People in Da Neighborhood!

[Ms. Kathy]

Riddell's Blog: Blind Teacher Puts Life In Perspective
By Carol Anne Riddell
Go to this link for the video: www.wnbc.com/news/15654486/detail.html

POSTED: 1:47 pm EDT March 20, 2008
UPDATED: 8:41 pm EDT March 20, 2008


It's hard to keep things in perspective on a day-to-day basis -- hard because it's so easy to get caught up in the small hassles of life. At least for me, responsibilities like child care logistics and getting the bills paid on time can feel like monumental tasks some days.


Then all of a sudden, perspective drops in -- like a ton of bricks. This week, my perspective has a name -- Jim Hughes.


Jim is a teacher at Farmingdale High School on Long Island. He is totally blind but in many ways sees more than many of us.

Jim's students describe him as "a great teacher.” He’s "one of the best teachers" they've ever had. Not a blind teacher but a great teacher. In fact, they don't seem to notice his being blind all that much -- and that's exactly the point. Jim doesn't define himself by his disability and neither do his students.

Jim says he was initially discouraged in college from teaching in a typical school. There were questions about whether he could manage a classroom when he couldn't see his students. Fast- forward to today and Jim has more than answered those questions.

He moves through the classroom constantly, very aware of what's happening. He knows all of his students by voice. And amazingly, the kids say for the most part they don't act up in class because they have too much respect for their teacher.

At one point in our conversation Jim said to me, "I never even really consider blindness as a negative. I considered it as an opportunity to engage these kids at a different level than someone else might have".

Now THAT is perspective.

[Ms. Kathy]

01 April 2008 - 1:00AM
Source Link: blacktown.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/sight-set-on-new-job/1215502.html


Sight set on new job
By Nick Soon


Job change: Allison Gilmour is happy to be a therapeutic masseur. Picture: Natasha Paes


A LEGALLY blind hairdresser from Glenwood is looking forward to a brighter future after getting the chance to study to become a therapeutic masseur.


Allison Gilmour, 41, has an eye condition known as Stargardt's disease, a macula degeneration that causes a progressive loss of the central vision of both eyes.


Through Vision Australia she was provided with adaptive equipment, including a laptop, scanner and printer, to help further her education.


Ms Gilmour was a hairdresser despite being diagnosed as legally blind when she was 16.


"By using what limited vision I had and my sense of touch, I did such a good job that none of my customers realised I was blind," she said.


However, she gave up hairdressing about five years ago when her vision started to deteriorate even further.


Ms Gilmour has started her certificate IV in Swedish massage at Blue Mountains TAFE college.


On finishing this course in June she plans to complete a diploma course in the same subject to qualify as a therapeutic masseur.


"The course is wonderful. I have finally found what I was looking for in a career," Ms Gilmour said.


"It's a great profession for people who are blind as it is so tactile. Often sighted people will close their eyes to enhance the experience for their clients."


A spokeswoman said Vision Australia had provided equipment to 24 students wanting to further their studies in a range of areas.

[Ms. Kathy]

No sight but she's outasight!
Source Link: Nation News www.nationnews.com/319556983683080.php
Published on: 4/13/08.

by MELISSA ROLLOCK

VISION is highly over-rated.

Anyone who sees Marcelle Rudder in action is bound to come to this conclusion.

Watching her carry out the simplest tasks such as cooking, is like having ring-side seats to one of the greatest shows on earth.

Why, you may ask? Marcelle is blind. Visually impaired, to be precise. She can only detect shadows after losing her vision to glaucoma from the time she was a little girl.

What Marcelle makes look so easy to others, is actually a complicated system of memorising the precise location and placement of everything in which she comes into contact.

She is probably best known by radio listeners as the bubbly lady who sends out greetings on mornings on CBC's Quality 100.7 FM "Q" In The Community programme with Larry Mayers. No one would guess from the amount of energy she transmits over the airwaves that she faces such a personal struggle. And, she has somehow managed to turn it into a triumph.

At three years old, Marcelle developed glaucoma and underwent several operations but none successfully restored her vision.

Over the years, her world slowly went dark. And in 1992, she had to quit working after it became too difficult to carry out her duties.

Though the disease robbed her of most of her sight, she didn't let it rob her of her independence and zeal for life. She does everything she did before losing her vision with the exception of working.

When the SUNDAY SUN caught up with the busy 48-year-old mother of two last Thursday, she had just returned home from running errands and was in the kitchen preparing the evening's meal.

With no assistance, Marcelle manoeuvred around the hot stove and sharp utensils as if she had 20/20 vision, cutting, chopping and peeling. There was no fumbling or bumping into things as she knew precisely where everything was located.

"I said to myself some day I might lose my sight so I prepared myself for it. I know where my things are; don't move nothing because I will miss it. Any shifting around let me do it. I know where my fridge is, my cupboard, cabinet, the plates, forks, knives – everything," said Marcelle, who lives at No. 3 Blades Hill, St Phillip.

She's hardly ever home since her time is taken up with an endless list of volunteer work for a number of church groups and social organisations.

But the highlight of her week is working with Mayers on radio.

"I called [the programme] all the time but then one day, I went down to the station to carry a gift for [Larry] and he put me on the radio to talk and it went from there.

"I don't let anything stop me. I go out into different communities with CBC's 'Q' In The Community and extend greetings to persons; birthday greetings, congratulations, 'thank-yous' and so on. Larry is my inspiration on mornings. He touches people and motivates them to get up and go. They must know that they can't sit down and play dead," she said.

Besides having her home memorised to a "T", Marcelle keeps a mental directory of hundreds of telephone numbers. It has reached the point where people call her instead of Cable & Wireless when they need a number.

She's also committed to memory a book of hymns which comes in handy when she attends funerals or weddings.

"People are amazed when they see me singing. They look at me like, 'how that blind woman know all those songs?'" she said in her usual jovial manner.

Marcelle has to memorise a number of things since she can't read braille, including requests for the radio show.

"I have a request for a man named Eustace Roach, his birthday is tomorrow [last Friday], I have to remember that the St John Parish Church having on a concert Sunday evening at 4:30, another community group is having a fish fry on June 3, a harvest at the Nazarene church the 27th of this month, a picnic for June 8, going to River Bay, St Lucy . . . .," she rattled on and on.

Watching her at home is one thing but seeing her commute is another.

Though Marcelle can't see where she is going, she always knows where she is at all times.

"People take me places and ask me if I know where I am. Of course I know! As soon as I reach Three Houses Park, I start to unbuckle my seat belt and the drivers usually ask me how I know I'm getting close to home? I tell them I know the feel of the area."

Just because Marcelle's visually impaired it doesn't mean she does not like to look good. She loves colours – the brighter, the better.

All of her accessories are colour co-ordinated through another one of her "systems" so she doesn't have to ask for help when getting dressed.

"I have different colour accessories in different bags. I know where to find my pink jewellery from my green because the bags feel different and have different shapes.

