People in Da Neighborhood!

[Ms. Kathy]

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Local woman shares her insights about blindness

By Kathleen Ostroot
News Editor

Wednesday, November 15, 2006


Big Lake resident Jane Toleno released her first book in October, which is a series of essays from the perspective of a woman who is blind. She is pictured with her dog, Gala. (Submitted by Dar Daily)
Big Lake resident Jane Toleno released her first book in October, which is written from the perspective of a woman who is blind, but she doesn't let blindness shape her, however she shapes blindness. The title is "BlindSight: Come and See."

"We have learned how to live with each other, to travel, to have children, to write poetry, walk in Minnesota. I make adjustments all the time, that are not exclusive to blindness," Toleno said.

She continued to say that she has loved storytelling all her life. As a little girl, she said, she would listen to people, and then make-up their life stories.

"My mother would make up her mind about people from how they looked, but I would base it on how they moved, spoke or didn't speak," Toleno said.

However, she said she could never write efficiently, until she was able to use an adaptive screen reader, called JAWS by Freedom Scientific. Now she can and has published her first book.

There have been challenges, she said. When she was first introduced to the DOS computer, she burst into tears, and thought she would never understand it.

However, she has overcome that challenge, and began undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota and designing her own degree with three focuses: Women's studies, speech/communications and writing.

She describes her book as one woman's lifelong unconventional journey through blindness to clarity.

"My personal two-way street about how my background and my blindness shape one another. Some say blindness overcomes. But, I say it's one of the influences in my life. It's important, but it's not the only one," Toleno said.

Toleno is presently working on three fiction manuscripts. The setting is in the Dakotas. She writes about two amazing people and how they come to trust each other and fall in love.

Toleno lives with her husband, Dan, and they have two grown children.

To learn more about the author or to purchase her book, visit www.singingriverpublications.com. She will be signing books at the Barnes & Noble in Minnetonka Friday, Dec. 8.

Excerpt from "BlindSight: Come and See"

During a recent phone conversation with a long-time friend and used-book seller-whom I have yet to meet face-to-face-a genuinely probing question about my physical blindness arose.

"With your permission, Jane, may I ask a really personal question?" asks my friend. "I really want to understand. What are dark, light and blindness like for you?"

Though this friend knows I am blind, until today's conversation, we'd simply enjoyed easy hopscotching from current affairs interests and personal concerns to talk of authors and books. We spoke of blindness only when details of book purchasing were involved-"Jane, what prompts you to buy print books?" or "Will you send a check… oh, how does check signing work for you?"

While asking his question that day, his tone of voice and words expressed deep caring and keen interest-qualities I genuinely appreciate and gladly respond to most of the time. The pauses between his words reveal his awareness of the new, personal-possibly private?-territory into which he sought access. He has never just talked and waited to talk some more.

This is a person who wants to share meaningful, and as it turned out, life-changing conversations.

But first, my friend waits; the silence between us deepens. Can he have any inkling of the layered situation developing at my end? The phone cord weaves through my fingers while his voice fades into the internal tumult of all the other voices that had sought to understand my personal and cultural experiences with dark, light and blindness.

Dismayed, I pull in a deep breath, cringe and wonder. Must I have this conversation again? I sure don't feel up for it. Don't I ever get to take time out from blindness? No. It's always here. It's always part of me. Why can't blindness be just a neutral physical thing? Why are its fingerprints found throughout my whole person, life and culture?

Briefly, intently, I want to be rid of this accidental yet permanent, personal and cultural marker. What would the whole person I am be without blindness as part of it? Would I look and act good-no, better than good-perfect-if I were not blind? Ridiculous! Blindness does not have to overwhelm me just because another person asks about it. I do not have to fear looking bad or being bad just because physical blindness resides in me.

What, I mentally fret, if this accidental difference transposes into a barrier to our friendship and categorizes me as irreconcilably different with a capital D?

Fears and memories converge, break away, then thrash about within me. Like trout, they rise from quiet depths to just under the surface of my pool.

"Oh boy," I finally muse aloud. "Light? Dark? Blindness? Easy questions? Hah! There are layers upon layers to sift and sort, name and blend here. But I think we have to talk about blindness before we can talk about light and dark."

My friend sounded pensive, stuck. "Layers of dark, light and blindness? What are they, and why so complex?"






Source Link: www.monticellotimes.com/print.asp?ArticleID=14129&SectionID=10&SubSectionID=76
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Content © 2006 Republican Eagle
Software © 1998-2006 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved

[Ms. Kathy]

Crume keeps active despite blindness
Source: Gulf Breeze news www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2006/1130/Community/018.html





Elections this year meant something really special to Pensacola Beach resident Gayle Crume. Gayle is blind and this is the first election year that she has been able to vote with a secret ballot, something that most people take for granted as Americans. When she first became blind she realized that many things were lost to her, including the right to vote privately, without a proxy standing in for her. So she joined others and traveled to Washington to make known the special needs of the blind and one of the outcomes is the "Help America Vote Act." So Gayle was exhilarated to cast a secret ballot using a talking voting machine.

Gayle became blind in 1997 when she was 54 years old. She was diagnosed with a disease of the retina called Algoid Streak and has only three to five percent distorted peripheral vision. With this disease the blood vessels of the retina are broken and grow star shaped.

"It's like living in a house of mirrors with lights flashing and bugs running around that aren't really there," she said.

Gayle is a medical technologist by profession who at that time worked in medical sales. She got up one morning drove her car for sales calls and as she was nearing her destination she realized that she could not read the street signs so she pulled into the parking deck of the building. She looked down at her papers and found she could not read them and realized she was in big trouble. Her eye doctor happened to be located in the same building so with assistance from anyone who was near she made her way to his office. He told her she was blind but gave her no indication of where to go for assistance. She called her husband and he came to get her.


Betty Archer Allen/Gulf Breeze News Gayle Crume, left, doesn't let her blindness deter her from speaking to area groups about her condition and maintaining an active, normal life.

Gayle grieved for a long time before she came to accept her blindness but her faith was a great support. She said she felt that God said to her, "You are prepared for this and I'm going to use you." She feels strongly that things happen for a purpose and that God has given her this opportunity to give back to the community.

Recently Gayle created her own Company, Gayle Force Vision, to advocate for the blind, to educate the public about blindness and to link blind people to available community services.

"It is easy to be isolated by blindness. People don't understand what my life is like. I am isolated, not only by my limitations but by people's misunderstanding," she said. "Once, when I went to a local restaurant with a friend, the waiter asked my friend what I wanted to order, overlooking me entirely. If I can help educate the public about the day-to-day realities of blindness, not only will I feel more included in the community but the community itself will be enhanced by the energy of a new and dynamic resident."

Gayle speaks locally to clubs, churches and businesses on "A vision of hope" and "The benefits of blindness." She looks at blindness from a positive point of view.

"You either withdraw or increase your participation in life," she said. Gayle chose to participate and become involved in the community in this special way, and Gayle Force Vision is the vehicle for that. She feels blindness has given her new opportunities that she would have missed if she had remained sighted.

In her presentations Gayle gives the ten advantages of being blind as (1) parking in handicapped spaces, (2) riding the transport cars in the airport; (3) ignoring dust bunnies, (4) using lots of gadgets such as talking computers, (5) talking voting machines, (6) no dishwashing expectations, (7) tax break for blindness, (8) nonaging spouse, (9) using cool walking canes and (10) getting out of anything you don't want to do.

