Interviews to Empower Presents Charlene Smyth

Hello, and welcome to another Interview to Empower. Here at Adkins and Wells, we are all about independence for everyone. We believe that blindness is not a barrier for living a happy and productive life. Today, we present to you an inspiring lady who acts out this belief every day. So, come along with us and meet Charlene Smyth.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself. What are some things you enjoy?

A: I love to read, fall is my favorite time of year, and I enjoy being a part of my church and being with family and friends. 

Q: Are you blind? If so, what is your eye condition, and how much can you see?

A: I am totally blind due to injuries sustained from an automobile accident when I was 11 that severed the optic nerve in my left eye and caused a detached retina in my right eye. I have been totally blind in my left eye since the accident but lost the vision in my right eye when I was 12. I think the fact that I was still young and learning helped me adjust more quickly than if I had been older. I remember a couple of guys who came to the blind school when they were around 16, and it seemed more difficult for them.

Q: What type of schooling did you have?

A: I attended public school through the sixth grade. I then attended the West Virginia School for the Blind for seventh through twelfth grade, 1974-1981. I attained my Medical Secretary diploma from the West Virginia Career College. I received in-depth computer training from the West Virginia Rehabilitation Center. At WVSB, we usually started school around Aug. 20. We had a chance to go home over Thanksgiving, if our parents could pay for our trip. If not, we stayed with someone at the school. Then, we got to go home over Christmas, Easter and at the end of the year. The rest of the time, we lived on the school’s campus. I think that spending a year in and out of the hospital at Johns Hopkins prepared me for being away from my family so much. Whenever I had to go home, I found that I was bored. At school, I stayed in my room long enough to do homework, sleep and take a bath. The rest of the time, my friends and I were always into something.

Q: Are you employed? If so, what kind of work do you do?

A: Yes, I am employed. I am an Office Assistant II for the state of West Virginia. Back in my senior year of high school, I was a part of a program where we got to go off campus for half a day to work. My job was typing from dictation. I remember the reports were 10 pages single spaced. Another classmate was a transcriptionist for the hospital. Yet another was a piano tuner. I got paid minimum wage which was $3.15 at the time. Remember, this was before computers, so we used typewriters. No easy delete key. :)

Q: Wow, you really received some valuable training. What else can you tell us about how WVSB prepared you for everyday life?

A: During my senior year, we took a class where we had to learn to manage a home. We had to make up menus, shop on a budget that changed from week to week, cooked the meals we shopped for, pay bills, manage a checkbook and clean the apartment that we lived in. The apartment was a part of the dorm. Once, I had to shop then prepare breakfast for our principal.

Q: Where could someone get that type of blindness training today?

A: Training programs like the ones offered by the NFB.

Q: What accommodations, if any, do you need in order to perform your job duties?

A: I use a screen reader called Window-Eyes, a Braille printer, a Perkins Braille Writer, a Braille Note, TripleTalk Synthesizer, OpenBook software and flatbed scanner.

Q: What would you say is your greatest advantage to being blind?

A: I have learned to think outside the box, how to be creative, and how to advocate for myself.

Q: What would you say is your greatest challenge?

A: Transportation, as I am not able to drive.

Q: How do you overcome challenges resulting from your blindness?

A: I received an excellent education from WVSB where I became proficient in blindness skills and techniques. I also keep updated on technology, have a great network of blind friends, and live in an area with good public transportation.

Q: What types of community  activities or volunteer work do you do, if any?

A: I belong to the Bridgeport Lions Club, the National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia, my church, and just try to help out whenever and wherever needed.

Q: You mentioned being a part of the NFB. Why did you join the organization?

A: I first joined the NFB for something to do. Later, I wanted to make a difference as well as further the initiatives and programs that make it possible for blind people to live the lives we want. Today, I am the state president for the NFB in WV.

Q: How do you travel to the places you need to go?

A: Bus, cab, friends, family, and airplane.

Q:  Do you have any advice for our readers?

A: With training to attain all the skills and techniques used by successful blind people, you can be and do all you want to do in life, your family, the workplace, and your community.

There you have it, faithful readers, no excuses. :) Thank you, Charlene for allowing us to interview you. Interviews to Empower are posted the 4th Thursday of every month. If you or someone you know has an inspiring story, please let us know, and we might feature you in an upcoming post. Send an email to adkinsandwells@gmail.com with the subject line “interviews to empower”.

Thank you for being with us this week. Be sure and come back next Thursday for inspiration, encouragement and hopefully some smiles.

Be blessed.

For Caregivers

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how teachers should define expectations by working toward a big goal. To recap, in order to accomplish this goal, first have the student focus on learning the subskills necessary to achieve that goal and have a can-do attitude about the student's ability to attain the big goal. Remember, the student may never attain the big goal, which is okay, but if she is expected to attain it, she will come closer to reaching it, and thus, will be able to accomplish more.