"As for my clothes, I know them by the way they feel and how many buttons they have and so on. T-shirts pose a challenge because they all feel alike so I put them in a special part of the closet," said Marcelle.

And don't think she's easily fooled when it comes to money. Another well-organised system makes sure she's not cheated by anyone.

"I have a system where if I have like five $20 notes I put them in the back of the purse, then the $5 notes in the middle and $2 in the front. If I go shopping overseas, I fold my money in different styles. US$1, I keep straight, US$10 notes, I put them together and fold them in half, the 20s I fold them in a triangle and the US$100 bills I fold them on the long side. People don't try to trick me when I'm shopping. You can't bring a bounced tin for example to sell to me. I will feel it up and tell you take it back. But as security, I always have my friend Jean there to make sure that everything is okay."

While she's very independent, Marcelle couldn't do a lot of things without the help of a few good friends.

"I want to thank Jean Gooding who is always there when I need to get around as well as Pamela Murray, Ernesta Browne and Esther Greaves. There's also a young Transport Board bus driver by the name of Dale Hall who would stop the bus and help me cross the street when the need arises," she said in true "shout-out" form.

Marcelle is happy with her life and after six operations on her eyes she is content with the card fate has dealt her.

"I'm never depressed over this. I got life and I feel good," she said.

[Ms. Kathy]

Going the Distance — Area marathoner eyes the Olympics
Originally published April 13, 2008
Source Link: The Frederick News-Post Online - Frederick County Maryland Daily Newspaper www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/reporters_notebooks_display.htm?StoryID=73720


Susan Graham-Gray, who has won the Frederick Marathon twice, will test her marathon skills against the finest women runners in the country next week. She is one of 158 women who have qualified for the Women's Olympic Trials, Sunday in Boston.
The day before the Boston Marathon, Graham-Gray, 39, and the other top women runners will run on a flat, fast course through Boston that uses the same finish line as the Boston Marathon.

Graham-Gray, 39, has worked toward the Olympic Trials since she began competing seriously in 2002, after the births of her children.

"She knows she deserves to be there," said her coach, Mike Spinnler. Spinnler began coaching Graham-Gray in August 2002 after he saw her run at some local races. Graham-Gray lives in Greencastle, and trains with Spinnler and other members of the Cumberland Valley Athletic Club on the C&O Canal near Williamsport on Sunday mornings.

Graham-Gray is a native of Pittsburgh, and competed in track at West Virginia Weslayan College in Buckhannon, W.Va. Her background is fairly typical. She went from college to job, working in human resources and later as the manager of a Victoria's Secret in Hagerstown.

She suffers from Stargardt's disease, a degenerative eye disease that has gradually blurred her vision. By age 30, she had to give up her driver's license. Her vision is now the equivalent of 20/500, and she has limited peripheral vision. She has trouble distinguishing sticks and rocks and obstacles in the road.

To compensate, her fellow runners warn her of obstacles on her canal runs. Her only other outdoor runs are on a track at Greencastle-Antrim High School. Her other training runs are on a treadmill. She also swims at the YMCA in Greencastle or Hagerstown.

Graham-Gray has the same eye disease as top women marathoner Marla Runyan, and she is eager to meet Runyan and compare notes with her in Boston. Although Graham-Gray often competes with a bicyclist pacing her, she and Runyan must run without pacers at the Trials.

She and Spinnler will walk the course in the days before the race. Graham-Gray, her husband Bob and children Carlan, age 8, and 6-year-old twins Derek and Dwight plan to drive to Boston with Spinnler on Thursday.

For Graham-Gray, her running career came together after she began training with Spinnler, a Frederick native who organizes the JFK 50 Mile each November. Graham-Gray competed in distance running in college. "It was not a stellar college career," she said. "I hadn't reached my potential." She ran in the 1987 NCAA Division II cross country championships.

After college, she took a break from competition, and then began taking part in road races in the Hagerstown area. She met Spinnler at those races.

"He asked me if I had specific goals," she said. "He told me, 'You have a lot of potential, but if I coach you, it's a commitment.'"

He devised a training plan that included interval training, tempo work and long endurance runs. "I didn't understand strategies," she said. "I never did interval training before. I felt like I was starting over." Her times fell and she began winning local races.

"He gives you the knowledge that goes with it," she said. "He's taken me to some very competitive races." Spinnler has devised a vigorous training regimen that includes challenging intervals, Graham-Gray said.

Her last race was the National Half Marathon in March. She finished fifth and set a personal best time for the distance of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 7 seconds. She outpaced Emily Levan, the top American woman in the 2006 Boston Marathon.

Graham-Gray qualified for the Trials at last May's Pocono Marathon in Stroudsburg, Pa., which she won in a time of 2:45:32. She needed to beat 2:47 to qualify for the Trials. "She knows she deserves to be there," Spinnler said.

She and Spinnler chose the race because he thought the course's mostly flat opening stretch, followed by a downhill stretch and then an uphill stretch played to Graham-Gray's running strengths.

She won the 2005 Frederick Marathon in 2:56:58, and the 2004 race in 3:05:50.

Her training for the Trials has edged up to 80 miles a week, which she said works for her. "Some women do 110, but that doesn't fit into my lifestyle," she said.

She swims a mile to a mile and a half two days a week, which she said helps her recover from speed workouts and still gives her the cardio training she seeks. "I love it," she said of swimming. "It's one of my favorite workouts." She also lifts weights.

The rest of the time, she is a stay-at-home mom. She has an aide to help her grocery shop, and she takes a bus to the Y to swim. A training partner stops by her house to take her to the Sunday training runs. She enjoys the camaraderie of those runs.

"I moved here not knowing there was a large running community," she said.

Spinnler has worked with her on pacing, and she said pace will be important in Boston. "For National, he wanted a 6:06 (pace per mile) and I did a 6:03," she said. "He can tell me where I'm going to be."

At the trials, the women will run through historic Boston before starting on four six-mile loops through Back Bay, across the Charles River and into Cambridge. Graham-Gray's goal is to do better than her Pocono time of 2:45:32.

After the Trials, she plans to take a six-week break from competition. She will turn 40 on May 17, and Spinnler said she will be starting a new phase in her running career as a master's runner.

[Ms. Kathy]

Celtics' success traced, in part, to the fortunes of a blind son
Source Link: sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3399631&type=story


By Greg Garber
ESPN.com
BOSTON -- Campbell Grousbeck sits at his granite kitchen counter, attacking a steaming dish of pasta and broccoli. He sips a pink vitaminwater, power-c (dragonfruit), and, being an acutely social 15-year-old, he asks a guest his favorite flavor.

"Uh," the guest says, trying to buy time, "the red kind."

This is not a good answer, for a number of reasons, but Campbell doesn't flinch.

"What are the ingredients?" he asks.

"Blueberry and, hmmm …"

"Pomegranate," Campbell says, triumphantly. "That's triple-X, triple antioxidants."