Gayle has found that vision is more than sight. She feels strongly that there is a lot of misunderstanding about blindness. So she focuses on how to help the blind person make a successful adjustment to living and find the way to maintain their independence such as using the talking voting machine.

[Ms. Kathy]

Auto inspiration
By MARGA LINCOLN - IR Staff Writer - 11/30/06

Photo by Marga Lincoln - Andy Giulio with his new computer, a gift from artist Celeste Sotola. BOULDER — Although just 15 years of age, artist Andy Giulio of Boulder has already met a number of daunting obstacles in his short life.

A sophomore at Jefferson High School, he pursues an interest in art, although he is color blind and legally blind.

That didn’t deter him from entering the Paint the State contest this summer and walking away with first place prize in Jefferson County.

It was just by chance that he entered the contest.

A few days before the deadline, he met Basin artist Celeste Sotola, when they were both shopping at a Boulder thrift store.

When Giulio heard her name, he complimented her on her artwork at the Helena Regional Airport.

This piqued Sotola’s curiosity, she said. She asked him if he were an artist.

“I’d like to be,” he replied.

She urged him to join the Paint the State competition, she recalled. And she offered to help him sign up. She also met with him to talk through his ideas for his entry.

Within eight days, he had brought together his idea, found a site and installed his project.

His winning entry featured a wrecked car, positioned by a boulder, with a large sign — “Meth wrecks lives.”

It’s no accident his meth “poster” project centered around a car.

“Cars — that’s pretty much what I live for,” he said. “I’ve taken art classes in school. Usually, I do it independently. It usually involves something about cars. I draw pictures of cars a lot.”

And, it just so happens his older sister had just wrecked her car.

From his perspective, his entry wasn’t very artistic. He thinks it won because of such factors, as location, presentation and message.

He has already invested his $3,000 prize money into his passion for art and cars — buying airbrushes and a compressor.

His dream is to be an artist like Chip Foose, who has earned international acclaim for his auto designs, he said.

In pursuit of this and his love of cars, Giulio works at Boulder Paint & Restoration, doing sanding and sweeping.

Someday, he’d like to be the one painting the cars, he said.

And maybe, if he’s real lucky, also driving them.

“I hope one day they’ll be able to fix my vision,” he said.

His vision problems, he said, are a combination of just poor eyesight and nystagmus, which affects the muscles in his eyes.

“Glasses help me focus,” he said, but his eyes tire easily and it takes a lot of effort to see.

In school, he manages with textbooks from the American Printing House for the Blind and with a large screen computer. He’s also able to print out his writing assignments in large print on 11-by-17 inch sheets of paper, so he can read them.

Even so, many people would never guess Giulio has vision problems.

“It’s entertaining for me to go as far as I can before anyone notices,” he said.

Sotola had no idea Giulio had a problem. That is — until she handed him a photo she’d taken of his entry. She recalled that he held it up close to his eyes.

She thought, at first, he was just being finicky about the details in the photo, because artists can be like that, she said.

Recently, Sotola decided Giulio should have a large-screen computer to assist him in his artwork. She found one through the state’s surplus equipment program and purchased it.

Now, she’s seeking donations of art software, such as Photoshop and CorelDRAW and Corel Painter, so Giulio can explore more options in creating art.

Their interest in art has led to friendship.

“She’s an awesome artist,” Giulio said. “Celeste has tons of talent.”

He enjoys visiting her and her husband and admires their work.

“I have all the respect in the world for people who do art.”

“He’s just a wonderful young man,” said Sotola.

She mentioned his friendly, open manner, “You’ll be Andy-fied when you meet him.”

Andy’s parents are Pamela and Robert Weber and Steve Giulio, all of Boulder.

Montana Talking Book Library named Giulio as their featured artist during October — Art Beyond Sight Month, which addresses making art accessible to blind people.

For more information about MTBL go to the Montana State Library Web site msl.mt.gov/tbl/tbl.asp or call 444-2064 or 444-5399.

[Ms. Kathy]

International
DoD Civilians Prove Disability Is No Handicap
[Source: www.blackanthem.com/News/International_21/DoD_Civilians_Prove_Disability_Is_No_Handicap_printer.shtml]
By Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service
Dec 7, 2006 - 2:57:10 AM





Lisa Marie Waugh tells people with disabilities they shouldn't let anyone stop them from reaching for their goals. Waugh, an intelligence research specialist with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, at Fort Belvoir, Va., has successfully dealt with Stargardt's disease, a malady that compromised her vision. She was among 14 Defense Department employees honored at the 26th Annual DoD Disability Awards on Dec. 5 in Bethesda, Md. Photo by Gerry J. Gilmore
Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lisa Marie Waugh offers tried-and-true advice to people with disabilities who want to get ahead in life: "You should let nothing stop you."

Waugh, an intelligence research specialist with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, at Fort Belvoir, Va., has successfully dealt with Stargardt's disease, a malady that has compromised her vision.

"I'm just thankful for what I have," Waugh said.

Waugh was among 14 Defense Department employees honored at the 26th Annual DoD Disability Awards held yesterday in Bethesda, Md.

David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, hosted the event and presented awards to outstanding DoD civilian employees with disabilities. The award ceremony was followed by the start of a federal disability forum that's held each year.

"This is the only annual training conference that focuses exclusively on federal employment of individuals with disabilities," Chu said, noting President Bush is dedicated to help disabled Americans reach their full potential.

The Defense Department is a recognized leader in assisting disabled persons to have full and productive lives, Chu said, noting DoD hired 206 disabled students for permanent and summer jobs this year. Some occupations filled under the program included aerospace engineer, accounting clerk, park ranger, archeologist, cartographic aide, and store worker.

"The program, I believe, has proven to be an excellent pipeline to careers in the (DoD) civilian workforce for those with disabilities," Chu said.

DoD now employs more than 5,000 people with severe disabilities targeted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Chu said. "That is almost 1 percent of our civilian workforce. While that percentage is higher than in some other agencies, we do know that it should be higher still," he said.

The theme for this year's National Disability Employment Awareness Month held in October, "Americans with Disabilities: Ready for the Global Workforce," is very fitting, Chu said.

"It's a most appropriate theme, particularly when I think about how much defense has been able to do to improve job opportunities for those with disabilities, including military personnel who've been wounded in combat," Chu said.

The Defense Department is committed to its programs that prepare wounded servicemembers for their futures, he said. The Military Severely Injured Center program serves as a coordinating mechanism and umbrella organization for similar programs managed by each military branch.

New technology and shifting attitudes have enabled many wounded servicemembers to opt to stay on military duty, Chu said. The federal government-wide Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program started by DoD in 1990 helps eliminate barriers in the workplace and assists disabled persons to achieve their full potential. Recent federal legislation has given CAP the authority to serve wounded servicemembers, as well as disabled government civilians, Chu said.

Keynote speaker John R. Vaughn, chairman of the National Council on Disability, urged DoD, other federal agencies and private-sector employers not to forget that disabled people make excellent, productive employees.

Vaughn, a retired businessman who as a young man lost his sight to a degenerative eye disease, said there should be a national campaign with the slogan, "Don't Count Me Out," that highlights the advantages of hiring disabled people.

"We've got to believe in giving everybody a chance to be whatever they can," Vaughn said, noting disabled people meld well with today's fluid, global business environment.

