People in Da Neighborhood!

[Ms. Kathy]

The World at His Fingertips: Anthony Vasquez

from Braille Institute web site at www.brailleinstitute.org/


If you were to ask high school student Anthony Vasquez about his outlook for the future, the response would be decidedly positive. Although he was born legally blind due to congenital glaucoma, he hasn't let his blindness get in the way. "I want to be a writer," he said. "I'm heading into my senior year, so I'm very focused right now on applying to UCLA to major in English."

He sounds confident. And he has the right to be. Anthony began preparing for his foray into the world of higher education 12 years ago, when he started learning to read braille at the tender age of 4. His formidable braille skills not only have allowed him to keep up with his sighted peers, but also have given him the ability—to blaze a trail using his hands as a guide. "Braille literacy is so important for blind students," he said. "It is absolutely necessary that you learn how to read braille in order to compete in the sighted world.

But Anthony is not only poised to compete with his sighted peers. This past June, after placing amount the top 60 students in the nation during preliminary testing, he was chosen to participate in the only national academic competition for blind students—The 4th Annual National Braille Challenge Invitational™.

Braille Institute created this unique competition to encourage blind students like Anthony to continue their study of braille—a vital medium that is essential to the future success and employment of blind youths.

Anthony's hard work and dedication paid off at the national competition. He won second place in the Varsity age group, which tested high school juniors and seniors in categories designed to assess their comprehension, accuracy and speed in reading and transcribing braille. For his efforts, he took home a $2,500 savings bond and a wealth of fond memories.

"I'm so glad an event like the Braille Challenge exists, because it helps me and other blind kids from across the country show the world that you shouldn't underestimate someone just because they are blind."

The National Braille Challenge Invitational event gives blind students a stage on which to showcase their braille skills, while supporting and encouraging braille literacy for students across the U.S. and Canada. For more information on how to support this event or any of Braille Institute are other literacy programs, please call 1-800-BRAILLE (272-4553), Extension 1256.

[Ms. Kathy]

Article published Tuesday, July 5, 2005

DOUGLAS V. AUSTIN, 1937-2005
Source: Toledo Blade toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050705/NEWS13/507050386/-1/NEWS

Finance expert didn't let blindness slow him down


Douglas V. Austin, 68, who enjoyed a long career as a University of Toledo finance professor and banking consultant despite losing his sight as a young man, died yesterday of cancer in Hospice of Northwest Ohio.


Mr. Austin battled four types of cancer in the last seven years and refused to let those illnesses, or his failed eyesight, limit his drive to succeed, said his son, David. "He was an amazing man, a very inspirational man," David Austin said. "My father had very little patience for blind people in this country who did not want to better themselves."

Mr. Austin suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that began affecting him between his junior and senior years in the mid-1950s at Birmingham High School in Michigan, his son said.

A change in the school's football schedule from afternoon games to evening contests left Mr. Austin, a star defensive lineman, unable to play.

"The first sign is night blindness, so he went from an all-state defensive tackle one season to not being able to see the guy lined up across from him," David Austin said.

Mr. Austin's sight continued to deteriorate in the next two decades, and by the mid-1970s, he was declared legally blind. By that time, he had earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in economics, taught at three universities, and worked as an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland.

He joined the University of Toledo as chairman of its finance department in 1969. He held that position 13 years and remained a UT finance professor until 1989, when he retired.

He continued to teach one semester each year until last fall, when his health forced him to stop, David Austin said.

Mr. Austin also operated the Toledo-based financial consulting firms Austin Associates Inc. and Austin Financial Services Inc. He wrote 17 books and published more than 800 articles on banking and corporate finance.

"He wouldn't have gone through life without being able to work," David Austin said.

An Indianapolis native, Mr. Austin received a bachelor's degree in economics from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1959. Two years later, he received a master's in economics from Indiana University, and in 1963, he earned a PhD in economics and business from the same school.

He taught at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor of finance from 1963 to 1965, then joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland as an economist, remaining there until 1967. From 1967 to 1969, he was an associate professor of finance at Western Michigan University.

While at UT, Mr. Austin earned a law degree from the school in 1978.

He was in demand to testify as a financial expert in court cases involving banks and was called to discuss banking reform legislation before the Ohio General Assembly and Congress in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1971 to 1974, Mr. Austin was chairman of the Ohio Bank Study Commission, which recommended easing geographic restrictions on where banks could open branches.

Besides his work in finance, Mr. Austin aided organizations dedicated to assisting others with vision loss. He was a board member for the National Industries for the Blind and national trustee emeritus of the American Foundation for the Blind.

In 1997, he became the first visually impaired person to serve as chairman of the board of trustees for the Toledo-based Sight Center. Mr. Austin also was a longtime member of Epworth United Methodist Church, where he served as a trustee and chairman of the finance committee.

Surviving are his wife, Gayle; sons, C. Michael Bernard, Jeffrey Bernard, Stephen Bernard, Craig Bernard, and David Austin; daughter, Carole Lynn Stradtman; sister, Judith Fissinger, and 16 grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Epworth United Methodist Church. Arrangements are by the Wisniewski Funeral Home.

The family requests tributes to the Sight Center, the University of Toledo, Epworth United Methodist Church, or Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

[Ms. Kathy]

Blindness just an inconvenience

Andra Atteberry

Weekly Vista Staff Writer
Source: The Weekly Vista, Bella Vista, AR www.nwanews.com/weeklyvista/newhoswholutyen83-pic40l.php


"It's an inconvenience. I don't let it stop me." The 'it' Paul Lutyen, 52, referred to is blindness. He was declared legally blind in 1989 because of retina degeneration.

He hasn't let it stop him or his wife. They both ride recumbent bikes -- those crazy looking bikes where people have their legs stuck out in front pedaling while they recline slightly in their cushy, comfy seats.

"I'll try anything once, within reason," he said.

After he had to retire from his job as a power engineer in Joliet, Ill., someone from the Illinois Depart of Rehabilitation visited him.

"They wanted to make me learn Braille. I said I was going to fight tooth and nail to use every bit of sight I have."


Even before he leaves for his job at the McDonald County Wal-Mart, Paul rides 20 to 30 miles a day, six days a week. Every day but Saturday, that is, which is a very busy day at work so he needs to save his energy for his job.

On Tuesday, July 26, he rode five miles from his home to the Lake Bella Vista trail. It took him 15 minutes. Then he rode around the 2-mile trail five more times before his wife Harriet joined him for their tandem recumbent bike ride. They'll ride most of the way in 16th gear.

Yes, a tandem recumbent bike. The bike is seven feet long and has 24 gears. Paul loves their BikeE. He said, "It's the Cadillac of recumbent bikes. The neat thing about this bike it is has an adjustable, articulated air ride. It's like riding on a cloud." Then he deplores, "The company quit making it. If you want to find one, you might find one on e-bay."