Yes, in fact, that's it -- XXX. Now, this is a solid effort for anyone, but well, here's the thing: Campbell Grousbeck is blind. How does he know that?

"Campbell," his father says, smiling, "is a pretty smart guy."

Campbell Grousbeck's father, Wyc, calls his son "a pretty smart guy." Campbell, who attends the Perkins School for the Blind, is the reason his family is back in Boston.
The apple apparently doesn't fall far from the tree. Campbell's father, Wycliffe "Wyc" Grousbeck, is the chief executive officer of the Boston Celtics. In 2002, he led a group of local investors who purchased the NBA franchise.

It now has been 22 seasons since the league's most decorated franchise won a title. That the Celtics still are a threat to hoist a 17th championship banner this season is largely a result of the aggressive, spare-no-expense leadership of Wyc and his partners. And that Wyc found himself in position to buy the team, oddly enough, can be traced directly back to Campbell's blindness. So, as you watch Kevin Garnett elevate under the basket and swat away the shots, and see Paul Pierce and Ray Allen singe the twine, know this:

It's all happening because of a sweet, slight boy who can't see any of it.

"We would be out in California, probably, and my golf game would be a little bit better, but I wouldn't be getting ready for a playoff game tonight," Wyc said several weeks ago. "If not for Campbell, we wouldn't be here."

Said Wyc's wife, Corinne: "We would never be out here if it were not for Campbell. I mean, that's a real example of following the child. We followed him clear across the country."

Adjusting expectations
Wyc Grousbeck grew up in Weston, Mass., a wooded suburb west of Boston. His father, Irving, took his four children to Fenway Park and Boston Garden several times a year, and those experiences created a profound bond with the professional sporting teams.

Irving co-founded Continental Cablevision Inc. in 1963, and he and his partner, Amos Hostetter, ultimately sold it for $11.5 billion. Wyc attended Noble and Greenough, a prep school in nearby Dedham, and, later, Princeton University, where he earned a degree in history. After earning a law degree at the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Stanford Business School, he spent four years as a venture capital lawyer in Silicon Valley. He had married Corinne, whom he met at Michigan, and they were living in the Bay Area with 3-year-old Kelsey when Campbell was born in 1992.

Campbell's parents - Wyc and Corinne, right -- knew that the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., was the best place for their 2-year-old son.
"Everything was going to just sort of fall into place," Corinne said, "and we were going to live in California and have this happily-ever-after kind of life."

But soon, they noticed Campbell wasn't like other babies. He didn't respond to visual stimuli. They took him to eye specialists and eventually learned he had Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an inherited retinal degenerative disease characterized by a severe loss of vision at birth.

"It hits you pretty hard," Corinne said. "Most of it was [feeling] sorry for him, a lot of sort of grieving over expectations that are not going to be met."

After the Grousbecks worked themselves out of their "disbelief haze," they aggressively confronted the problem. Wyc investigated the science and technology that might restore Campbell's vision. Corrine went to the local library and sifted through piles of materials. Everything she found pointed to the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass.

Helen Keller, at 12, with her teacher Anne Sullivan in 1892. Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Ala., and lost her sight and hearing after an illness at 19 months. Sullivan taught Keller to speak, read and write. Keller died in 1968 at age 87.
The school, founded 179 years ago, became famous for successfully educating Helen Keller in the late 19th century. Today's 38-acre campus sits along the Charles River and exudes the charm and cheer of an Ivy League institution.

When Wyc and Corinne visited, they were impressed by the independence of the students, making their way to class confidently with canes, and the low student-to-teacher ratio.

They knew almost immediately that it was the place for their 2-year-old son. Before their first morning there ended, they knew they had to call a realtor.

"You sort of go with your gut," Corinne said. "We almost did a 180-degree turn from what everybody advised us to do. We just kept thinking that this is what we need to do.

"Wyc didn't have a job when we came out here, and we had no idea where to live. We took a huge risk uprooting the family to come 3,000 miles across the country."

Land of the Giants
Campbell Grousbeck started at the Perkins School in 1995. Wyc landed a job at Highland Capital Partners, a venture firm outside Boston, and specialized in start-up medical technology investments. The market was friendly, and business boomed. Wyc found himself the managing partner of a company managing $1.8 billion in funds.

Celtics owners Steve Pagliuca, left, and Wyc Grousbeck at the Boston offices in 2006. This past season, the Celtics staged the largest one-year turnaround in league history - from a 24-58 regular-season record in 2006-07 to 66-16 this season.
Years earlier, he and his father had looked into buying the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. And now, in the winter of 2002, the Boston Celtics appeared to be in play. Wyc called a friend, Steve Pagliuca, of the investment firm Bain Capital, and suggested they make a run at the team, which had been struggling under the ownership of the Gaston family. In December 2002, Wyc, his father and Pagliuca were introduced as the new owners of the Celtics.

Before the news conference, Wyc and Pagliuca met with the players and coaches at the team's practice facility. The magnitude of the day hit when Wyc ducked into the locker room to wash up.

"I'm trying to find the sink, and the counter comes up to my chest and the faucets are up here, and I'm trying to find the mirror," he remembered. "I'm saying, 'I'm in the Land of the Giants. What have I done?'

"The whole feeling in the beginning was, 'Let's get this right. This is not just any team. This is the Celtics.'"

Before the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs in 2003, Wyc and Pagliuca visited with former All-Star guard Danny Ainge.

"They were trying to get me to come work for the Celtics, and I was really touched by the story of Wyc and his family," Ainge said. "Knowing that northern California is where the family is from, knowing that that was where they wanted to settle down -- and they came to Boston for one reason, and that was the Perkins School for the Blind. They wanted to give Campbell the best education possible.

"I was really impressed by that. The guy I was going to work for had a good perspective in life and a good heart."

Ainge signed on as general manager, and coach Doc Rivers arrived in 2005. The return to glory, however, was not immediate. The 2006-07 season began with the death of Red Auerbach at age 89, and the Celtics finished 24-58. The NBA's second-worst record included a franchise-record losing streak of 18 games.

The culture began to change on June 28, 2007. Encouraged by Wyc and his partners, Ainge sent the Celtics' No. 5 overall pick and two players to the Seattle SuperSonics on draft day in exchange for All-Star guard Ray Allen and the choice that would become Glen "Big Baby" Davis. On July 31, Boston traded for 10-time All-Star forward Kevin Garnett. It was the biggest trade for a single player in league history, and it changed the face of the Celtics. Later, pricey backups James Posey, Sam Cassell and Eddie House were added.

The Celtics' payroll is approximately $75 million, which puts them roughly $7 million above the league's luxury tax cutoff. That means they will be assessed a dollar-for-dollar tax after the season.

"The thing I've learned with [this management group] is they encourage me to spend money," Ainge said. "All I can tell you is Steve and Wyc and Irv, they're very competitive. I think there's competition in the market. The Patriots are winning [three Super Bowls], the Red Sox are winning [two World Series]. We love the fact that the Red Sox and Patriots have set a standard for this city, just like the Celtics set a standard in the 60s, 70s and 80s."