"I don't know of anybody else who is a better champion for change and dealing with change than a person with a disability where their whole life has been turned upside down," Vaughn said.

Chu also presented awards to:



-- Leslie Eden Bell, an attorney with the National Security Agency, at Fort Meade, Md.;

-- Chester Bogart III, a materials handler at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa.;

-- Deirdre J. Carter, a copier and duplicating equipment operator at the Defense Logistics Agency, in Whitehall, Ohio;

-- Paul Robert Gabriel, an electronics engineer at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas;

-- Jerome Anthony Knight, a laborer with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, at Fort Eustis, Va.;

-- Derek Alan Lee, a commissary support clerk at the Defense Commissary Agency, at Fort Lee, Va.;

-- Carlene J. Miles, a digital production system assistant with the National Guard Bureau, in Blackstone, Va.;

-- Vicki D. Morgan, an accounting technician with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, in Rome, N.Y.;

-- Christine Rose Murphy, an information technology specialist with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, in Washington, D.C.;

-- Judy C. Spain, a management analyst with the Defense Contract Management Agency, in Indianapolis;

-- Gregory Paul Springer, a systems engineer with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, in Bethesda, Md.; and

-- Dr. James Nelson Templeman, a computer engineer at the Naval Research Laboratory, in Washington, D.C.


Chu also honored three DoD components for their outstanding accomplishments in their affirmative action programs for people with disabilities. The awards are brass cups that are passed on from the previous year's winners.

The Best Military Department award went to the Department of the Army, and the Defense Logistics Agency earned Best Mid-Size Component honors. The Defense Security Service took the Best Small Component award.

The Army and DLA also won last year in their respective categories.

[Ms. Kathy]

Blindness doesn't stop WCU senior from graduating
by Jon Ostendorff, [e-mail]
published December 16, 2006 12:15 am
Reader Feedback: Comment on this article | Register here
CULLOWHEE — There is one thing Jimmy Harwell won’t forget to say when the graduating senior takes the podium today as Western Carolina University’s commencement speaker.

“To the person who told me I could learn to bag groceries, listen carefully. My name is James L. Harwell. I have a degree from Western Carolina University, and I will go anywhere and do anything I set my mind to.”

Web Extras: Multimedia & Related Content
Jimmy Harwell talks about his motto for life (214 KB)
AdvertisementFour years ago, Harwell was just another student at WCU. In the spring of his junior year, he went to an eye doctor for a routine exam because he thought he might need glasses.

But the problem was much worse. Harwell learned he had a rare disorder — retinitis pignatosis — and would soon go blind.

A specialist in Charlotte told him to give up on college because his vision would soon deteriorate to what you might see if you looked through a drinking straw. The doctor said he should look for some other job, like bagging groceries.

Harwell was crushed. He dropped out of school, went home to Gastonia and spent weeks in a depression. He found some part-time jobs, but nothing that made him happy.

That’s when his mother stepped in. She found a social worker with the same eye disorder. The social worker helped him get a guide dog and encouraged him to give college another try.

Harwell went back last year with guide dog Mr. G. He graduates today with a bachelor’s degree in communication and hopes to find a job in radio.

Harwell’s not completely blind, so he did not have added challenge of learning Braille. Instead, he used large-print books to study.

Don Connelly, a professor Harwell considers his mentor, said he admires the 31-year-old student’s drive.

“He is a street fighter. He does not give up,” Connelly said. “He has a strong desire to learn and readily accepts a challenge in his course work. It has never been a case of ‘I can’t do that.’ It has always been ‘How are we going to do this.’”

Harwell credits the social worker, Renee Abernathy, with inspiring his determination.

“She told me not to quit, to fight,” he said. “And so that is what I have been telling a lot of people. You just don’t quit; you keep fighting.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Jon Ostendorff at 828-452-1467, via e-mail at [e-mail]
Source Link: Citizen-Times.com Asheville, North Carolina www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661215080

[Ms. Kathy]

Well, he's not a "people" but...

Cape Girardeau County
Wanted: Seeing Eye Person

Jan 8, 2007 06:08 PM CST

Wanted: Seeing Eye Person
By: Holly Brantley

CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY, Mo. -- In Fruitland, a blind dog in needs a seeing eye person to help care for him.

Duke is a good natured Chocolate Lab, and he's full of life! Despite his blindness, Duke used to be a farm dog. But, his owner recently passed away leaving him homeless. He's living at Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary in Cape County until he finds a permanent home.

Alice Wybert says Duke had all his shots and is great with people and animals. He just needs a little extra love.

"We say he needs a seeing eye person," said Wybert. "We just try to lead him away from cars and other things, and make sure we put his food in the same spot."

The cause of Duke's blindness isn't know. Wybert believes he six or seven years old.

If you're interested in adopting Duke call Alice Wybert of Safe Harbor: [phone]

Besides Duke, there's nearly 100 other animals in need of homes at Safe Harbor.


[Source Link: www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=5909726&nav=8H3x]

[Ms. Kathy]

Navarre couple collaborate on art
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News [e-mail]
Source Link:Gulf Breeze News www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2007/0118/Community/016.html



Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News Marty, left, and Art Kraatz work together to make handbags that compliment each other's artistic skills. Art, despite being legally blind, paints beach scenes and his wife Marty quilts.

Many are familiar with the old adage that depicts couples making beautiful music together, but how about art?

One couple in Navarre found a way to be symbiotic not only in their marriage, but in their pastimes as well, blending their two forms of artwork to make uniquely picturesque creations.

Navarre residents Art and Marty Kraatz retired from their careers less than a decade ago and now fill their time painting and quilting like many retirees. However, their creations cooperate with one another to bring out the best work from each other.

Art, who is legally blind, paints serene coastal images with a photo-realism style that nearly conjures the distinct scent of fresh gulf-air in the viewer's mind.

"The only thing that gets in the way of my painting is my nose," Kraatz said with an amicable grin while relaxing in his second story home studio. The lifelong artist and retired art supply salesman explained that he's been a painter almost as long as he's had congenital myopic degeneration and nystagmus, a hereditary condition that causes blindness.


Much of the Kraatz's work features coastal scenes and animal life. The Kraatz say they were drawn to the Gulf Coast's pristine beaches and emerald waters.

"I'm always astounded with what he can see and what he can do," said Marty. "When I'm trying to work with color he's my greatest asset. Never let what you can't do get in the way of what you can do."

The couple spoke excitedly about how coastal life has always intrigued them, describing how they spent 17 years saving money for a vacation that would take them from their former home in St. Louis to the tropic beaches of Tahiti.

"We're beach people," Marty explained. "We always want to go to the water. When you see the waters here in the Gulf, it rivals Tahiti and all those exotic locations. You ask yourself 'why did I spend all that money and travel that far? It's right here.'"

The couple said they have called the Navarre area for around five years and that the pristine coastline and emerald waters are a major influence in their work. Art paints watercolor beach scenes, and Marty weaves reduced reproductions of his work into quilts and beach bags. Marty's personal fabric storeroom is a standard sized bedroom filled to capacity with beach themed colors and patterns that is right next door to Art's studio. The couple's artistic synergism developed over 18 years as Marty began quilting, but their love for each other was nearly automatic.

"On our first date I asked him if he was mad at God [due to his poor eyesight]," Marty said. "He said 'Why, no. I can breathe and hear and do all these other things.' I knew that was what I needed in my life, something positive."