The bikes have trunks -- a cloth carrier attached to the back seat.

"We need to carry a lot of things -- water, tools, tubes, cable locks," he added.

"Oh yeah, these bikes are real conversation pieces," Paul said. People want to talk to them about their bikes.

His wife Harriet also rides a recumbent bike. She wants to ride about two times a week but lately she's had to work overtime so she can't ride that much.


When people see Paul riding his bike, they think he can't see anything, Harriet said.

"He has low vision," she added.

Paul explains: "I see figures. I can't see features." If people are walking on the trail, he'll see them but he cannot see their faces.

Both were previously married to people who didn't like to get out and do things.

"They both were couch potatoes," Harriet said.

Both the Lutyens like to do things. In 2004, they rode in the first Annual Northwest Arkansas Tour de Cure that benefits diabetes. Each bike paid a $100 entry fee.

"We got a break," Paul said with a huge smile. The other bikers with just one person on a bike had to pay $100, but since they had two people, it was only $50 per person.

Paul gets a serious tone and his already bass voice deepened further as he said, "We started dead last in with 60 plus riders. By half-way, we had passed most everybody. We finished 6th overall. We'd pass bikes and they'd say, 'Oh, man, that looks comfortable.'"

They already have plans to ride this year on Oct. 8. Last year they just rode 20 miles. This year they're going to ride 50 miles.


Paul warns others walking around the lake when he's riding. He will shout, "Bike coming up on the left."

"Did he tell you about his ride to Eureka Springs last year?" Harriet asked. "He went through Pea Ridge, Garfield, then Table Rock."

Paul said, "It took about 5 hours. I went 69 mph down one hill. Scared the living stew out of me." He said his biggest fear was that the bike frame would collapse when he got to the bottom.

At the end of the five hour ride to Paradise Cove Campground at Table Rock, Paul raised his arms high and said, "I'm pumped." His friend who owns the campground asked him how he felt. "I asked him if he had any trees I could rip out. I had so much energy. I couldn't sit down."


Harriet and Paul have only been riding recumbent bikes for two and a half years.

Harriet just bubbles with laughter when she talks about buying Paul's first recumbent bike.

"I wanted a moped so we were looking at bikes in Kansas City," she said. "Paul saw the Bike America store. He went in and saw this one. It was love at first sight. He asked if he could try the bike out. He got on it and rode it right away.

"We drove home from Kansas City all the way with the bike wheel between us in the front seat -- it was so long." She never did get her moped.

They moved to Bella Vista four years ago. Harriet wasn't sure if she wanted to live here so they rented a house. She said, "Now I just love Bella Vista. It's so relaxed."

The only down side of recumbent bicycles is the cost.

"But you use it more than a regular bike," Paul said. "You just lean back and work as hard as you want to. A good recumbent bike costs about $1,000. That's what I have in the Ran, plus I put in another $200 in extras."

That may seem expensive, but not when compared to some other sports.

"Look at golf equipment," Harriet said.


Harriet loves to get manicures, pedicures and pamper herself. Her first husband expected her to be on her hands and knees scrubbing baseboards. Paul's not like that.

"He cooks," Harriet said. "We like to entertain a lot -- pull out the good china and invite friends over."

Paul was carefully wrapping items from their china cupboard as the interview progressed. Harriet said, "Paul, be careful. That's really fragile." He just kept working. She ran over and picked up the vase. "This is very old. I paid $700 for it in Memphis." Then, she handed the vase back to Paul, and he finished packing it. She trusts him.

[Ms. Kathy]

Blindness no barrier
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/print/0,1478,3456162a10,00.html

WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2005

By KELLY ANDREW
Bubbly Renee Patete can't see the keys, but she loves to play the piano and sings along in a strong, sure voice.

The six-year-old was born blind, but her disability has not affected her enthusiasm for learning or her passion for music.

Renee bounces happily on her toes and talks non-stop when The Dominion Post visits her Wellington home. She plays tunes that she has learnt by ear using the Suzuki method, and breaks into infectious laughter at the nonsense verses she makes up and sings.

This week is Blind Week, when the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind hopes to raise more than $1.1 million to provide services to about 11,500 blind and vision-impaired Kiwis like Renee.

Parents Letitia and Richard Patete say they don't know where their daughter's musical talent comes from.

"She has always sung and played around with her voice," her mum says. "Now it's a huge part of her life, she has a large number of CDs."

Renee has had private singing lessons this year, but will take a break till she is a little older and her voice has matured.

This week she will sing Guy Sebastian's Angels Brought Me Here in front of her classmates at Chartwell School assembly, and she is keen to join a choir.

Mrs Patete is disappointed by the lack of funding provided for blind children, particularly when they have Renee's thirst for knowledge.

Renee has a teacher aide in class, but only for a certain number of hours a week. Mrs Patete says it is a constant battle to get resources and an initial request for a BrailleNote was turned down by the Education Ministry because of Renee's age.

[Ms. Kathy]

Blindness no handicap for golf ace
From correspondents in Jerusalem
16-11-2005
From: Reuters
www.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,17264188,00.html
A BLIND Israeli golfer realised the dream of every amateur hacker when he shot a hole-in-one.

Zohar Sharon aced the 160-metre, 15th hole at the Caesarea Golf Club in Israel during a round yesterday.
Mr Sharon, with a handicap of 20, initially thought he had overhit his tee-shot but was delighted when his caddy, Shimshon Levy, found the ball nestled in the cup.

"He went crazy. I did not understand what he was shouting about, I thought a snake had bitten him," Mr Sharon said of Mr Levy, who accompanies him on his regular rounds of golf and lines him up for his shots.

"It feels like you have been blasted into space," Mr Sharon said today.

"A minute later you are off to the next hole but the happiness stays with you."

Mr Sharon, a 53-year-old former paratrooper, said he took up golf after he was blinded by chemicals sprayed in his face during a combat operation with the Israeli army.

He survives on an army pension now which meant that, instead of standing the traditional round of drinks in the clubhouse after his game, Mr Sharon bought everyone a can of soft drink from the pro shop.




Copyright 2005 News Limited.

[Ms. Kathy]

Blind devotion to Suns, love and life
From Arizona Republic April 19, 2006 (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0419sunsblind0419.html)

Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 19, 2006 12:00 AM

Bill Gibney looks you straight in the eye. It's a nifty trick for someone who has been blind for 51 years.

Oh, but he doesn't see it that way. And either way, he's a little busy at the moment, thank you.

He's standing at his seat in the US Airways Center, clapping with the rest of the crowd. He's got Al McCoy coming through an earphone in his right ear. He's got his wife in the other ear, and she's taking color commentary to a new level. advertisement

"Honey, you should see the cleavage on the dancers," Cheryl Parker begins.