Led by Garnett, Allen and Pierce, the Celtics posted a league-best record of 66-16 during the 2007-08 regular season and became the NBA's leading headline. It was the largest one-year turnaround in league history. Garnett was named the defensive player of the year, and Ainge was voted executive of the year.

"We never wanted to look back and say, 'If only we'd done a little bit more,'" Wyc said. "We've exceeded our expectations already this year, but we haven't exceeded our hopes. We're hoping for the whole thing."


Small victories
Celtics Green, one of the most famous, instantly recognizable colors in all of sport, is something Campbell Grousbeck can't comprehend.

"Campbell or his classmates, they'll say, 'Oh, green, sure. That's the grass,'" Wyc said. "But they don't really know. He doesn't really know. He grasps a lot of things we don't -- sound, smell and touch -- but colors are just in his imagination."

What is Campbell's life like?
"I think if somebody told me that I was going to lose my vision, I probably would never get out of bed," Corinne said. "I find it overwhelming. I mean, every time that we've done an exercise where they show us what it's like to use a white cane and travel across campus … it's so hard to fathom that as his reality, that I almost can't go there -- because it is his reality."

Children at the Perkins School for the Blind paint Paul Pierce's hands. Pierce and other members of the Boston Celtics have visited the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass.
Campbell's first words came at Perkins when he was on horseback. According to his father, Campbell said, "Go faster." But sometimes, Corrine said, the daily victories are small.

"He learned to tie his shoes this year," she said. "Try tying your shoes with your eyes closed. He's 15 years old, and I could not have been happier."

Campbell sings in the school choir and plays a variety of sports.

"He runs track for Perkins. He wrestles for Perkins. He's on the swimming team. He's a three-sport athlete. Maybe he can be an NBA ref some day," Wyc said, laughing.

Clearly, he had used the line before. On the serious side, he stressed, Perkins teaches its students the invaluable gift of independence.

"What we've learned being around blind people is that they want to try and cope with all the challenges themselves," he said. "One of the challenges that he faces is that everyone wants to help him so much. Visually impaired people, as they grow up, it's the independence they really seek."

Wyc and Corrine have worked hard to raise Perkins' profile and have been heavily involved in fundraising. Corrine was co-chairwoman of the 2008 Perkins Gala, which raised a record $1.2 million that will be used to support the school's work on campus and around the world.

In 2006, Wyc formed a partnership with Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, whose daughter, Jada, also has LCA. They named their joint effort Project 3000 for the approximately 3,000 people in the United States who suffer from the disease. Their goal: genetic testing for each individual affected. Ultimately, they hope to identify the genetic cause of LCA and produce a cure. About 12 LCA genes already have been discovered. Clinical trials of gene replacement therapy have been successful in dogs.

Campbell occasionally attends Celtics games. The noise in the sold-out, 18,000-plus-seat TD Banknorth Garden can be daunting, so Campbell wears noise-cancelling headphones. Sometimes you can find him under the stands in the locker room, hanging with his father and Ainge, who often watch the game on a big screen.

Campbell can't see Pierce, Garnett and Allen, but he has met them and can give detailed accounts of their hairstyles, which he's felt with his fingers. Campbell knows their voices and their personalities intimately. Using models, his parents have explained the dynamics of the game. When he sits courtside, he likes to put his feet on the court.

"He can feel the vibrations of the players as they're running," Corinne said. "I think he knows when they're coming sooner than we do. It's really amazing what he can take in from just listening to the ball. He can hear it go in. He'll say, 'Oh, that was a basket.'"

Campbell probably was destined to attend the Perkins School, to lead his family back to Boston and resurrect a proud franchise.

A dozen years before her grandson was born, Wyc's mother, Sukey, volunteered at the Perkins School. She held babies while families toured the facilities.

"I do feel that out of anything bad, goodness arises," Sukey said. "And I do feel that Campbell is a gift to our family. I think the Celtics and Perkins connection is a beautiful thing, out of happenstance."

[Ms. Kathy]

Deaf-blind speed skater making great strides
SPEED SKATING
Posted By GREG DAVIS , EXAMINER SPORTS EDITOR
Source Link: Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1403162



Kevin Frost has a vision for speed skating that goes beyond what the eye can see.

This weekend's masters' long track challenge at the OSSO will feature Frost, an Ottawa-area speed skater who is the world's only legally deaf-blind athlete competing in the sport.

The 41-year-old is coming off a pair of gold and a silver medal at last weekend's Canada's Capital Long Track Meet in Ottawa.

While in Grade 6, Frost first discovered his hearing was weakening with only 25 per cent hearing remaining. In 2002, following eye tests, he was diagnosed with Usher's syndrome type-2, a generic condition that causes a deterioration of sight and hearing.

Frost says the condition has left him with 90 per cent hearing loss and only five per cent of his field vision.

"It's like looking through a hole the diameter of two pencils," states Frost on his official website ( http://www.deafblindskater.com)."This was a life-altering moment....I thought I hit a cement wall in my life."

But Frost persevered. Through the assistance of the CNIB and his guide dog, Nemo, Frost began to adjust to his physical challenges. He took up speed skating and fell in love with the sport.

Frost, who now trains six days a week, has gone on to break a number of short-and long-track speed skating records against able-bodied competitors. He is currently ranked 19th in the world and is campaigning to get the International Paralympics Committee to recognize deaf-blind speed skating an event for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

"My dream of being a winning Olympic speed skater is not just for me," he said. "It doesn't stop at coming home with a gold medal, it goes on to supporting others to accomplishing their dreams. I want to be a mentor, a role model to future goal achievers."

[Ms. Kathy]

[Actually it wrestling is one of the sports in which blind athletes can participate and excel. At the school for the blind in Louisiana we had a wrestling team rather than a football team for obvious reasons. ~K]

Clear view ahead for legally blind wrestler

Brian Hergert wrestles in an Olympic League dual
Source Link: Peninsula Daily News www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090211/news/302119989

By Matt Schubert
Peninsula Daily News


PORT ANGELES ¬­-- Brian Hergert's nose presses against the computer screen.

A wrestling match he'd finished a few hours earlier plays inches from his face.

The Port Angeles High School freshman moves his head about at different angles to get a better view through his thick Coke-bottle glasses in an attempt to dissect the 103-pound varsity match.

His eyes make out only the colors and outlines of the two grapplers on the screen in front of him, but he can still illustrate the scene's detail to his family.

Even after he turns away from the screen he continues to describe the action as it is happening.

Of course, legally blind almost from birth, Hergert never actually saw the match as everyone else in that gym, including his opponent, did.

Yet the sounds coming from his computer illuminate every action as he recalls those few moments on the mat.

"I listen to it," he said. "I can remember what's going on."