[Ms. Kathy]

January 14, 2007
Karin Fuller

She finds the silver lining


It’s amazing how much can change in less than a week.

When talking to my good friend, Becky Conrad, a few days before New Year’s, she mentioned how good she was feeling since she was finally getting some sleep. Much like me, Becky’s had sleep trouble for years, so a week of good sleep was nothing short of a miracle.

“Maybe this is finally going to be my year,” she said.

Luck hasn’t been something Becky’s often experienced. Her early childhood years were marked by frequent hospital stays for a blood and kidney disorder. Then at age 9, she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a deterioration of the retina.

Her doctor said it would eventually cause her to go blind, but predicted that wouldn’t happen until she reached middle age. Instead, it happened while she was still in her teens. By the time she graduated from high school, she was totally blind.

But blindness didn’t stop Becky from pursuing a normal life. When she was 26, she married her longtime boyfriend, Bobby. A year and a day later, they had their son, Josh.

Who was born with glycogen storage disease.

Instead of complaining about their bad luck, Becky talked of how lucky they’d been that he’d been diagnosed before it was too late.

Over the years that I’ve known her, Becky’s had more bad luck than good, yet she continues to keep on plugging away. A few years ago, she started her own greenhouse behind her Burnsville home. If you visit that greenhouse, she can tell from the location of your voice what type of plants you are facing, then with her encyclopedic knowledge of plants, she can tell you what each plant requires to flourish.

Becky didn’t let blindness stop her from pursuing another one of her passions — writing. After receiving a computer with reader capabilities, allowing her not only to write but to edit her work, there’s been no stopping her. She has numerous publishing credits, including the prestigious Artist Fellowship she won for nonfiction from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts in 2003.

She’s a hard-working, admirable woman. She just isn’t lucky.

On Saturday morning, Dec. 30, Becky collapsed in her kitchen. She was taken to the hospital in Braxton County, then transferred the next day to Ruby in Morgantown for further testing of the mass they’d found in her brain.

Geoff, Celeste and I were in Morgantown that weekend, so we ran over to see her. Aside from the bruises from all the drawn blood and IVs, Becky was the picture of health. She hadn’t had any of the typical signs of cancer. Surely that couldn’t be it.

But on New Year’s Day, her biopsy confirmed the worst. Lymphoma of the brain. She was released on Wednesday, her 45th birthday, sent home to rest for a few days before she’d begin round after round of chemotherapy. Twenty-four hours a day, five days at a time.

“The doctors told me the cancer has probably only been there a month,” Becky told me on the phone. “So I guess I’m lucky they caught it so early.”

I love her determination, how she’s approaching this as simply something she has to do. I love how she’s excited about the laptop computer that I and some other friends are trying to get her so she can work on her book while she’s stuck in the hospital. I love how she’s resolved to prove the doctors wrong about her not being able to work in her greenhouse this spring.

And I love how people who’ve never even met Becky in person, who know her only from her Internet posts on the West Virginia Writers Roundtable, are scrambling to help. How they’re calling to see what they can do, how they can donate. One even built a Web site (www.beckycon

rad.8m.com) so family and friends can go there for updates.

Becky says she’s lucky to have so many friends, but I don’t think that’s luck. It’s something she earned.

Karin Fuller can be reached via e-mail at [e-mail]. Her columns can be accessed easily online at thegazz.com.

[Ms. Kathy]

A window opened: Blindness a hurdle but not a roadblock for pioneering quilter

By ANTHONY DAVIS
Texarkana Gazette

“Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked.”
—Ralph Ellison

The world feels “rosy” for Diane Rose, the woman who bills herself as “America’s only blind quilter.”

But that hasn’t always been the case for this quilting pioneer who dresses the part—of a pioneer, that is.

Rose and her quilting and sewing abilities were available to visitors as one of the featured speakers at last weekend’s “Quilts on the Bayou,” a project by the Jefferson, Texas, Regional Quilt Alliance.

The Cypress Valley Education Center of the Jeffersonian Institute hosted the event, featuring quilts from multiple states. The craftsmanship evident in intricate new and ages-old styles was a stunning display of practical domestic skill elevated to an artistic level.


Rose was not difficult to find as she manned her booth attired in a pale blue ankle-length dress with white lace at the cuff and collar.

“I was born a hundred years too late,” she chuckled when the reporter complimented her dress. “I just finished it yesterday in time for this show. I design and make most of my clothes, but, of course, I have help from others with cutting the material and placing it in the sewing machine.”

Rose is ebullient, speaking at a rapid pace as she welcomed this visitor to share her story. She requires little prompting and questioning as words come like a torrent, barely edited, given her enthusiasm.

Rose was heavily involved in the Nashville country music scene when Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Porter Waggoner and George Jones were kings and queens of the country sound.

“I covered country music as a reporter in the ’60s and ’70s,” Rose began. “I was very young, but as I recall and I still remember running around the house singing, ‘Don’t Come Home A’Drinking With Loving On Your Mind.’ Loretta still calls me one of her kids. I made Porter Waggoner a quilt for Christmas, he loves lavenders and purples, as you probably know.

“Connie Smith is like an extra mom. And Billy and Betty Walker are two of the best people I ever met. These people are family. These people were the roots of country music. I left Nashville in 1994 to move to Texas. I miss those days and those friends, but I still hear from many of them.”

Rose speaks of the progressive deterioration and ultimate loss of eyesight with less emotion than the eager person who began the interview. Traces of sadness and loss are evident in her nonverbal behavior as she discusses her condition.

“When I was born, I was born with glaucoma, but I could see a little bit. When I was 4-5 years old, they realized my eyes were crossed, and when they uncrossed them, they discovered I had glaucoma. I could see some colors and images. Then I was no longer able to see at all,” she said.

“I was going to have a cornea transplant in 1984, but four days before the surgery I got hit in the eye. I don’t remember what caused me to get hit in the eye, but that’s all I’m going to say about it. It caused the cornea to rupture. Of course they tried to go in and repair it, but it was like trying to put wet Kleenex back together again. For the first year it was very devastating darkness.”

Rose never had the chance to see the world “as others see it.” Her hopes for partial sight were shattered, leaving her emotionally wrought, depressed and more dependent than ever on friends.

Accepting and conquering blindness through healthy adaptation requires the willingness of others to love, to be patient and to provide the sightless individual with opportunities to develop particular skills and talents. Those struggling with progressively deteriorating optical problems today can adapt in stages. Those born without vision begin adaptive education immediately following diagnosis.

But even those who withhold dreams of seeing again through visual correction are burning like a candle of hope; eventually they must learn to cope with limitations and barriers.

“It doesn’t mean that because you are blind you can’t do something. I get so tired of people asking how I can do this and be blind. Well, guess what? I have 10 eyes, you only have two,” she said wriggling the digits on her hands.

When Rose moved to Bellemeade, Texas, Billy Walker told her she had “finally made it uptown,” referring to the exclusive neighborhood in Nashville, Tenn.

“People will even ask me for directions. I made this old-fashioned dress myself. I try to be a lady. I don’t mean being glamorous or not classy, but like a lady. I love to design and make my own clothes. Of course I have help with the zippers and the buttons. I have a sewing machine and use handicapped needles. I was the first person to get them in Waco,” Rose said with a certain sense of pride.

