cannot drive nor do simple everyday
tasks. Shouldn’t we get the training and
skills before the vision loss? Shouldn’t
we be more proactive instead of reactive?
I think so.
Luckily Kevin is now getting the training he
needs.
The third
person I had lunch with today is a lovely young lady I met at the NFB
conference in Orlando earlier this year.
She has no sight, been blind from birth.
I’ll call her Vicky. Vicky never
graduated from High school. She was
never taught braille. She lives with her
sister and collects disability but Vicky is sick of relying on other people and
doesn’t want to be a burden to her family.
So this brave young girl got a scholarship to the NFB conference. Vicky learned as did I at the NFB conference how
to advocate for herself and get the help needed to succeed. She is finishing blind school and then Vicky
plans on getting her GED.
What I learned
from today is that there are many many situations like, Thomas, Kevin & Vicky’s.
Its actually more common than you think
and the lack of education, training, job placement and independent living for
the disabled is quite extensive. Many people
fall through the cracks, get lost in the system or never get in the system in
the first place. I’m honored to have
spent my lunch hour with such determined individuals. Hearing their stories only fuels the fire
inside me to do something about it.
There is such an overwhelming need for outreach programs to find struggling
people like Thomas, Kevin & Vicky.
Not only do I feel I need to advocate for myself in a world designed to
fail those with disabilities but I want to be of service to those like me. I’d love to see a system that is proactive
rather than reactive. How does that
happen? I’m not sure but I’m going to
keep fighting to find a way.
A few
helpful links to assistance education, programs, organizations etc that I have
found this year in no particular order of importance….as I find more resources I
will tag on this blog. Email me or post
a comment if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to help you.
Division of
Blind Services of Florida
Mission
Statement: To ensure
blind and visually-impaired Floridians have the tools, support and opportunity
to achieve successVision Statement: In partnership with others, create a barrier free environment in the lives of Floridians with visual disabilities.
NOTE-each
state has a similar department, search the web or contact your department of
education for more info
National
Federation of the Blind
American
Foundation for the Blind
http://www.afb.org/default.aspx
National Library
Service-NLS
Through a
national network of cooperating libraries, NLS administers a free library
program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the
United States by postage-free mail.
Hadley
School for the Blind
Our mission
is to promote independent living through lifelong, distance education programs
for people who are blind or visually impaired, their families and blindness
service providers.
Perkins
School for the Blind
Bookshare
Accessable
online library
Note-free
for qualified us students. I’m a student
of Hadley which is free so I also got bookshare for free!
Jerrigan
Institute
NFB-Newsline
FREE
SERVICE TO THOSE WHO CANNOT READ REGULAR NEWSPRINT!
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