Hergert desperately wants to claim his first win.

So much so that he talks about it constantly to anyone who will listen . . . about the time he almost pinned his man in Port Townsend and North Kitsap, about the time he made it into the third round in Sequim and Kingston.

Any piece of information he can get, even the little he sees on his computer screen, he consumes and digests voraciously.

"I think that's all he talks about anymore is wrestling," Brian's mother, Teresa, said. "He feels just like anybody else [wrestling], that he really isn't different.

"People think that you are different, but you really aren't."

Different circumstances

Brian and his twin brother, Brandon, were born 13 weeks premature.

The circumstances of their early births made both prime candidates for retinopathy of prematurity, a disease of the eye that can result in retinal detachment and in some serious cases, blindness.

Both contacted it. Brandon was able to recover without losing his vision. Brian wasn't quite as fortunate.

Despite multiple surgeries, his left retina ended up fully detached. His right eye remained intact, but only provides what doctors describe as "useful vision."

Shapes, outlines and colors are apparent to him, especially if he's wearing his glasses.

But he can't read a chalk board, count fingers past two feet or make out facial distinctions. He reads books in Braille and has a special program that reads off Web pages on his computer.

Before this winter, the only sport he'd ever played outside of physical education class was T-Ball. Once live pitchers were introduced, he went to the sidelines.

So while his twin brother was competing and excelling in the world of air rifle shooting -- his team, the Capital City Junior Rifle team in Olympia, qualified for the National Junior Olympics this summer -- Brian was without a sport.

When his special education instructor Tim Roos approached Erik Gonzalez in December about Brian joining Port Angeles' wrestling team, the longtime head coach was all ears.

"I thought 'Absolutely,' " Gonzalez said. "There's been lots of substantiated stories around the country of blind kids that have gone on to have great success.

In my mind it was the perfect sport for him."

Feeling it out

Gonzalez has always taught his wrestlers to feel an opponent.

In previous seasons he's blindfolded wrestlers during practice sessions in order to give them a better sense of "feel."

"Wrestling is really a feel sport more than it is a visual sport," Gonzalez said.

"Your sight, it's important, but having said that, it's more of a feel sport than it is a sight sport. In that respect it's not really difficult [to teach Brian] because you're trying to teach a guy how to feel certain things."

Given his limited vision, feel is pretty much all Hergert has to work with. In order to learn new moves, he must feel the actions of his teammates movement by movement.

During practices, assistant coach Tom Wahl designates a wrestler who will work with Hergert.

They lead him around the mat during drills and warm-up sessions and help him learn new techniques. Every day another wrestler volunteers.

"It's been fun and a challenge to figure out how to transmit information," Wahl said.

"But we've gone from just single moves [the first few weeks] to now I'm having the kids put together all their moves in a series. Now we're even challenging him even further to put them all together.

"He's coming along a little bit. He doesn't advance as quickly, but he is learning. Balance and position challenge him, but he's getting better and better. It's just like with any wrestler, he just needs mat time."

In search of victory

The rules are simple for Hergert's matches: He and his opponent must maintain contact from the opening whistle.

The referee has them clench hands to begin the match, and if contact is broken, he stops the clock and locks both wrestlers back into place.

"I'm trying to pin the person," Hergert said when asked to explain what he does during matches.

"What I've kind of gotten myself to start off with I would pull their wrists and try to get behind them so I can pick him up and put him in the referee's position on the mat."

Hergert has made his way out onto the mat eight times this season, losing each match by either pin or decision. It's a fact that has not been lost on him.

"I would do anything to get that first win," he said. "The one goal I have is I want to pin someone. Get first [in a tournament] and pin someone."

He lost out on that chance at the end of the regular season after contacting an infection on his left knee prior to the Battle for the Axe two weeks ago.

Rather than face off against the Port Townsend wrestler he'd come so close to pinning, he was stuck in a hospital having his knee drained.

The injury also kept him out of the sub-district tournament last weekend, effectively ending his season. His career, however, is just beginning.

"I'm a little addicted to [wrestling]," Hergert said. "I'm definitely sticking with it. This is really one of the sports I can physically get hands on, so I like all of it, everything.

"When you can throw them on to the mat, and all the other stuff there is to it, there's nothing that I don't like about it."

If his knee can heal in time, Hergert is already talking about joining the Peninsula's freestyle club team in the spring. Whatever it takes to get better.

"[Wrestling] gave him a chance to be more involved in an organized sport, or anything organized for that matter," his father, Kevin said. "Brian seems to have a hard time fitting in with other people. This wrestling team has really boosted his confidence a whole bunch, from the coaches right down to the wrestlers.

"He's really focussed in on what's happening at that time. He really learns a lot. When he goes into the second or third round, then he says, 'Well I made it that much further.' "

Said Gonzalez, "He says every day, 'I'm going to win tonight. It's exciting to hear his excitement and dedication. It's an inspiration for all of us.

"It reminded me of why I do what I do. It's not about winning and losing, it's about the growth we are able to provide the kids."

Try telling that to Brian when he's sitting in front of his computer.

[Ms. Kathy]

Blind Golfer Wins Championship

Source Link: www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=74128&catid=63

(WLTX) -- Ask anyone who has ever swung a golf club: Golf is hard.

And some folks will play their whole lives trying to get as good as 63-year-old Phil Blackwell, and he only picked up the game ten years ago.

"There is a lot of talent in Phil," his son-in-law Rod Turnage said while out on the course.

Turnage is a former College of Charleston golfer, and decided it would be a good bonding technique to teach Phil the game.

"He thought it would be a good idea, he bought me three clubs for Christmas," Blackwell remembered.

At first Phil didn't like it.

"We went out to the driving range and, nah, I thought it wasn't for me."

The game caught on.

"Later we went out to a par three course and I made a par on the first hole, ever since then I was hooked."

And now, with just a decade under his belt, his ball manages to find the hole like it has eyes.

"There have been many times when he hits golf shots that blow me away, I'm just in awe," Turnage said.

His skills have brought out a sense of competition he says he never thought he had.

"I have won 18 out of the last 28 sanctioned tournaments," he said.

His tournaments have taken him around the world.

"I've gone to Scotland to play in the World Championship, I was invited to play in Japan, and I've been to Canada to play the World Championship."

He's played the most beautiful course, with the most breath taking scenery in the world.

And he's never seen one of them.

"I was in the Navy and I love my eyesight in the service. It was service connected in 1969. I was totally blind in 1970."

It's a time in his life he doesn't like talking about in too much detail, but says it was a struggle finding joy in the day to day.

"At that time my daughter was born. I could see about ten feet of anything and I could hold her close to get some idea of what she looked like with one eye. Those times were difficult, and I decided to move forward from there."

Playing in the United States Blind Golf Association has helped him move forward.

"It's a really wonderful thing of how well it works for 18 holes," Blackwell said.

He has a specially outfitted set of clubs, each with Braille on the head.