“A lot of people don’t have goals in their lives. They have no ambition. I do, and I don’t take no for an answer. I’m not meaning this as an ugly statement, but I was at Barabara Fairchild’s house one time, and she was quilting so I looked at it,” Rose said.

“She said, ‘Oh, you can’t do this. You’re blind.’ That made me mad. How dare her tell me that. I was really mad. That happened a long time ago and I forgot about it eventually. That wasn’t something I knew was going to happen. I’m not a ‘stayer-downer.’ Everyone has down moments, everybody has hard times, but I made it with a lot of prayer and a lot of people believing in me, loving me and helping me get through it. I have no physical family, but I have a lot of godfamily. But through all that, they loved me through it.”

Rose even remembers the date she began learning to quilt.

“My friend Pat asked me if I ever tried quilting. I told her I could never do that. She asked me if I could handle a sewing machine. If I could, I could quilt. On Aug. 14, 1998, I went to her house. I cut material into five-inch squares and I sewed them. Soon I had a 9 by-9 pattern started. She taught me how to hand stitch and whip stitch. I may tell someone what I want and have them cut it out. The Snowman quilt is a good example of that.”

Of the more than 400 quilts and quilted pillows, stuffed animals and assorted throw pieces, she is proudest of the quilt she terms her “Masterpiece,” which is the name she gave the quilt. Rose said the Masterpiece came from a dream she had.


“I asked Pat if she could make a quilt with anything and she said we could. Since Aug. of 1998 I have made 405 quilts. They are in locations around the world including the Oval Office. As they sell, they are one of a kind, because I can’t make copies exactly like the original. This is not something I chose to do. Please understand this comes from a prophesy that was prophesied over me years ago. It was said God was going to give me a talent that would provide for me and that God would use me for my spiritual eyes not for my physical eyes. Of course, that was before the accident.”


“I didn’t know or understand that prophesy until a couple of days before Pat called me over to quilt. I threw my hands up and asked God when I would receive talents to use for his glory. Then my hands began to get hot and I could see what he wanted me to do. He uses people for his own purposes. These quilts are made for you to warm you and make you comfortable. They aren’t made to be hung on the wall and never used. These quilts are for sale for you. I put directions and a Scripture on each quilt.”


Rose’s love for her fellow men is not based on her dependencies. Yes, it is sometimes demanding to assist an unsighted individual, but Rose’s similar appearance to Loretta Lynn suggests a vulnerable exterior and internal strength, hope and resilience much like the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” who befriended her in Nashville.


Rose doesn’t wear dark eyeglasses, nor does she use a cane or animal guide assistance. She reveals feeling vulnerable in public alone, preferring the company and physical contact of another human being.

“I thank God every day for the friends and helpers He has placed in my life,” Rose says, quietly and thoughtfully for a change. “I am so thankful. I see from the heart and the spirit. I am an outgoing person, a vibrant person. I want to make people happy and to feel good.

“I’m told I preach too much, but everyone has a purpose. Don’t sit on the couch and do nothing. Do something, anything. I have ambition. I want to appear on television talk shows such as Naomi Judd’s and Tiffany Whitfield’s program.”

And in summation, Rose said reflectively, “I need to share what God has done for me, and what He can do with you.”

Consider it shared, Diane.


For more information about Rose and her quilts, visit theamazingquilter.com
Source Link: www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2007/02/04/local_news/features/features01.txt

[Ms. Kathy]

Blind Australian Author Takes on International Book Publishing and Marketing Venture

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.




When author, Janet Shaw, took the first steps towards publishing and marketing her book outside Australia, she never saw her total blindness as a barrier. Backed up by her friends and mentors, Janet pursued her dream of sharing her story with readers in the international market. It was a steep learning curve for the blind author, who knew nothing about publishing and internet marketing. Now with her own websites that she manages with the aid of a speech program on her computer, she is well on the way to reaching her target audience.

Perth, Western Australia (PRWEB) February 20, 2007 - Blindness is no barrier to the world of printed book publishing and international marketing for an Australian author who believes she has something to share.

Janet Shaw, author of 'Beyond the Red Door', was published in Australia by Allen and Unwin in May 2004. In just over two years, the autobiographical book sold nearly six thousand copies in Australia. Back then, the first-time author knew nothing about the publishing and marketing industry.

"I thought the publisher handled the promotional side," Janet said. "I didn't realise that authors were responsible for marketing their work."

When Janet decided to reclaim her book's international and domestic rights with a view to reprinting and selling her book outside Australia, she didn't consider her total blindness as a barrier. Equipped with a speech program on her computer and a scanner to convert text to speech, Janet set out to research the sometimes daunting area of publishing and marketing.

"I got pretty scared when I read the introduction of a book on self-publishing which stated that publishing was about marketing, not printing," Janet said. "I knew nothing about marketing--it was a foreign world to me."

But Janet was no stranger to facing challenges. She'd survived a life-threatening eye cancer as a baby, coped with limited vision for most of her life, adjusted to the sudden onset of blindness, and struggled with the complex issues of being adopted.

"My friends kept telling me that people outside Australia would be interested in my book," Janet said. "So even though the publishers didn't want to give it a go, I thought I would."

The blind author launched into this project about six months ago. Now looking back, she can see she's come a long way. "I couldn't have done it without some strong mentors and friends behind me," she said. "I had help setting up websites that I can manage myself, and learned about the tools that are available in internet marketing. I'm feeling much more comfortable with it now; I think I know what I'm doing."

For additional information or to purchase a copy, visit www.beyondthereddoor.com

Contact:
Janet Shaw, Author and Speaker
Insight Out
([phone]
www.beyondthereddoor.com

###


Trackback URL: www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/U3F1YS1GYWx1LVRoaXItSG9yci1NYWduLVplcm8=

[Ms. Kathy]

Blind woman spurred to good deeds by woes
Source Link: thereporter.com/news/ci_5255072
By Jennifer Gentile/Staff Writer
TheReporter.Com
Article Launched:

Having faced blindness, breast cancer and her sister's death, Fairfield resident Lula Mathis still calls herself "blessed."
"All of these things came to make me a stronger, better person," said Mathis, who works as a sales associate on Travis Air Force Base. Although she is a civilian, she spends her days meeting the needs of military personnel, particularly for clothing.

The supply store where Mathis works is operated by the South Texas Lighthouse for the Blind, which recently named Mathis as its 2007 employee of the year and nominee for the national Peter J. Salmon Award. The award is named for a man who was instrumental in passing the Wagner-O' Day Act, which opened employment opportunities to the blind.

The ability to do her job does not come easily for Mathis, who lost her vision to macular degeneration. She relies heavily on specialized equipment, her supervisors and her other senses to get by.

One turning point in Mathis' life was her affliction with Bell's Palsy, a malfunction of the facial nerve that causes muscles to go limp. Through that experience, she said, "I had personal knowledge of knowing what I wanted to say and not being able to communicate."

"Even today, I must exercise my face to return it to as much normalcy as possible," she said.

The experience inspired her, and before she lost her sight at age 25, the 63-year-old Florida native was an interpreter for the deaf. She said she was devastated when, due to her deteriorating vision, this became impossible.

"A deaf person talks with their hands," Mathis said. "For me to lose my vision means I can't hear what my students are saying to me."

Vision loss also meant the mother of two and grandmother of three needed to find another line of work. She approached the state for help and thereby found the opportunity with South Texas Lighthouse for the Blind.