Sit back. You haven't heard anything yet.

"As far as I'm concerned, I can still see because I can still visualize things," Gibney said. "Most blind people don't do that."

Gibney, 59, is a die-hard Suns fan. He has a room dedicated to the team at his beautiful Phoenix home. He has a beautiful wife, a former television news anchor. He has everything a man could want, and it's a shame he can't see any of it.

Gibney has been legally blind since age 8 and completely blind since college. He suffers from Sticklers syndrome, a hereditary disease that affects the retinas and which afflicted three other members of his immediate family.

His sister, father and uncle all regained their vision after surgery, but young Bill's lights went out and never came back on.

"It happened at such a young age that it just wasn't a big deal," Gibney said. "Besides, I've always had a lot of drive. I've always been real active. You either sit around feeling sorry for yourself or you go on. I went on."

That's an understatement. Today, Gibney works full time as a sole practitioner of law (estate planning). He loves to ski, play blackjack and go on European vacations. He nearly died in a Greek subway last year, and is currently on his sixth guide dog, Alibi.

The last one was so well traveled that it had its own passport.

"He'll tell people things like, 'I saw the Cardinals game last night,' " Cheryl said. "They're like, 'No, you didn't. You didn't see anything.' "

Oh, how wrong they are.

"First of all, I think I did see it because I know sports so well," Gibney said. "I understand the game so well that I do visualize them. And, besides, what am I supposed to say? That I heard the Cardinals game last night? That just doesn't sound right."

Whatever the hardship, Gibney won't go down quietly. Even if he knew pity, he wouldn't have the time.

He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1969. He graduated from law school in 1972. He is a season-ticket holder for the Suns. He opens the front door all by himself.

And then there are the rare times when a blind man finds it necessary to get behind the wheel of an automobile.

"He's driven a few times," Cheryl said.

A love scene:

"I don't know if this is fit for publication, but we got married in Kauai (in 1990)," Cheryl said. "At our rehearsal dinner the night before, I drank a little too much. We were staying 30 miles away. As we were leaving, I said, 'I don't think I should be driving. You drive.' "

Naturally daring and equally rebellious, Gibney was happy to oblige.

"I'm telling him where to go, helping him along. We get a mile out of town and I turn around," Cheryl continued. "There was a cop following us. We're on these winding roads, and even though I wasn't really drunk, we couldn't just stop and switch drivers. What am I going to do, drag a blind guy out of the driver's seat?"

Bill: "What we should've done is stop and pretended that I was blind drunk."

Somehow, the two got back without any legal incident. They were married the next day.

Bill: "We really believe if you're drinking, you shouldn't be driving."

Those who know Gibney marvel at his attitude, his zest for living. Other than the guide dog and a caller ID service that speaks the incoming numbers, he makes few concessions to blindness.

"He's a really interesting, engaging, talented guy," said a neighbor, Bob Casselman. "The first Suns game we ever went to together, he was telling me what was going on."

Like everything else, it comes with practice.

Gibney lost his sight at a cruel age, when he was just a boy. A phone call came from the teacher. A concerned mother asked him to read a passage from Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Then asked him to read the clock on the wall.

There was nothing to see and nothing to say.

"My retinas would fall out of place, so I couldn't see," Gibney said. "I was a dumb little kid, so I thought I just had dirt in my eyes. I'd go over, splash water in my eyes, and when I'd bend over, the retinas would fall back in place. I'd stand up and I could see for a little while. But obviously I had a big problem."

The next morning, Bill was in the doctor's office, beginning his long and fruitless medical quest.

Over the next six years, Gibney underwent 10 surgeries. Along the way, he developed an indomitable spirit that would define the rest of his life.

"When I went to the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind (in Tucson), we were all kind of helpless there," Gibney said. "It was really pitiful. They really held you back. They had this great big pool at the school, and I was the only one that could swim. That's when I noticed, 'I don't belong here.' "

Gibney's parents recognized it, too. They formed the Scottsdale Foundation for Blind Children, which eventually became the Foundation for Blind Children in Phoenix, now the largest blind children's agency in the United States.

Bill's focus became assimilation into the sighted world, and by the time Gibney reached sixth grade, he became the first blind child in the United States to return to a public school.

With extremely limited sight, Gibney threw himself into the action.

If receivers clapped their hands downfield, Gibney could be your quarterback. He'd place a white rag, which was bright enough for him to make out, over a bar and attempt a high jump. In the eighth grade, he played center on an organized football team.

When he could see the vague outline of a backboard, he would shoot toward the middle and hope.

He'd easily risk embarrassment for the love of sport, the love of competition.

"The advantage I had over someone born blind is that they can't visualize," Gibney said. "You can't put a building in their hands. Or a tree. Or colors. I knew what colors looked like. That helped me be normal."

Later in life, Gibney co-founded the National Beep Baseball Association. Beep ball is softball with a twist: the 16-inch-circumference ball has a beeper in it.

"As a kid, I just had to push my way in," Gibney said. "And I had to let them know it was OK. I taught them to laugh about my blindness. I made jokes about my blindness.

"I didn't want to be treated like this weirdo, like a monkey in the zoo. Even today, I don't want to be known as a blind attorney. I'm an attorney, and some people don't know I'm blind. And that's the way I want it."

Another love story:

Cheryl met Bill during an on-camera interview. As an anchor for Channel 12, she was known for her ability to make subjects weep. But she had never interviewed anyone like Gibney.

"I fell in love with him that night," Parker said.

Apparently, it happened all the time.

"Through the years, I've met a couple dozen of his girlfriends," Parker said. "They're all gorgeous."

Gibney admits he has had a little help in this department.

"I've had great guide dogs," he said. "And they're all chick magnets."

Cheryl laughs. "Can't you tell that we're still madly in love?" she says.

Of course, recklessness has its perils, and Gibney has the bumps and bruises to prove it.

Bill is so good at appearing not blind that, early in their relationship, his wife often walked him into signposts and walls. And to this day, the dishwasher still gets him every time.

But nothing was like the nasty spill he took getting off a subway in Greece last fall, when he fell between the space separating the platform and the train.

"The train goes automatically every seven seconds," Cheryl said. "I was sure that he was gone."

Three men jumped off the train and saved him from certain death.

"Truth is, we were arguing over where we needed to get off, and we weren't paying attention," Gibney says. "And what's really maddening is, I was right."

Besides, for this guy, life is all about risk and reward. And for Gibney, anything beats the sedentary life, the death sentence of sitting in a chair all day. Unless, of course, there's a really big game on television.