His son-in-law acts as the coach, lining up his shots and acting as the eyes.

"We become a team, there is a lot of trust that we have to have," Turnage said.

"My job is easy," he continued, "All I have to do is tell him what I'm seeing act as the eyes and make sure he is comfortable."

It's proof that you may not have to keep your eye on the ball.

"Golf is a swing, it's like music, it's like dancing, it's a rhythm," Turnage said.

He recited the USBGA's motto to further illustrate:

"You don't have to see it to tee it."

"It's the same," Blackwell said. "I don't think the blindness part I ever think about when I'm out there, it's just getting out and enjoying the day."

Blackwell is from the Greenville area. He is currently the president of the United States Blind Golf Association (USBGA) which has nearly 100 members.

Anyone with vision impairment can participate, just head over to their website by clicking here to learn more.

Also, there is a website that allows you to give to the USBGA, all you have to do is click here to head there.

And if you want to learn more about Phil himself, he's also a BMI songwriter and very talented musician, you can click here to head to his website.

[Ms. Kathy]

Source Link: www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=10410688


UCCS Graduate Overcomes Blindness

Posted: May 22, 2009 01:59 PM

Updated: May 22, 2009 02:18 PM

By SCOTT HARRISON

[e-mail]

COLORADO SPRINGS - One of the 800 students taking part in Friday's graduation ceremony at UCCS is more challenged then most. He's legally blind, and he's raising five kids with a girlfriend who's also a full-time student. He's also older than the average student.

Yet Gabriel Gates, 30, graduates With High Distinction. Because of an eye disease which left him with blurred vision and blind spots, Gates says he used a screen reader to scan text on to a computer, and read it back to him. He says it allowed him to learn subject matter three to four times faster than most of his classmates. Gates also thanks his girlfriend for her help and support.

Gates says he wanted to attend college after high school, but couldn't afford to. He worked as a roofer, concrete layer and mechanic until he lost his job in 2004, and decided to enroll in college. He majored in psychology, and may attend graduate school to earn a master's or doctorate. Someday, Gates says, he hopes to teach at a school for blind and deaf students.

Nearly 1,100 students will receive diplomas for the spring semester at UCCS. Officials say that number is a slight increase over last spring's class.

[Ms. Kathy]

Source Link: www.desertdispatch.com/articles/barstow-6147-blind-guitarist.html


Blind guitarist inspires Barstow residents
By ABBY SEWELL, staff writer
May 22, 2009 - 9:35AM

BARSTOW • Any day of the week, Barstow’s grocery shoppers might see Ray Ponce standing in the parking lot of one shopping center or another, playing a Beatles song on a 12-string acoustic-electric guitar through a small, battery-powered amplifier.

If they come close enough to drop a dollar or two in his tip jar, they will likely notice something else: Ponce is completely blind.

The tips help him supplement his Social Security income each month, but mostly, Ponce said, he likes the feeling of being out in the community.

“It keeps me in shape, physically, spiritually, mentally,” he said.

He first began performing on the street about 10 years ago, at the suggestion of his mother, a Los Angeles Unified School District teacher, Ponce said.

“I noticed that people from all different backgrounds would stop and talk to me,” he said.

Ponce came to Barstow from Los Angeles County with a friend about a year ago. He and the friend later went separate ways, but Ponce has come to feel at home in Barstow.

Young high school graduates Jesse Moreno, Josh Walker, and Brian Benavidez said they often stop for a minute to listen to Ponce when they come to get groceries or visit friends who work at one of the local stores.

“Every time I come up shopping, I always give him whatever I can,” Walker said.

Judge John B. Gibson, who presides over a courtroom at the Barstow courthouse, calls Ponce one of his heroes. The judge first came across Ponce while taking a walk on his lunch break one day.

As a fan of street musicians, Gibson stopped to watch him play and struck up a conversation. Now he stops to chat with Ponce regularly once or twice a week.

“He’s just an admirable soul,” Gibson said. “... He’s fighting through the adversity of his blindness as opposed to curling up and just locking himself away.”

Ponce lost his eyes at the age of five, when he was hit by a car as he walked across the street.

“I woke up from a coma, and I was blind,” he said.

The car’s bumper had cut his eyes so that he now wears prosthetics. Forty-five years later, Ponce said he has a vague memory of colors but can’t remember his parents’ faces.

“It changed my whole life,” he said. “I have no regrets, though. You sighted people have to see some ugly stuff.”

Ponce’s parents got him his first drum set at age 8, and he learned to play guitar a year later, from a partially sighted teenager at the school for the blind that he attended.

At 10, he was playing drums in his first band. The other members were all over the age of 21. His mother knew them, and when their drummer didn’t show up to play a gig one night, she volunteered Ponce. They would play events like weddings and American Legion parties, and Ponce made $25 at every gig.

He would go on to play in multiple bands, both as a drummer and guitarist. Now Ponce can play more than 400 songs on guitar and has written some of his own. Ponce said he can play on the street for 12 hours at a time – and sometimes has — without running through his entire repertoire.

Ponce said he has always tried to be as independent as possible. He has five children, all grown now. Over the years, he has worked as a medical transcriber, owned a food retail business, taught music lessons, and worked in real estate, Ponce said. In Barstow, he rents a house but is hoping to eventually buy one.

Despite his love of music, Ponce said he never had dreams of rock stardom.

“I still don’t,” he said. “But I like being an inspiration, and I can tell I am by the things people tell me.”

Contact the writer:
[phone] or [e-mail]

[Ms. Kathy]

Source Link: www.spenboroughguardian.co.uk/news/Blind-actress-hopes-to-be.5292103.jp

Published Date: 22 May 2009
By Gemma Ryder
AS Emmerdale's newest character hits our screens it is hoped she will inspire more people to have a vital eye test.
Kitty McGeever, who plays Lizzie Lakely, is the first blind actress to have a regular part on a UK soap.

Kitty, 38, who lives in Wyke and attended Holy Spirit Primary School in Heckmondwike, lost her sight at the age of 33 from a diabetes-related illness.

Opticians chain Specsavers and charity Diabetes UK hope her introduction will raise awareness of the impact diabetes can have on eyesight.

Specsavers clinical adviser Paul Carroll said: "Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the UK's working-age population.

"People with diabetes are 20 times more at risk of going blind than someone without the condition.

"Up to 40 per cent of the 2.5m people in the UK who currently have diabetes have some degree of optical damage known as retinopathy.

"However, if retinopathy is detected early and treated adequately blindness can be prevented in 90 per cent of cases.

"An eye examination can detect signs of diabetes, which is why we are urging everyone to have a sight test at least every two years."

Libby Dowling of Diabetes UK said she hoped Kitty's appearance on Emmerdale would raise awareness of diabetes and its serious complications.

Kitty will also be taking part in a unique race set to challenge the senses and raise money for deaf/blind children and adults.

Organised by Sense, the national deaf/blind charity, the 5k race will be held on Sunday June 28, at Roundhay Park, Leeds.