"I had never worked in retail, and he took a chance on me," she said of Brad Husted, Western Region Retail Manager for the organization. "That's why it's very important to me to pull my own weight around here."

Husted said he is amazed by Mathis' "ability to overcome the obstacles we throw at her every day."

"She is a remarkable person," Husted said, adding, "She goes out of her way to make sure the customer is taken care of."

The challenges continue for Mathis at home, where she cares for her 29-year-old nephew, Bob, who was struck by a car while walking home from school at age 10. A month after the accident, which left Bob wheelchair-bound, his mother - Mathis' sister - died of an aneurysm.

The tragedy prompted Mathis to write a children's book, which she titled, "Never Alone." The story is told from the perspective of an eagle named Sam, who witnesses a boy's accident.

Sam calls on his bird friends to comfort Tom and assure him he is never alone.

"I wanted kids to know that no matter what was going on, there is a purpose," Mathis said.

Selling the book through her home and Web site, www.lulamathis.com, she said the response has been overwhelming. The author has not profited from the sale, contributing proceeds to the "less fortunate."

Beyond caring for Bob, Mathis said "cooking is a nightmare and sewing is almost impossible." She said she could not function without her son, Al, who helps her meet her daily needs.

Almost as an afterthought, she talked about beating breast cancer 13 years ago. The diagnosis shocked her, she said, because she took care of herself and had no family history.

Confronting yet another obstacle, Mathis educated herself and won the battle. Recalling the long-ago victory, she speaks about the deadly disease as if

it were a minor nuisance in her life.

"I come to find out it's just bad cells reproducing themselves," she said. "That's all cancer is."

Mathis said she is in even better health after cancer, and her biggest problem now is her blindness. At work, a machine that enlarges print and

a hand-held magnifier allow her to stock shelves and track orders.

Getting items to soldiers as they leave for war can be difficult, and it is a challenge Mathis finds rewarding. They are often unreachable in the days before their deployment, but Mathis goes above and beyond to get their orders from the store to them.

"When you're faced with an impossibility, it's not impossible," she said. "You just have to find another way to do it."

As for the award, Mathis said the recognition is appreciated, but not necessary.

"I'm honored that they did this, but I was not working for an award or anything," Mathis said.

"I'm blessed to have this job. To be able to help soldiers as they go off to fight, to me is an honor."

Jennifer Gentile can be reached at [e-mail].

[Ms. Kathy]

Blind, but also a great visionary

Despite having lost his sight, Madikologa Magakwe has been determined in life. Although he concedes it was not easy, he is proud of the things he has achieved



On December 6 1975, I first opened my eyes and for the next two years I was fully sighted. Then I lost my sight as a result of an eye cancer called retinoblastoma.

My family was poor but loving and I grew up in Sekhukhuneland as one of eight siblings. When I was seven, I was accepted into the Bosele School for the Blind which allowed me to develop my talent as a musician. I have always been ambitious and refuse to let anything stand in my way.

I want to find a record company that will be inspired by me. I have recorded one album but have not yet found a recording company to sign me up.

My greatest dream is to have my own record company, but I need to sell my music first.

I compose, sing and play instruments (keyboard and percussion). I mix the genres of gospel, kwaito, Afro-pop, house and R&B. I dedicated my first album to my mother, now deceased, as she taught me how to overcome my disability.

In 2000, I was accepted into the Shell Road to Fame talent competition, but my family ran short of money and I could not participate.

I was bitterly disappointed, but I found other ways to share my talent. I volunteered my services as music director at the loveLife Y-Centre in Jane Furse.

I directed a choir which sang the music I composed based on loveLife's HIV-prevention messages.

The beauty and substance of our singing put the Y-Centre on the map.

A year later, I was nominated as part of loveLife youth leadership as a groundBREAKER for sports and recreation - the first groundBREAKER with a disability to be appointed.

I am very competitive and made the whole team come alive without special resources other than my personality.

While the rest of the group took notes, I had to memorise it all and that skill left the other groundBREAKERS a little awestruck.

I have taken the name groundBREAKER as a bit of a title and feel comfortable and honoured by it.

Nevertheless, my time with loveLife was tough. In the first year people battled to click with me. They found it hard seeing the real person behind my dark glasses. The questions they asked sometimes made me frustrated and emotional.

But I had to respect all their questions even when they were silly or stupid to ensure that myths about blind people are rectified.

How do you eat? Do you miss your mouth? Some believed in the myth that we saw through our hearts and wondered how I could see with a shirt on!

A lot of people are in real darkness about blindness. I saw it as my job to shape the thinking of young people in loveLife about disabilities.

After all, they are the leaders of tomorrow. I believe many of them now have a different perspective that will open opportunities for other people with disabilities in future.

Work was not easy as I had to compile weekly reports on a computer without a speech facility.

I would come into the centre early in the morning so I could take time to write my report.

Now having my own laptop with Jaws (a special program for people with blindness) has transformed my life.

The program makes life easier for a blind person. If someone sends me a love letter, I can now read it myself!

After my groundBREAKER contract came to an end, I completed courses in Aids counselling, computer literacy and telephony and local government management skills. I now have an NQ13 national certificate. I received a bursary from a government fund that sponsors students at tertiary level.

Disabled persons are offered a free bursary which helps us to buy a computer with a speech screen reader.

My partner Norah and I are blessed with twin daughters aged five. I love those kids.

Norah is behind my success. She is a hard worker. She's my reflection. She's fully sighted and really loves me. We are absolutely committed to one another. I have the capacity to do each and every job and I don't need special treatment.

I am able to produce beautiful things. I am full of ideas.

I live in Pretoria and challenge any business to give me a new opportunity.

I may have lost my sight, but I have a fantastic vision.


For more information visit the loveLife website www.lovelife.org.za or call 011-523-1000.

Youth line: 0800-121-900.

Parents' line: 0800-121-100.

Published on the web by Star on February 20, 2007.
Source Link: www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3691999

[Ms. Kathy]

Sally’s story
Source Link: rdh.pennnet.com/display_article/285788/56/ARTCL/none/none/Sally%E2%80%99s-story/


Sally Cobb with Abby (seated), Garrett, and Kelcie. Abby is in the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired’s preschool program while the other two are enrolled in the kindergarten program.

by Casey Hein, BSDH, MBA

Every once in awhile you come across someone with a genuine interest in serving others - someone with a servant’s heart, a rare quality in today’s “now” culture. Couple this with quiet dedication to a worthy cause, and you have a true unsung hero named Sally Cobb.

Sally has practiced dental hygiene for more than 40 years, which is a tribute in itself. Another thing that distinguishes Sally is her dedication to children with visual impairments. Sally is the brain and muscle behind the over a quarter million dollars raised per year for the Kansas City Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI). If it weren’t for the work I do with Sally’s husband, Dr. Charles Cobb, I would never have known that Sally is recognized as one of Kansas City’s most beloved citizens.



Dr. Charles Cobb is an internationally renowned researcher, scientific writer, academician, and clinician recognized for his contributions to periodontology. He is also a teacher revered by his colleagues and generations of students at the School of Dentistry at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Charles retired from private practice about a year ago. Since that time he has dedicated himself to helping me develop Grand Rounds in Oral-Systemic MedicineTM as the editor-at-large.