[Ms. Kathy]

Blindness gave cook new outlook
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

By JILL WENDHOLT SILVA
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS


Enid O'Leary feels her way to the bedroom of her apartment and returns to the dining-room table lugging a 6-inch-thick cookbook written in Braille.

She begins to read a recipe, but instead of fluttering over the dots, her fingers bump slowly, laboriously, over each letter. Although she can write with a stylus, O'Leary never developed the fluency of someone who is born blind.

"I would starve to death before I was able to find something to eat in here," she jokes.

At 67, O'Leary has been blind for nearly four decades, but she has never let it keep her from accomplishing whatever she wanted in the kitchen.

To set the oven temperature, O'Leary traces tactile raised dots with her fingertips. To avoid sprinkling cayenne in a dish that calls for cumin, she labels the spices with Braille tags and alphabetizes them. O'Leary has developed an ear for when water is about to boil, and she can sense when meat is rare or well-done by listening to the cadence of splattering juices in a frying pan.

O'Leary lacks a sense of smell, making a timer an essential kitchen tool. But her other senses have become so keen that when her children were young, she could always tell who had his or her hand in the cookie tin.

"I knew which one it was because they were different heights and had different coordination, so they lifted the lid differently, and I could hear that," she says.

Daughter Susanna Ford laughs when asked about getting caught.

"It's really irritating when you can't snitch the cookies from the blind lady," she says with a laugh. "Her hearing is annoyingly profound."

At death's door

O'Leary lost her vision when she was 29. While living in Wichita, Kan., she and her first husband, Victor Dellenbaugh, had plans to go out for dinner, then stop to pick up toys they put on holiday layaway for their children, then 6, 5, 4 and 9 months old. Before they got to the restaurant, a drunken driver hit their car.

O'Leary nearly died. A kidney and her spleen were ruptured. Her lower vertebrae were crushed. Every bone in her face was broken. She lost her eyesight when the dashboard visor slammed across her eyes. And she lost her sense of smell.

She spent four months in the hospital and returned home in a wheelchair.

O'Leary relearned how to walk after two years of intense physical therapy.

"At first a lot of church families brought food for the family," says O'Leary, a home economics major in college. "But at some point that stops. I needed to learn how to cook, but I didn't even know how to go about it."

The first meal she cooked, 20 months after the accident, was less a culinary masterpiece than a triumph of spirit.

Instead of frying in a skillet, she baked the hamburger patties in the oven, straining to hear cues of doneness she once saw with her eyes. She opened a can of corn, added salt and a pat of butter, and put the whole thing back in the oven to warm.

When dinner was ready, O'Leary and the children eagerly waited for her husband to get home from work. When he finally arrived, he was carrying a sack of hamburgers from McDonald's.

"But those hamburgers went begging," O'Leary says with obvious pride. "The children were so happy Mommy was cooking, they didn't want those. After that, I started making one meal a day and then two."

Cassettes help

For several decades, O'Leary relied on a cassette tape recorder to store her recipes. Whenever she needed a new recipe, she would phone a friend and ask her to read the recipe to her. She would repeat each line into the recorder. Eventually she amassed a collection of tried-and-true recipes she could always rely on.

"I've been blind for 36 years, and You'd be amazed at the new things they have now," O'Leary says. "But a lot of things are just common sense. If you can't do it the way you used to, you've got to figure out a different way to do it. It may take longer, but you can do it."

In the early '70s, O'Leary and Dellenbaugh divorced. To support her family, she earned a master's in social rehabilitation services. Her thesis was a cookbook on cassette tape for people who are visually impaired. She worked as a rehabilitation specialist with various social-service agencies for 14 years. Her career took her to Miami; Waco, Texas; and Topeka, Kan. She married two more times.

In 1999 O'Leary retired and eventually had another surgery to ease persistent back pain from the accident. Her heart stopped twice in recovery. During her rehabilitation, family, friends and church members encouraged her to compile a cookbook, this time on compact disc, so she did. The CD, which she finished editing last fall, contains 1,100 recipes.

O'Leary also spent hours standardizing the recipe formats and removing abbreviations such as "Tbs." for tablespoons to make it smoother for someone listening to the recipe information on a screen-reading program. In the past year O'Leary's balance has deteriorated, so she parceled out the contents of her apartment for a move to an assisted-living facility in Topeka, where meals will be prepared for her.

She has given away most of her dishes, appliances and cooking utensils to two of her grandchildren who will marry this summer, but she hung on to her double spatula, a few coffee mugs, a couple of place settings and some Tupperware containers.

"There's no sense cutting off the possibility of ever cooking again," she says.

Source: www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MTUmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NjYwMzYmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNQ==

Copyright © 2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

[Ms. Kathy]

First place braille star



Photo submitted
Rhianna Martin holds her award from the National Braille Challenge. Martin placed first in the 3/4 Grade level.


By LAUREL SMITH
Jul 24 2006


Some of you may remember five years ago a series of articles were published in the Times about a five year old child named Rhianna Martin who was diagnosed in April of 2001 with Retinoblastoma; a rare eye cancer that affects children. She had tumors in both her eyes.

A fund was started for the Martin family to help pay for Rhianna’s treatments and travel expenses. In July of 2003 the Martin’s moved from Clearwater to Campbell River due to government downsizing. In November of 2003 Rhianna had both eyes removed despite chemotherapy and cryotherapy.

Rhianna began reading and writing in Braille while in school in Clearwater. She continued with her Braille and this year she entered into the National Braille Challenge which takes place in the United States but is open to Canadians as well.

Around 550 students wrote the qualifying Braille test, but only 60 went to the competition. Of those 60 only three were Canadian, one of which was Rhianna.

On Saturday, June 24, the top blind and visually impaired students from across the United States and Canada met in Los Angeles for the sixth Annual National Braille Challenge.

Ten year old Rhianna and her entire family travelled to Los Angeles and she won first place in the Grade 3/4 level. She received $2000 US in savings bonds and a Braille computer.

Rhianna’s father Rob Martin said the competition was an excellent opportunity for Rhianna.

“It’s a good place to meet other blind kids,” said Rob Martin. “It was interesting to see them all in a pool together at the hotel.”

Rob said Rhianna is looking forward to next year’s competition.

Some facts about Retinoblastoma:

Although it's the most common form of eye cancer in children, Retinoblastoma is quite rare and occurs in approximately one in every 200,000 births.

Fortunately, the survival rate for affected children is 96 per cent.

The North Thompson Times www.clearwatertimes.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=7&cat=23&id=695274&more=

[Ms. Kathy]

Blind student harbors hope for a bright future


By Michael Futch
Staff writer
2 Photos


Bobby talks with service manager Angela Tuck at Competition Auto in Spring Lake, where his father works.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bobby’s blind.

But, as his father insists, that doesn’t mean he can’t work.