Kitty said: "This is a fun family race that will give people an insight into some of the challenges faced by deaf/blind people and I am really looking forward to supporting Sense on the day."

Anybody can take part and runners can choose to run blindfolded with a sighted guide for part of the way. Kids are encouraged to design their own blindfolds with prizes up for grabs.

To reserve your place or for more information, contact David Steele on 0113 2059500 or www.vision5Kuk.org.uk.

The full article contains 357 words and appears in Spenborough Guardian newspaper.

[Ms. Kathy]

Source Link:http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/sports/display.htm?StoryID=60718


View master
Originally published May 29, 2007


By Jason Barbato

View master
Photo by Doug Koontz

David Canada can't see more than a "couple feet"out of his right eye and that, usually, is only shadows.


THE ELEMENT OF accuracy is critical in David Canada's world.

In the classrooms at Frederick High, his attention to detail and studious nature have helped Canada boast a continuous 4.0 grade-point-average from his freshman to his senior year, which will end in the upcoming days.

Around Frederick's athletic facilities, Canada was seen drilling field goals, and placing punts inside the 10-yard line for the football team during the fall. This spring, he was a senior leader for the Cadets baseball team, logging innings as a starting pitcher and outfielder.

Canada relies on precision for everything.

The fact that he's done it all with one eye -- his entire life -- adds to the incredible student-athlete that is David Canada.

n n n

"We never knew until first grade, I guess. Then we found out," Canada said of the condition that plagues his right eye. He was born with a scar on his retina, leaving him 80-percent blind. To this day, he can't see more than a "couple feet" out of the defective eye, and that, usually, is only shadows.

"I was young, so I didn't know the difference," recalls Canada, who will turn 18-years old in September. "I never knew what it was like to see with both eyes anyways."

The well-spoken, soon-to-be graduate of Frederick High has carried on under those terms since his early childhood. When his eyes first opened, his vision seemed normal. He felt normal.

After learning about the eye, nothing has changed.

"I don't really think about it much," Canada says. "Maybe if I would have been able to see before, and then I just kind of went blind, it would be worse."

Judging by his numerous

sports and academic accolades, life probably couldn't be much better for Canada, considering his circumstances.

Splitting the uprights

Canada tried football for the first time at the lower levels in eighth grade.

"I hated it," he remembers.

By his junior year, the compact, 5-foot-9, 150-pound all-around athlete realized place-kicking might be his true calling on the football field. The Frederick varsity team needed a kicker, and Canada had played soccer as a youngster, justifying his decision to join the Cadets.

While still experimenting with being a high school kicker, Canada made two field goals as a junior, his longest in any game a 37 yarder. He also averaged 33.4 yards per punt.

Frederick coach Vince Ahearn says Canada decided to punt, as well, to help the team.

"He came to me and said, 'I'd really like to play football, but I'd just like to kick,'" Ahearn said. "I think he thought I wouldn't be happy about that. But I thought it was awesome."

Canada grew passionate, and enthusiastic about his role on the football team. He studied the nuances and technique of place-kicking in the offseason, and spent many voluntary hours booting field goals off the tee at Frederick's facility with his father. Canada even told Ahearn he was considering dropping baseball from his spring plans to focus on football, an idea Ahearn is happy he never acted on.

"He was extremely accurate right away, with a good leg," Ahearn said. "When he knew that, he decided kicking was what he wanted to do. He wanted to put all of his effort into it, but I'm glad he continued with baseball. Everything worked out great for him."

Being a people person, Canada's love for kicking stretches beyond extra-points, clutch field goals, and end-zone kickoffs.

"It's something that not a lot of other people can just do, I guess," he said. "It's fun, coming down to the end of games and stuff like that. With football, there's a bigger crowd, so if you make kicks, people scream."

The first time Canada tried to kick wearing a football helmet, he was reminded of his eye. It wasn't the darkness of the night sky, or the bright lights of the stadium that toyed with his already weakened vision, but simply the protection attached to his headgear.

"Trying to see out of the facemask, it effected me," Canada said. "I noticed more of the bar on the helmet, I think. I struggled at first."

At the time, Ahearn wasn't even aware of Canada's optical ailment.

"He never talks about it," Ahearn said. "It's never been an excuse, or anything like that. We were just talking and then it came out. I was like 'What?'"

At Frederick's training camp, and during practices last fall, Ahearn remembers Canada staying busy, using drills he had learned from videos and kicking camps to master his trade. As a senior, Canada was an all-MVAL and News-Post honorable mention, nailing 28 extra-point attempts, two field goals, and upping his punting average to 38.7 yards per attempt.

He has signed with Division-II Shepherd College in nearby Shepherdstown, W.Va., where he intends to compete for the kicking job as a freshman later this year.

"He's going to kick for Shepherd, because he won't stop until he does," Ahearn said. "Once he's got a plan or strategy, he doesn't let go."

Good eye

If booting a football through the 18-foot, 6-inch gap between the uprights seemed daunting for Canada, painting the black on home plate as a right-handed hurler, reeling in a high fly ball from the outfield or making contact with a 80 mph fastball at the plate added more dimensions to his unique abilities.

Hand-eye coordination is the basis for everything in baseball.

"It's just amazing, that he is an outfielder with the depth perception, and he's a pitcher. Therefore, he's the closest guy to the hitter, and he's got to react to a possible ball coming back at him," Frederick baseball coach Phil Rhodes said. "And hitting-wise, in my mind, that he's even able to focus and make contact, and do well, is really crazy."

Rhodes first learned about Canada's eye when he was a freshman, trying out for the Frederick program.

Rhodes thought someone was playing a joke on him.

"I just assumed someone was pulling my leg. How can a guy that can only see out of one eye play baseball?" Rhodes recalls. "And if he is, we're probably not keeping him, because he's not going to be successful."

But Canada's skills four years ago proved no laughing matter to Rhodes, in a hurry.

"He was doing well. Some of us still thought it must be a prank. We asked him, 'What exactly is your situation here?'" Rhodes said. "He told us. In all the years that I've been around baseball, I've never seen or known of any athlete with a vision problem. Nobody has actually been able to see out of just one eye."

A lingering knee injury ----which ended Canada's football season -- brought him into the 2007 baseball season confined to the dugout. Ten games in, much to the delight of Rhodes, Canada got his first start off the pitcher's mound, and helped Frederick defeat Walkersville, 13-2. He tossed five innings and 65 pitches to earn his first win, controlling the Lions with a mix of off-speed offerings.

Canada also finished as an all-MVAL honorable mention in baseball, throwing 24 innings, winning two games and maintaining a 4.08 earned run average. As a mainstay in the Frederick lineup upon his healthy return to the team, he also finished with a .286 average, knocking in 11 RBIs.

All spring, and through most of his baseball travels, Canada has carried eye drops in his bat bag. Dust or debris in the eyes can cause him serious trouble.