Today, we shall briefly discuss the caregiver's role in setting expectations. Really, the idea is the same; people who are blind should be expected to do everything a person with vision can do. Keep in mind they will do it differently, and their way may not make sense to you. It may even seem dangerous to someone with vision. Also, as they are learning alternative techniques and building confidence, they may perform the skill slower than someone with normal vision. You may need to adjust your schedule so you can plan time for children with blindness and low vision to do things independently. You may focus on having them do certain things, and then add in a new task once they become competent and confident at the current one.

For example, if you want them to make dinner, don't have them do it on a night when soccer practice occurs. Pick a Saturday. Then, after several weekend cooking sessions, maybe they will be capable of making hotdogs and fries on soccer night. And for a cooking lesson, you might start with having them set the table. Then, they might learn how to make a microwave meal or even just a snack. Start in small steps and build on skills once former skills are mastered.  Plan a special night  in which the child makes a special treat for a friend or family member so they can practice their skills for a real-world purpose. This might be serving popcorn and m&m's   on a movie night, or baking a cake for Grandma's birthday.  Either way, it will be a big deal to the child.

When you go to the store, have them help  choose what they will need in order to accomplish the cooking session. Also, give them experiences feeling different fruits and vegetables as you name them. Remember that we blind people cannot see these kinds of things automatically as sighted people can, and so we need to be encouraged to touch them and be given opportunities to explore them.

Tell us what you see - what a license plate says, that the stoplight has three lights, each a different color, whether or not you think pink and white look good together, that a sighted person looks at someone they are talking to, etc. Have the child to behave as a sighted person would; no rocking or keeping the head down. Give the child replacement behaviors, such as tapping a foot. Show us models, such as a realistic toy elephant or a demonstration of you modeling a hand gesture. Teach children how to organize their money by consistently folding each denomination in a unique way and by using a talking money identifier (there is a money identifier app for the iPhone); note that the money identifier should be used at home and not in a store. The folding system will enable the individual who is blind to identify a bill in a store before she removes it from the wallet or purse, and thus, will mean someone will be less likely to steal it.

Now that we've discussed some ways to help someone to work with a child, let's  discuss some examples of how people who are blind do things differently from people with vision. For example, someone who is blind will use a cane to inform other's about her visual disability and also to verify the  area she is about to step her foot in is clear of obstacles and/or is not lower or higher than the current surface. The cane does not reach clear across the room, but  is within a couple feet of its user. This means someone who is blind will choose to travel quite close to an obstacle before veering away from it or will even move close enough for the cane to alert her of its presence, while still being safe. To someone with vision, this is scary since the blind person may appear to  be about to walk straight into a tree or fall down some steps. People with vision veer away from an object at a greater distance than people who are blind, and so when they observe someone getting closer than they define as "normal", they become afraid the person is about to become injured. A person who is blind may also seem to take a "wrong" route when they are maybe following a perimeter or traveling a given path that is different from one a person with vision might take. Learning blindness skills at a quality training center is essential because the person who has blindness or low vision will learn how to travel without reliance on a perimeter, but many blind people have not received such training, and so you will see them traveling around the long way.

Expanded core skills should also be planned into a student's IEP, and the parent or caregiver should make sure these skills are being taught, and this can be accomplished  through conversations with the child and communication with the child's school. As a blind person who has attended a school for the blind from kindergarten through 12th grade, I want to suggest that not all of these critical expanded core skills are taught to students, and when they are, they are not taught with the rigor they should be. Just because a teacher is certified as a Teacher of the Visually Impaired, or TVI, (a title that implies low expectations from the get-go), or happens to work at a school for the blind does not guarantee they know all of the blindness skills, embrace a positive blindness philosophy, or define  their expectations by focusing on teaching students the necessary subskills for reaching those big goals we talked about two weeks ago.

As an advocate, it is the job of the caregiver to make sure a student is provided with the knowledge and confidence she needs. Also, check out summer camps, such as the ones held at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland or the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Be aware that the child may need to go to a quality blindness training center as an adult, preferably before entering the workforce. Doing so could mean the difference between a productive, quality life and a limited existence.

More examples of how people with blindness and people with vision do things differently include:

Someone with vision will verify a dish is clean by looking at it (often a less effective method) whereas a person who is blind will use her sense of touch to verify a dish is clean (a more effective method.)

A person with vision will look to see if meat is brown; a person who is blind will use the smell of the meat, the quieter sound it makes after frying is complete, and its feel to determine it is done.

A sighted person will read the print label on her washer to know where start is; a blind person will touch a raised tactile symbol or braille label to locate this position.

A sighted person will glance at an envelope to see who it is from; a blind person will use a talking scanner to read it or a human reader to identify it.