He just can’t land a job. And Bobby is becoming desperate because he needs paying work to complete his high school diploma requirements.

“Put him answering the phone. Anything,” Phillip Sherman said. “He’s a genius when it comes to remembering numbers. Bobby’s a computer. Whatever you program in him, he’ll do over and over and over.”

Bobby Sherman will be a senior come this fall at Douglas Byrd High School. He has been blind since he was an infant. Surgeons at Duke University removed the second of his baby-blue eyes, the same color as his mother’s, at age 2.

Bobby Sherman has received a harsh taste of the real world over the last month or so. As of Thursday, he had batted 0-for-8 in an attempt to gain substantial summertime and after-school employment. Bobby inquired about possible openings at some of the local restaurants, where he could roll silverware, and at video game stores. He filled out applications and talked to managers at some of the businesses.

“One of the managers said he had to talk to one of his managers. They never got back,” Bobby said, as he sat between his father and his walking cane, propped against a wall inside the Spring Lake Pizza Hut. “I guess they didn’t want me.”

“Bobby’s drawback is he’s blind,” said Jean Bowden, his aunt. “As soon as people see that, they have a reason — ‘We can’t let you do that because ...’ It’s always because of something. But Bobby knows it’s because he can’t see.”

At this time, he’s working a couple of hours a day, five days a week, answering the telephone in the main office of Ireland Drive Middle School. That’s about 5 miles from the weathered, ’77 model double-wide mobile home that he shares with his father.

The work, which is through the North Carolina Division of Services for the Blind, is short term and is expected to end Aug. 9.

“He needs a job-job,” Bowden said. “He has no paid work hours to date. The summer job does not count.”

That temporary work at Ireland Drive Middle is not credited toward the 360 hours of paid employment required before Bobby can earn his high school diploma in the occupational course of study.

Mary Rice is director of Exceptional Children’s Services with Cumberland County Schools, which oversees Bobby’s program.

“A lot of businesses have been really good to work with us,” she said. “It gives them (the students) different experiences through the world of work, and so when they leave high school, they have an idea of a career they might be interested in.”

Should Bobby finish out the school year without reaching the required 360 hours of paid employment, he would receive a certificate of attendance on graduation day. He could come back with documentation of paid work and get his diploma later, she said.

Last year, 32 visually impaired students among 7,527 exceptional children attended Cumberland County schools.

Susan Guy works with them. “Typically,” she said, “our kids can be the most reliable employees. More routine activities are better. They’ll stick with companies for a long time. They enjoy doing things and appreciate doing things in some cases employees don’t want to do. When you have somebody who likes to do it, that makes our students great employees.

“The key is employers being open to hiring our folks because they see the benefits of hiring them.”

Close to father
On this day, Bobby’s ride is running late.

After his two hours answering the phone, he boards a van for the disabled at Ireland Drive Middle that takes him to his father’s workplace in Spring Lake. Phillip Sherman works as an automobile technician at Competition Automotive Service on Bragg Boulevard.

There, Bobby routinely spends his time behind the counter and waits for his father to get off work around 6 p.m. Sometimes, he sweeps and does other chores.

On this sweltering Wednesday afternoon, the van pulled into the shop at 2 o’clock. “How you doing, Bobby?” his father asked, as his son made his way off the air-conditioned vehicle with measured steps.

“They’re on the late side,” he replied.

For an interview, the older Sherman spent his lunch break in the Pizza Hut right across Bragg Boulevard. Just outside the open garage where he works, he took his son’s left hand while Bobby used the cane in his right, tapping the cement and asphalt as they made their way across the busy stretch of road.

Inside the restaurant, Bobby accidentally bumped into a chair on his way to a booth.

“My bad!” said his dad.

“Yeah, you’re bad. You’re bad ,” Bobby told him.

Father and son have a different kind of relationship.

They only have each other.

More than four years ago, Bobby’s mother died of ovarian cancer. Elizabeth Bowden, or “Sissy” as many knew her, had been a volunteer in the Cumberland County schools and served as PTA president at his school.

Before then, Phillip Sherman had never taken care of his boy. That was Sissy’s job. The way Sherman saw it, he was the breadwinner of the family.

“Bobby, I don’t treat him as a son,” he said. “We’re friends.”

Now in remission, Bobby has been a cancer patient all his life.

That’s why he’s blind.

Bobby had tumors — medically known as trilateral retinoblastoma — in both eyes, in his brain stem and in his right arm. He has undergone 30 surgeries, his father said. Twice he has had to be fed through tubes.

For the first 12 years of his life, Bobby underwent monthly blood transfusions.

Sherman said Bobby had so much radiation to kill the tumors in his brain, that it stunted his growth. A year ago, they found out that he’s diabetic, too.

“He’s medically fragile,” his father said.

Still, Bobby’s blindness and other physical problems over time have not diminished his passion for life. He sees the world in a different way.

“He can get blue,” said Bowden, his aunt. “He can get down. But he’s never so upset he can’t function.”

He’s a short, pudgy teen, with a sweet round face that matches his disposition. “Cute little Bobby Sherman,” Guy calls him. He loves to dance. He loves to sing. He has his own set of drums that he sometimes plays early in the mornings.

Guy describes him as charming. Personable. “I could see him in a kind of role working with people,” she said. “The occupational course of study that he’s in is designed for students to go to work after high school.”

Bobby is independent, his father said. “If he wants something to drink, he gets his own water. If he wants something to eat, he puts it in the microwave.”

He said his son likes to work hard.

“Bobby’s looking for something to do,” he said. “He wants a job where he gets paid. He needs 360 hours where he can get his diploma like the rest of the kids when he graduates.”

Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at [e-mail] or 486-3529.

source: www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=238162
Copyright 2006 The Fayetteville (NC) Observer

[Ms. Kathy]

Blindness hasn't defined activist

She says vision problems made her more determined.
By ROBBYN MITCHELL
Published July 23, 2006

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Retinitis pigmentosa has permanently limited Debra Thompson's eyesight, but she has not let the disease become her handicap.

Thompson, 51, was diagnosed with the genetic eye disorder as a child growing up in the Midtown area of St. Petersburg, but she didn't let that stop her from pursuing a master's degree and getting involved in government.

"I don't think it affected her at all," said her mother, Betty Keys. "If you meet Debra you wouldn't even think that is was a problem for her."

One of six daughters, Thompson was married at 21.

While earning a bachelor's degree at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Thompson got into the civic mind frame that would shape her adult life, she said.

"I think it was just a part of the atmosphere at the college in the '70s. Everyone was ready to make a change, and I kind of just soaked up those ideas."

In 1999, while involved with Movement for Change, Thompson was at the forefront of a hot-button issue in Pensacola.