In March 2005, shortly after we launched the inaugural issue of Grand Rounds, I got to know Sally when I was a guest in the Cobbs’ home. She gave me a tour of CCVI where I saw firsthand the kind of magic that can be woven into the lives of young children with profound visual impairments. During the tour I had several opportunities to observe the intensive nature of the education these children receive, and after brief conversations with teachers and volunteers at the center, I realized that those involved with these children are exceedingly passionate about their roles and responsibilities to the children. The mission of CCVI is to prepare children with visual impairments, including those with multiple disabilities, to function at their highest potential in the sighted world. The greatest challenge in fulfilling this mission is raising the financial resources necessary to fund this intensive, specialized education. This is where Sally Cobb’s inspiring leadership and tireless dedication to CCVI is so pivotal.


Kansas City’s Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired

The Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, originally called the Kansas City Nursery School for the Blind, was founded in 1952 by the Junior League of Kansas City, the Delta Gamma Alumnae Chapter of Kansas City, and the Alphapointe Association for the Blind. In the original one-room school, eight blind children and five sighted children were taught by one teacher, who was assisted by Junior League and Delta Gamma volunteers. Today there are more than 200 blind and 25 sighted children, from birth through kindergarten age, in the preschool/kindergarten program. These special needs children must have a visual impairment in order to be admitted. Their eye conditions range from retinopathy of prematurity, cortical or cerebral visual impairment, albinism, congenital glaucoma, microphthalmia, optic nerve atrophy, optic nerve hypoplasia, and retinoblastoma. More than 50 percent of the children have additional disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, deaf-blindness, mental retardation, seizures, autism, and other syndromes. Most children come from a 60-mile radius around Kansas City; however, children come from even greater distances if there are no services in their communities. Several parents drive into Kansas City and stay with relatives during the week and then drive home on the weekends. There have been instances when families have moved to Kansas City just so their child could attend CCVI.

Today, CCVI has 49 staff members including teachers, teaching assistants, occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, orientation and mobility specialists, program directors, Braille instructors, and social workers. An executive director, supported by administrative, development, and public relations staff, oversees the daily operations of the center. To plan the long-term future of the center, CCVI has several active boards including a 40-member board of directors, a “Friends of CCVI” board of 18, and a “Young Friends” board of 10. There are about 50 classroom volunteers. CCVI has five classrooms, conference rooms, two therapy rooms, one infant room, a gym, therapeutic pool, cafeteria, playground, family room, and offices for therapy, infant, and administrative staff.


Funding the mission of Kansas City’s CCVI

The budget for CCVI is close to $2.3 million, two-thirds of which comes from contributions from individuals and civic organizations, foundations, corporations, and special events like the Trolley Run. The remaining funds come from contracts from local school districts and the states of Missouri and Kansas. Proceeds from special events such as the Trolley Run and cookbook sales contribute much of the funding necessary to carry out the mission of CCVI. According to the center’s executive director, Mary Lynne Dolembo, lack of the funds generated by the Trolley Run would be devastating to CCVI.

“The $325,000 we raised last year from the Trolley Run was over 16 percent of last year’s budget,” she said.

It is estimated that each CCVI child’s services average more than $10,000 per year. Losing those funds would mean no resources to provide teaching and therapy services for 32 children. Dolembo casts this lack of funding in a very compelling way.

“I can think of nothing more horrible than saying to a grieving family of a blind infant that I’m sorry, we cannot help you. I feel so lucky that in my 26-plus years as CCVI executive director I have never had to say that to a family, and it’s because of volunteers like Sally Cobb.”

Indeed, Mrs. Cobb has been very instrumental in the success of raising these funds through a number of special events, including the Trolley Run and cookbook sales.

The Trolley Run was started in 1989 with 778 runners and netted $13,000. Now with close to 10,000 runners and walkers, the Trolley Run is the largest four-mile race in the United States. Sally chaired the run in 1996, and today remains a vital part of planning and executing the event.

Of Sally’s leadership of the Trolley Run, Dolembo said, “She did a fabulous job recruiting volunteers, organizing everything to the ‘nth’ degree, and making everyone feel that they were the most important volunteer in the entire run. Sally has never met a stranger and has endeared herself to an incredible mix of people needed to make the run work. For example, she knows all of the guys who work for the electric company who get out the cherry pickers and hang the start and finish banners. They love her because she’s out there with them at midnight when they do it and she brings them homemade cookies after the run. She knows where the key is to open the water pipe on the Plaza (which is really important if you run out of bottled water for 10,000 hot and dehydrated runners). I truly believe she knows more about the inner workings of the run and the Kansas City Plaza than anyone. She is just amazing. Sally never minds rolling up her sleeves and getting dirty.”

Dolembo gave examples of Sally’s knack for improvising and quick remedy. In a special event that required the last-minute stringing of lights in an outdoor concert hall, Sally worked her magic. According to Dolembo, the center did not have the money to rent or buy lights, so Sally persuaded a local electric company to loan, and then install the lights. Dolembo says that Sally is always on hand to help, and that she is not shy about calling on volunteers and recruiting expertise for special events. At a fundraiser this summer, Sally recruited one of the most famous chefs in town to discount the catering, talked a dentist-friend who is a sommelier into doing a wine-tasting, and cajoled her husband and son to volunteer for post-event clean up.

It has been said that Sally Cobb knows every chef in Kansas City, and though she underplays her own talent, is also recognized as a gourmet cook. This, in part, was what made her determined to launch a cookbook, A Taste of Kansas City Then and Now, another significant source of revenue for CCVI. Dolembo tells this story about how this highly acclaimed cookbook came to be.

“A bunch of us were at Sally and Charley’s one New Year’s Eve. It was a potluck so everyone brought food and we were all complimenting each other. We started talking about the upcoming 50th anniversary of CCVI and reminiscing about all the cooking and restaurant events that had been associated with CCVI. Sally decided to start the cookbook and asked friends and local business owners to donate recipes from the last 50 years. She got volunteers to test the recipes, secured underwriting to cover the cost of printing the first 3,000 cookbooks, typed the copy, got a local historian to write a history of eating in Kansas City, talked to the Kansas City Restaurant Association for their support, and prepared recipes from the cookbook to roll out an ambitious marketing program in stores throughout Kansas City.”

According to Dolembo, Sally worried that the first 3,000 copies wouldn’t sell. With almost 17,000 copies sold, Sally totally underestimated the popularity of this special cookbook. Today CCVI is in the fifth printing of A Taste of Kansas City Then and Now.

Dolembo’s final tribute to Sally speaks volumes about why she is so beloved in the Kansas City community.

“Sally’s co-workers quickly become friends and they love her, for all of the reasons above ... her dedication to the children at CCVI, her work ethic, her going above and beyond, her thoughtfulness - I could go on and on.”


From Sally’s and Charles’ perspectives

When I asked Sally why she was so interested in helping children with such profound needs, she answered, “Once you meet the teachers and students, your heart melts. I think at first you feel sorry for them and can’t imagine the hurdles they have to overcome, but then you see the determination of the children and staff and you admire them and want to help in any way you can.”

Sally told a story of hope about a family she has gotten to know at CCVI, about a boy who was born deaf, with no eyes and a heart defect. After years of many surgeries and long hospital stays, this former CCVI student just returned from Israel where his family and friends celebrated his bar mitzvah.

Sally said, “Tyler is brilliant and has won national honors in several categories. No one but his parents and the school dreamed anything like this could happen.”