"If I get dirt or something in the good eye," Canada says, "I'm pretty much done."

As an outfielder, Canada doesn't run into problems until dusk, during late-game situations after the sun has set. He says line drives become harder to judge.

When he toes the rubber and delivers pitches to home plate, sometimes he can't see the catcher's glove, or misses his sign.

"The fingers are a lot smaller than the glove is," Canada says. "Sometimes I have to step off the rubber if my other eye gets blurry. I just step off and wait."

In the batter's box, it's a little different. Canada has to operate under the opposing pitcher's terms, and sometimes his functional left eye -- which also offers worse than 20-20 vision ----fogs up.

If he can't motion to the umpire for a timeout quick enough, in comes the pitch, and Canada doesn't know it.

"I have a contact in my left eye, because it's not great," he said. "Between pitches, I kind of have to wait for it to come back. It usually does, just by blinking or something."

Serious student

Around practices and games, Canada forces himself to be a straight-A student.

"It's something my parents have always stressed. To get good grades," he said. "It's just trying, I guess. A lot of people could get A's if they tried. It's just putting in the extra time to study, and doing your homework."

Canada has been so serious about his academics, Rhodes teases him about it.

"We were joking with him a couple weeks back, asking him when he had something other than an A," Rhodes said.

Turns out, that was sixth grade. Canada will take a flawless GPA with him to college, along with advanced placement credits. He has also rounded out his student portfolio with many volunteer activities, including a kicking clinic to benefit a local food bank, and visits to Lincoln Elementary School to read books to younger children.

It has all amounted to recognition for Canada as the Cadet football team's scholar-athlete last fall, and honors by the Frederick County Coaches Association as Frederick High's outstanding male scholar-athlete of the year.

"It feels good," Canada said. "It's good that I can manage the sports and the schoolwork with AP classes, and still be able to do well."

But Canada's no bookworm. On top of his academic success, he was named the Class of 2007 Homecoming King, and "Mr. FHS," two other superlatives he's proud of.

"It's pretty cool to win all that stuff," Canada said. "It's just having fun. I try to pretty much be friendly with everybody. I have different friends from a lot of different groups, I guess, different types of people."

Ahearn can't recall seeing another student scoff at Canada, ever.

"Sometimes a 4.0 probably intimidates a lot of kids in the hallways," Ahearn said. "But it seems a lot of kids like him. David is one of those guys that's everywhere. He's so unassuming, and so conscientious about things that it makes it easy for people."

Added Rhodes: "All of the kids like him and hang around him. He's smart, he's athletic and he's cool. He's got all of it."

Right now, he does. And David Canada has so much left of the world to see.

[Ms. Kathy]

[http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/sports/display.htm?StoryID=60718]
Forwarded by Ms. Kathy

Here's a story about a visually impaired ball player

To read the full article, click on the link shown, or copy and paste it into your Web browser:
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FNP Pets

--
Posted By Ms. Kathy to Ms. Kathy's Kids Blog at 6/04/2009 05:25:00 PM

[Ms. Kathy]

mskathyskids.blogspot.com/2009/06/blind-runner-qualifies-for-olympic.html

mskathyskids.blogspot.com/2009/06/visually-impaired-ball-player.html

[Ms. Kathy]

A vision for business: Owner of Kalamazoo repair shop says blindness no handicap
by Jeff Barr | Kalamazoo Gazette
Saturday August 08, 2009, 12:00 PM
Shawano Cleary / Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette

Steve Scott, 38, who has been blind since the age of 17, repairs a transmission on a riding mower at Something For All Seasons, his engine-repair shop in Kalamazoo.

KALAMAZOO -- Steve Scott hates stereotypes, and he's more than happy to talk about it. That's if you can hear him over a blasting compressor or the roar of one of the engines he may be repairing.

He's a busy man, as are most owners of small businesses. And the stereotypes of which he speaks have nothing to do with race, gender or creed.

Steve Scott, you see, is totally blind.

"There is the feeling that blind people are incapable of contributing to society, of paying taxes or living a real life," said Scott, 38, who has owned Something For All Seasons, an engine-repair service center, for three years. "I can't stand those stereotypes because they're not true. Look around me. Do I look handicapped?"

Scott speaks in the midst of a tour of his garage, surrounded by diagnostic auto scanners, tool carts, a belt tension tool, a welding cart, hundreds of American and metric sockets, and myriad other tools, gadgets and supplies.

Missing is one item you might expect to see: Not one tool in the perfectly organized workshop is marked with Braille. Scott does everything by feel and memory, including work on engines that are up to 500 degrees. He spends his days fixing motors with whizzing blades and pumping pistons.

Other than the occasional scratch or bruise, Scott says he's been injury-free since he began working on engines with his father, Jim Olschefsky, as a small boy in upstate New York.

He bristles when asked if the garage behind his home is a hobby shop or a workshop. Scott places parts in a magnetic pan in order to prevent them from spilling or being misplaced, while he works at his engine-repair shop in Kalamazoo.

"This is no hobby, this is full-time work," said Scott, taking a break in the middle of a Tuesday morning. "I have far too much invested, both in time and in money. This is my living. This is what I do to put bread on the table."

Scott repairs snowmobiles, lawnmowers, automobiles, tractors, combines, tillers, cultivators, boats, all-terrain vehicles and virtually anything else with a motor.

"I have to be careful, but so does anyone who is in my line of work," he said. "I grew up in a family where fixing cars was a way of life. My dad, who I consider to be my hero, never treated me like I was handicapped.

"He never treated me with kid gloves, never let me feel sorry for myself."

Scott was born with congenital glaucoma, and he underwent 23 surgical procedures before his eyes were replaced with prosthetics when he was 17. He had very limited sight until the final surgery, and the operation eliminated the excruciating pain when the pressure in his eyes built to nearly unbearable levels.

"When I woke up from the operation completely blind, I was scared, angry and depressed, even though I knew beforehand that I would be totally blind," he said. "It's not something you can really prepare yourself for. But I got over it and I consider myself lucky to have the amount of sight that I had."

Those few years of sight offer Scott memories upon which to call when finding the right tool, or turning the right screw. He has an advantage over those who have been blind their entire lives, according to his wife, Rhonda Scott, who also is blind.

"He has a visual picture in his head, and he has an incredible memory," said Rhonda, 39, who has been blind since birth and met Steve through a mutual friend when the were teens. "I think that helps him, but there's a school of thought that says people like me can function so well because everything we've ever learned has been while we were blind."

Rhonda is an active participant in the business. She works on the Web site using software that enables the computer to "talk" to her. She also returns phone calls to customers and is a great organizer, according to Steve.

"She's the brains of the operation," he said. "She does just about anything you can think of to help make the business run smoothly. We're a team. Without my father and without Rhonda, there's no way I could do any of this."

Blind or not, I appreciate hearing about a person putting their best effort into providing for themself. I'll make it a point to do what business with you that I can. Good luck.