"People were on all sides of the issue to name a street after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," said council member Jack Noble of Pensacola. "We had already named a plaza after him, and people were upset because they wanted to preserve the old Spanish names given to the streets when Pensacola was founded."

Movement for Change had been lobbying for the naming of the street to follow suit of other American cities, and when the idea hit a roadblock in the council chambers, Thompson decided to throw her hat in the ring.

"I was elected in May, and the street was named after Dr. King by November," she said.

The relative ease of influencing the council inspired Thompson to go further and try to make the leadership more accessible to people.

She organized discussion of issues on radio stations to offer another avenue for residents of Pensacola to find out what was going on.

"She was very, very supportive of the community and very, very active in it as well," Nobles said.

While serving as a council member, she continued to work with Movement for Change on some initiatives such as getting more black teachers in the Escambia County school system and voter education and registration.

She also joined the board of directors of Independence for the Blind of Northwest Florida to serve a community she shares a common interest with.

"The program provides services to help blind people function on their own, no matter how or when they became blind," she said.

Since leaving office in 2001, Thompson, who is legally blind, has stayed active in these groups and added others to her repertoire of aids to the disadvantaged.

She is as passionate about music as she is about civic duty. As a singer-songwriter, she holds annual workshops in June to help gospel musicians fine-tune their writing skills.

"We take people who want to learn voice and music and we give musicians a little instruction on how to write songs and lyrics."

Thompson's latest accolade comes straight from the top of Florida government. She was named a member of the Florida Rehabilitation Council by Gov. Jeb Bush.

"The former superintendent of Pensacola schools nominated me, and I was appointed last year," she said.

The council meets quarterly in different locations around the state and deals mainly with the vocational training and placement of disabled people.

Thompson said she is honored to serve this underrepresented group, especially because she qualifies as one of them.

"I think my vision problems have made me a better person and have made me more determined to do certain things," she said.

The married mother of two has served Floridians in several capacities long after she was classified as legally blind and has not let her disability interfere with her ambition.

"I'm not sure what's next for me politically," Thompson said. "There is always the possibility of getting back into it."

[Last modified July 22, 2006, 20:48:46]

[Ms. Kathy]

The Backyard Gardener: Gardener's blindness doesn't put happiness out of view

Saturday, July 22, 2006


John Heller, Post-Gazette photos
Carol Druzak, who taps her cane on Belgian block to navigate through her garden, grows a variety of colorful flowers even though she can't see them.

Gardeners can take simple beauty for granted -- bright red geraniums, the pale shades of striped hostas or the way roses ramble over arbors.

Carol Druzak, 74, who is blind, makes one appreciate those little things. She has continued to garden after being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa 20 years ago.

For her, the garden offers a sense of normalcy and evokes memories of vividly colored summer flowers.


Gardening was only one of the activities doctors told her she would have to give up.

"They meant well, but all I heard was, 'You're not going to do this. You're not going to sew. You're not going to cook.'"

Guess what? She sews, she cooks and she gardens with passion.

"I figured either you take over it or it takes over you. I made up my mind. I want to do what I still can."

The front yard of her Hampton home is now a showplace, a garden that turns heads as cars go by. Neatly edged beds, filled with lush hostas, clematis and bleeding hearts, are framed by mature evergreens and maples.


"I don't feel sorry for myself. I feel blessed," says Carol Druzak, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa 20 years ago and now is blind, but still gardens at her home..


Mrs. Druzak loves lilies above all else. Daylilies bloom in consort with tall Oriental lilies, all exploding with color.

As she leads me through her garden, she navigates by gently tapping her cane around a border of Belgian block. She points out each flower with pride, describing it from the image in her mind.

As all gardeners do, she constantly battles weeds. She kneels and reaches into the beds, feeling the foliage to determine what stays and what goes.

"My hands are my eyes," she says. "Without my hands, I don't know what I'd do."

These weeds are particularly formidable -- a profusion of thorny plants that hug the ground. But she tackles even this job with enthusiasm.

"It's therapy for me. It gets my mind thinking, 'Am I pulling a good one or am I pulling a bad one?'"

She admits to pulling a few "good" ones through the years. But that's OK. It's time outside, in the garden, that she longs for.

"I feel contented out here. I love the birds and I love nature."

She knows each of them by their songs and can even identify them by the sound of their flapping wings as they fly by and "wave."

Besides the Belgian block installed by her son, Joe Druzak of Hampton, Mrs. Druzak uses strategically placed sticks to determine where she is in the garden. Another trick she uses to keep oriented is an old portable radio. She turns it on where she starts working; if she loses track of where she is, the radio will lead her back.


The radio also keeps the deer away at night.

"I don't play music at nighttime because I don't want them dancing in the garden," she says with a wry smile.

Her daughter, Debbie Ries of Ross, notices some lettuce sprouting in between hostas and Mrs. Druzak asks to "see" it. Her fingertips, guided by her daughter, trace the edges of the soft leaves.

"I don't feel sorry for myself, I feel blessed.

"Just like weeding this week. I was so tired, so pooped. [But] when I get done, I pat myself on the back and say 'Good job, Car, another day done.'"

As her trademark laugh trails off, she sits by the garden, listening to its sounds, imagining its beauty.

She is a reminder for us all to embrace the little things.
[Source: www.post-gazette.com/pg/pp/06203/707698.stm]

[Ms. Kathy]

Bassie Grooms New TV Stars
Source: allafrica.com/stories/200610160261.html

Sunday Times (Johannesburg)
NEWS
October 15, 2006
Posted to the web October 16, 2006

By Lesley Mofokeng
Johannesburg

AFTER an illustrious TV career, Basetsana Kumalo has decided to give something back to the industry.

This week, the popular TV presenter and former Miss South Africa introduced Sphiwe Nkosi and Hlengiwe Nkosi as the hosts of Ses'khona, a Siswati-language glamour and lifestyle show that starts on SABC1 on Thursday.

Although they share the same surname, the two presenters -- whom Kumalo personally trained and groomed for their new on-camera jobs -- are not related.

The show, which Kumalo describes as a "balance between the inspirational and the aspirational", covers lifestyle trends, social functions and profiles of some of South Africa's movers and shakers.

"TV has been kind to me and I've been blessed and privileged. I'm responsible to give back and nurture," she said.

"Even on Top Billing I'm taking more of a role as a producer and am watching people like Jo-Ann Strauss and Jeannie D do the presenting. It's time to give back."

Kumalo and her partner Patience Stevens's TV company, Tswelopele Productions, produces Top Billing on SABC3 as well as Pasella on SABC2.

"I'm at a stage and place where I want to create a formidable media company in production and print, and there are only so many hours in a day," she said.

The Nkosis, Kumalo's new starlets -- whom she calls her "gems" and her "babies" -- beat hundreds of other hopefuls in a talent roadshow search that Kumalo and her team conducted last month.