I asked Dr. Cobb to describe his wife’s expertise as a dental hygienist and he replied that he had never worked with Sally until he retired from UMKC and re-entered practice.

“Sally became my office manager, business manager, surgical assistant, dental hygienist, and patient advocate. Probably a result of having worked with several different periodontists, it was no surprise to me that Sally revealed more knowledge about clinical periodontics than most of my professional colleagues. Indeed, she is a great diagnostician. Her ability with the scaler and curette is far superior to mine as is her ability to relate to the patients. Sally is a ‘people person’ who knows her abilities, limitations, and the goals of periodontal treatment. In short, in my opinion, Sally is a d**n fine hygienist!”

Since I have gotten to know Sally, I often ponder how happy she is to support Charles and how content she has been in the shadow of his notoriety. Charles is the first to acclaim her tireless dedication to CCVI and the servant’s heart that defines her character. From the podium at a UMKC distinguished alumni ceremony where Charles was asked to moderate, he credited his wife as the person he has learned the most from. Her quiet dedication to a special population and her heart for service has made a significant difference in the lives of many children with profound disabilities. I have also learned from Sally how to live out the true commitment to serve.

Casey Hein, BSDH, MBA, is the chief editor of the peer-reviewed journal called Grand Rounds in Oral-Systemic MedicineTM which is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of the relationship between oral and systemic health, and advancing the understanding of oral-systemic science and its appropriate integration into the clinical practice of mainstream dentistry and medicine.

RDH February, 2007
Author(s) : Casey Hein

Find this article at:
rdh.pennnet.com/display_article/285788/56/ARTCL/none/none/Sally%E2%80%99s-story

[Ms. Kathy]

Blindness led woman to serve others
Source Link: news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070304/BIZ01/703040337/1076/BIZ

BY JEFF MCKINNEY | [e-mail]

Though blind since birth, Peg Gutsell learned at an early age that she could be like other people.

Gutsell - executive director of The Inclusion Network, a group dedicated to the advancement of people with disabilities - was reared near Detroit by parents who believed that she should be afforded the same rights and privileges as kids without disabilities.

Her parents' conviction was so strong that Gutsell recalls them fighting back after a public school said it would not enroll her. The school told Gutsell's parents their daughter should attend a boarding school for the blind. Gutsell was four at the time.


"My parents refused, and we moved to another school district so I could go to a public school with other kids," says Gutsell, 54.

Gutsell learned she could live, work and play with anyone and not be limited to socializing only with other people with disabilities.

That lesson gave Gutsell the determination to get a bachelor's degree in psychology and French in 1974 from Michigan State University. She earned the degree a year before a law passed in 1975 requiring public schools to open their doors to students with disabilities.

In 1979, Gutsell got a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling, and in 1988 she received a doctorate in education, both from the University of Cincinnati.

After college, Gutsell had various jobs working with people with disabilities. In 1994, she got involved with The Inclusion Network through the Mayerson Foundation, which founded the downtown Cincinnati-based nonprofit group. She took over as executive director in 2006.

"I do what I do because I want everybody to have the kind of life that I had," Gutsell said.

The group will conduct its 12th annual Leadership Award Banquet March 21 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center to recognize four honorees that have made inclusion a priority at their organization or business. About 1,000 people are expected to attend.

"It's a great opportunity to highlight the goods that happen for people with disabilities," Gutsell said.

When she's not helping others, Gutsell likes to listen to music - ranging from classical music to rock 'n' roll. She also likes to cook and listen to the birds.

[Ms. Kathy]

New Huntsman appointee loves taking on challenges
Cox quick to dismiss her disability as she gets set to head Workforce Services
By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune

Kristen Cox laughs when she remembers the voter response to her foray into Maryland elective politics last year.
"The reaction was, 'A blind Mormon woman running for lieutenant governor? How weird is that?'"
Cox, 37, who will arrive in Utah next week to take over as director of the state Department of Workforce Services, has overcome her share of challenges, even before her unsuccessful political debut as running mate to former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich in 2006.
Cox has served as President Bush's special assistant to the commissioner of Rehabilitation Services Administration in the Department of Education. Her close political ties with Ehrlich stem from his asking her to head in 2003 his newly formed Department of Disabilities, the nation's first Cabinet-level position of its kind. Cox had met Ehrlich a few years earlier when he was a Maryland congressman and she was a lobbyist for the National Federation for the Blind, based in Baltimore.
She acknowledges her first experience in election politics was "very intense, very humbling." On top of the gubernatorial campaign pressure and her Cabinet responsibilities, Cox and her husband Randy, have two children Tanner, 11, and 22-month-old Riley.
Ehrlich's campaign attributed his defeat to voter backlash nationwide against the Iraq War and anger at the GOP-controlled Congress. In Democratic-dominated Maryland, a Republican victory depends on cross-over votes.
The failed run "was a very appealing opportunity," Cox says. "To get things done, you have to take risks."
And even as voters cast ballots against Ehrlich, they said they were impressed by his running mate. "At the end of the day, it was my blindness, not my being Mormon, that most people responded to," Cox says. "But the combination was unique and it got us a lot of positive press coverage."
If there's a career challenge that Cox understates, it's her blindness. "It's an inconvenience in my life," she says. "You learn to work around it."
Cox began losing her vision at age 11 as a result of a degenerative genetic condition. The loss came gradually and, at first, she was able to get by with magnifiers and large print books. During her studies at Brigham Young University, however, her vision "took a big dive," she says. "I had some rocky moments in the beginning."
She was forced to memorize much of her course content from lectures and by having texts read to her. She graduated in 1995 in educational psychology, certified as special-education teacher.
Before graduation, Cox went on an LDS church mission to rural areas of Brazil, futilely lugging along a powerful magnifier. "It was broken when I got there," she remembers. "I was moving around rural areas a lot and repaired units took a long time to get to me. And when I plugged it in in rural areas, it burned out again."
Cox has since learned braille, which she uses to read to her children.
Virginia Knowlton, executive director of the Maryland Disability Law Center, which has sued the state of Maryland over poor performance on paratransit and other disability services, has praise for Cox, if not the Department of Disabilities.
"She accomplished some good things in her role as secretary," Knowlton says. "We were frustrated that she wasn't given more authority and funding that would have allowed the department to do more."
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. spokesman Mike Mower said Cox came to the governor's attention during her campaign with Ehrlich. "Kristen came with strong recommendations as a dynamic leader."
Despite her Utah roots - Cox grew up in Sandy and graduated from Brighton High School - and solid political credentials, Cox may not be the kind of Republican Utah's arch-conservatives appreciate.
"I consider myself a moderate," she says, but emphasizes that political labels can be misleading. Though Cox believes in government involvement in bringing disabled Americans into schools and the workplace, she argues it is a "two-way street" and the disabled must return on society's investment.
Also, as a politically ambitious working mom, feminists - not Utah's most popular group - would welcome Cox into their ranks.
"Women have so much to offer. The folks back here in the [Maryland] Mormon community have been extremely supportive," she says of her balancing career and family. "I know there can be that division between homemakers and women at work. I would be disappointed to encounter it in Utah - in fact, I know I won't."
Knowlton has a suggestion for Cox's superiors: "She's bright and capable. Give her the reins and give her some money, and she'll accomplish some good things for Utah."

Source Link: www.sltrib.com/ci_5372382#top