Once they were nobodies and now, thanks to Kumalo, they are contemplating fame.

Sphiwe Nkosi, 24, was bumped off the SABC1 continuity presenter line-up after she failed to make the cut in the talent search the channel embarked on earlier this year.

Hlengiwe Nkosi, 19, started her broadcasting career at the Barberton Community Radio station in Mpumalanga.

"I saw Sphiwe as a talented presenter and her albinism is not an issue. She's a talented young South African woman with a spunky personality," Kumalo said.

"We also want to dispel myths that TV presenters have to be tall and thin -- it's about celebrating individuals."

Kumalo believes the two are a great combination.

"Hlengiwe works well with the camera and the two feed off each other well," she said.

Kumalo said she was also "particularly excited" about other new talent working on the show, such as the young producer Phuti Nakene.

"This augurs well for the growth of the industry. I am particularly keen on nurturing and growing new talent in this medium, and working with such a young and vibrant team makes me feel youthful again," she said.

"They shone like stars and have so much to offer, they just need to be nurtured and groomed. It's encouraging to work with new gems that are eager to make a mark."

Kumalo didn't stop at on-camera presentation techniques -- she also gave the young women a makeover with the help of her style, make-up and hair gurus Nthato Mashishi, Papama Mtwisha and Tshepo Selomo.

And the learning doesn't stop -- the two are undergoing intensive TV training on how to interact with the camera, working with the media, presentability, voice and delivery.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2006 Sunday Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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[Ms. Kathy]

Article published Oct 26, 2006
Floats are always the star of the show
Source: The Rutland Herald: www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061026/NEWS/610260330/1045/FEATURES17

The deadly cruise ship Vicki Vest is making for the 47th annual Halloween Parade began as a picture in her mind and is quickly becoming larger than life.

Vest has lived with Stargardt's disease since she was 13 years old. Stargardt's is a disease that impairs vision and can't be corrected with glasses. It doesn't slow down her creativity, which is almost as grand as her love for Halloween.

"You'd be amazed what you can do when you set your mind to it," said Vest, of Rutland, who will be joined by eight people on the float in this year's parade. "It's certainly not the biggest float but it's got a lot of heart and soul in it."

The float is sponsored by the Royal Group, designed by Vest, and is called "The Royal Caribbean, not your ordinary cruise ship."

For the past six weeks, Vest has been creating her vision using materials from her surroundings like corrugated cardboard, newspaper and old clothes. Some things, such as props from Halloween displays, were purchased new. The ship, and its expired innards, was built by Vest, piece by piece.

"I worked on it in puzzle pieces and then put it together on a skeleton frame," she said of the float.

The aesthetic part is done mostly by feel, though Vest does see brighter colors.

"When I'm doing the painting, I get more on my face than I do on the boat because I'm so close."

Piecing together dead pirates can be difficult without the use of a sewing machine, but Vest improvises using aerosol glue, string and glue guns — and she's got the calluses to prove it. There are about 20 boxes of past years' props and Halloween items in Vest's basement and other items are stored by friends.

"I have a friend's cellar that has a whole lot of bodies in it," Vest said. "I have been a lover of Halloween since the time I knew what it was, every year I try to outdo myself."

Because of the limited trailer size, all pirates on the ship will be dead, handcrafted by Vest. The ship will have synthetic fire and fog for effect as well as eerie music. Vest will have other pirates walking with her beside the float handing out candy. Her supporting cast is mostly family, all of whom are as excited as Vest to be in the parade.

It has been almost 15 years since Vest created a float for the annual Halloween parade. Her only regret is that she won't be on the sidelines getting caught up in the excitement of the other floats with fellow attendees. For years, her passion for Halloween was put into costumes for contests in different locations around Rutland.

"Halloween is my art," said Vest, who is a self-employed independent consultant.

It's the love of the holiday that drives her to unleash her creative vision.

"I don't care about the prize; I love Halloween, I love to be creative. I love to see the response of the little kids."

A few ground rules are being laid out by the Rutland Recreation and Parks Department for the 47th annual Halloween Parade. Organizers ask that all participants in the parade be dressed in costume, including vehicles — cars and floats — that are registered.

There will be soft and hard barriers that crowd members are asked to respect in order to keep everyone a safe distance from large truck tires. Candy will be dropped — not thrown — into bags of children and other audience members, for the safety of all. Bring an appropriate catch-all to collect goodies.

Politicians are welcome to join in the parade this year but are required to dress in costume and not allowed to campaign. A few have been invited as guests: Mayor John Cassarino, Gov. James Douglas and Congressman Bernie Sanders. They also are not allowed to campaign.

Senator James Jeffords will be in the parade this year as the very first honorary parade marshal. Jeffords was unanimously chosen by members of the parade committee for his years of service to Vermont and his ties to the Rutland community.

Contact Sarah Hinckley at [e-mail].

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[Ms. Kathy]

WNDU.com
South Bend, Indiana - Coverage You Can Count On

Motivational athlete speaks to Elkhart kids
Source: WNDU.com South Bend, Indiana www.wndu.com/news/112006/news_53688.php?PRINT_VERSION=1

Posted: 11/06/2006 05:02 pm

Elkhart, IN -
“Overcome adversity by not giving up on your goals.”

That was the message to students in Elkhart today.

Craig MacFarlane has been blind since he was 2-years old.

At 41, he has accomplished more than most people achieve in a lifetime.

The Canadian native has won over 100 gold medals in international wrestling, skiing and track and field competitions.

Monday, he spoke with students at Westside Middle School, encouraging them to never give up on their dreams. “I never wanted people to look at my blindness as a handicap. To me, it's only ever been just a minor inconvenience,” MacFarlane said. "If you don't believe in yourself, it's incredibly tough to ever expect someone else to believe in you.”

MacFarlane now travels across the country as a motivational speaker. He will be making several appearances in Michiana throughout the week.

Here are the locations he will appear at…

Tuesday, November 712pm
Nappanee Kiwanis Club
Del-Mar Catering Hall
159 Lincoln St.
Nappanee, In

Wednesday, November 8
12:45-1:30 pm South Bend Rotary Club
Century Center
120 S. St. Joseph
South Bend, In
5:45-7:00 pm
Notre Dame Hockey Team
Notre Dame Joyce ACC
Notre Dame Campus
South Bend, In

Thursday, November 9
9:00- 10:30 a.m. Paw Paw High School
30609 Red Arrow Highway
Paw Paw, Mi
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Dowagiac Rotary Club
Elks Lodge
300 Riverside Drive
Dowagiac, Mi 4907
WNDU-TV South Bend, Indiana 46634

[Ms. Kathy]

11/12/06
City hall receptionist doesn't let blindness interfere with work
(From The Venice Gondolier Sun www.venicegondolier.com/NewsArchive3/111206/vn1.htm0


Here's an interesting proposition: If you want directions to the county administration building or any other Venice office, business or landmark, just ask Alicia Vis at city hall. Though she has never "seen" any of those buildings, she really can tell you how to get there.

Alicia Vis is blind. Yet, she has been amazing people all of her life with her acute senses of hearing, touch, perception and an astounding memory for details.

Vis first worked as the city's receptionist and switchboard operator for about nine months back in 1992 and 1993. At that time she was an unpaid, part-time "volunteer" being trained and evaluated by the Florida Division of Blind Services in order to determine her potential for placement in any clerical position available in the Venice area.

Although she had held a similar job before at Manatee Community College, the experience at city hall enabled her to get the "stamp of approval" of the DBS. This allows any prospective employer to receive state-funded assistance with certain equipment and facility modifications that might be necessary to adapt a work center to the needs of a visually impaired employee.

"I wanted to find something that would give me an opportunity to help people in some way," Vis said. "I wanted to make a contribution back to the world and to the community that has been so good to me over the years."

Vis said people often can't imagine how much a blind person can do if given training and a chance.

That was certainly true at city hall. The people who worked with Vis that first time hesitated initially to allow her to navigate the halls or sit at the reception desk alone. But she quickly memorized not only everyone's name and telephone extension, but also how many steps and turns it took to get anywhere in the two-story building.

"She could give clearer directions to visiting strangers than most of the sighted employees," said the former director of personnel, who was one of her supervisors at the time. "In a very short time, she was able to run the copy and fax machines and even did some microfilming for the records office.

"She enjoyed surprising us nearly every day with something new she had learned or done that no one expected. It was always fun to see the expression on people's faces when she called them by name as they walked by her desk area - she knew just about everyone by the sound of their footsteps."


Feeling at home

Since that time, Vis worked as a receptionist at Englewood Disposal for nine years and as a dietary aide at Bon Secours Venice Hospital for about a year.

"I know everyone must have thought he was crazy," said Vis, "but Sam Hague, who was director of the dietary department at the hospital, was willing to give me a chance. The kitchen staff, however, was very cautious in my training. They were uneasy with me and my white cane as I walked around learning where everything was, and they wouldn't let me touch a knife for two weeks. After they saw I could do things without hurting myself or anyone else, they finally decided I was OK to have around."

In 2005, she was hired again by the city of Venice to run its switchboard and reception desk.

Vis was born in Caracas, Venezuela, nearly 52 years ago. At first her vision problem was just serious glaucoma which required periodic surgery to relieve the optic pressure. But none of the surgeries corrected her vision, which worsened gradually until she became totally blind at age 16.

"Back then they didn't have the lasers and other techniques they're using today which might have cured my vision," Vis said. "And there were no schools for the blind in Caracas like there are here in the States, so I just went to regular public schools - it was very hard."

Her father, who is now retired, was administrator for a hardware supply store for many years, then later became a bank administrator in a savings and loan. Her mother was a homemaker, devoting her time to raising Alicia and her older brother.

"Unfortunately, my mother was very protective," Vis said. "She wouldn't let me learn to cook or do anything around the house because she was afraid I would hurt myself or break something. I've had to learn to do everything on my own since I left home, but that has made me very independent."

After completing high school in Caracas in the late 1970s, Vis received a scholarship to attend the Daytona Beach School for the Blind. Her first goal was to learn English as a second language, thinking that skill would open doors for her when she returned to Venezuela.


"Mutt and Jeff"

Her plans changed, however, when she met Ken Vis, who was a fellow student at the Daytona Beach school. Ken a native of New Jersey, also had vision problems from birth and has been "legally blind" most of his life.

They met at a school dance. Ken stands 6 foot 4 inches" tall, and Alicia is a petite 5 foot 1 inch tall" Each displayed an easy going sense of humor about their respective differences and similarities. It became immediately evident they were made for each other. Their friends began referring to them as "Mutt and Jeff" after the tall and short cartoon characters who were popular then.

"In this case, love truly was blind, because neither of us could see the other," Vis said, smiling. "As we began to get more serious in our relationship, many people were skeptical of our chances of making a marriage work given our physical limitations. But we just took that as another challenge which could be overcome.

They have been happily married for more than 27 years, proving the skeptics wrong.


Mind over matters

For several years, Vis has had the benefit of a computerized machine called a "Braille and Speak" which she uses to take notes when she's learning something.

"It works like a laptop computer or a Blackberry by letting me set up files of information that I can then find and access quickly," she said. "I type information in using basic Braille, and the machine is able to translate that into spoken words that I can play back later."

Apart from the advantages offered by such technological advancements, however, Vis has always considered her memory to be her greatest gift.

"God gave me this ability," she said. "As is true with all skills, exercising it makes it stronger, so I've learned to use it to my advantage. In the same way, my other senses like hearing and touch have also become stronger because I've had to compensate for lack of sight.

"But everyone has the same capability to strengthen their gifts," Vis added, "if they would just apply themselves in those areas and not take them for granted. Unfortunately, people who can see usually don't pay as much attention to the sounds, smells and textures around them, so they miss a lot.


Faith and friends

Alicia and Ken moved to the Venice area in the early 1980s, shortly after finishing their schooling in Daytona Beach. Ken's father, a retired tool and dye maker from New Jersey, and his mother were already residents of Englewood.

They made many friends quickly. Vis tutored people in Spanish and joined the Hispanic-American Alliance to help Latinos get established in the area. They also began attending Christ United Methodist Church.

"I became a believer when I was 29 and got a whole new perspective on life - an understanding of my purpose in life, and a greater motivation to serve others," Vis said. "My faith tells me anything is possible with God's help. Otherwise I would never have gotten this far."

"Through the church, we immediately found a connection to new friends who were willing to reach out to us with any help we needed," she said.

One example is the church choir. Although Alicia had never sung in a choir before, when she heard them rehearsing one night, she decided she had to join.

"They were having too much fun," Vis said. "I wanted to be a part of it, even if they wouldn't let me sing. Fortunately it turned out I was able to sing alto and could learn the part from listening to the person next to me. I am also able to use my Braille and Speak to help memorize the words.

"Getting to and from the choir loft is a challenge, but with the help of my white cane and good friends in the alto section, we always make it, and have fun doing it.

"Growing up," Vis concluded, "I never thought I could survive by myself. When I found out I could, it was a great revelation and a huge step in my quest for independence. But I also came to appreciate more those who offer their help, so I try to do the same for others."


You can e-mail Rollie Reynolds at [e-mail] .



BY ROLLIE REYNOLDS

STAFF WRITER