A sighted person will visually identify a can of green beans; a blind person will organize her cabinet, and even if she doesn't, maybe use a talking barcode scanner to identify this product.

Most sighted people store stuff in their cars; blind people manage to carry all their stuff in backpacks and bags, and/or use a cart they can pull behind them.

Sighted people just hop in and drive to a destination, use public transportation, and/or  walk, whether they preplan the trip or do it on-the-fly; blind people schedule a friend or family member to drive them, use public transportation, and/or walk to a destination.

Sometimes, blind people use home delivery services, such as Schwan's or amazon.com or take in a deep breath and change their plan from going shopping at the mall to walking about town. And, the list goes on and on.

How a task is done is not as important as insuring it is done safely and efficiently.

And now, you are saying, "But, I don't have time. Or it is just easier for me to do it for my child or my blind family member."

That makes sense. But, remember, if you do things for a person who has blindness or low vision that she can do for herself, then you are limiting her and teaching her to rely on other people. And from the perspective of someone who is blind, I can assure you this is not fun in the long run. People don't want to hang around with someone they have to "babysit." I remember several years ago when I worked at BISM, a colleague kept saying "Anita, you should go get your own drink." I had the ability. I was just used to having it done for me. The day I finally got up at a restaurant and got my own drink was the first day I realized that too much assistance from my friends and family in all those years before that had robbed me of my freedom. And, by that point, I had been working in the blindness field for a few years and insisting my students do for themselves, not realizing I should do as I preached. Now, I don't have to wait for someone to get me another drink; I can get it when I want it.

It is okay to help other people. It is sometimes ok to do something for someone else, even if that person is capable of completing that task. The key is that doing so should not be a habit or should not be done because the person is too slow or because you are afraid of that person being harmed. If you don't know how to do a task safely without vision, ask someone who is blind. Call the National Federation of the Blind, NFB or the American Council of the Blind, ACB. Don't let a lack of knowledge mingled with fear limit a person who is blind. We deserve a high quality of life just like someone who is sighted does, and a quality of life is reached with blindness skills training, a positive view of the capabilities of the blind, family/friend support, and regular practice of doing skills to build confidence.

Thank you for being with us today. Be sure and come back next Thursday for another interview to empower.

Be blessed.

To Moms From Moms: Encouraging You to Keep on Keeping on

Are you a mom who is blind, or do you have a child who is blind or visually impaired? Wish there was someone out there who understood what you are going through? Then you have come to the right place. To celebrate that special and often complicated bond between mother and child, we have gathered inspirational quotes from moms who have been there and done that and who have lived to tell the tale. But, before that, here’s some interesting tidbits copied from www.history.com

“The clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.” Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.

Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.”

I don’t know about you, but I rather like the thought of returning to a home church with mama. But, since I can’t give out flowers or small gifts to all you moms out there, let me try and encourage you with words. Read on and remember, you are not alone.

"You see a lot more when you're Blind than you can when your eyesight is 20/20. You don't need eyesight to see how beautiful children are. Beauty doesn't fool you when you're Blind. Blindness opens one's ears. Eyesight can blind you to the beauty around you. Being blind is no worse than being left-handed. You can do anything anyone else can do, and sometimes even better. There are worse things than being blind. It's your choice, and only yours, whether you are going to be positive or negative about being blind.” -Shirley Emerick, a mom who is blind

“Try to let them explore the world as if they had eye sight. Expose them to everything/anything so they won't be afraid. I have done this with my daughter. Let them know just because you don't have eye sight doesn't mean you can't try or can't do it .” -Deanna Toup Willis, a mom of a child who is blind

“My words of encouragement to any other mother raising a child with blindness or low vision would be first and foremost have a sense of humor…if I had a dime for every time I ran my son into a wall or the mirror on the car I would be rich, and you really have to be able to laugh it off. I think It is also extremely important to always, always, always be encouraging to your child no matter what! My son tells me often that when he gets older he is going to drive me around so I don't have to do all of the driving.  No matter how impossible this may be it is my job as a parent to encourage And support my son in anything he wants to do or be. There have been many times that I have thought that he couldn’t do something, and he has proven me wrong. Be positive and encourage because you don't want your child to have the I can't mentality." -Shannon Kuncl, a mom of a child who is blind

“My mom never treated me any different than my sighted siblings, so I never thought that I could not be a mom. Being blind does not define the type of mother you can be. It does, however make things difficult, so you have to find different ways of doing things. So, just get your hands in there, get messy and git ‘er done. And, when you feel overwhelmed, just put them in the bath tub. LOL” -Keela Harper, a mom who is blind

“When my 18-month-old daughter had to have a cataract removed, I remember sitting in the waiting room, worrying. The doctors told me how long it would take, but it was taking much longer. About to panic, I asked the nurse what was going on. Turns out, when they went to remove the cataract, it fell apart, and they had to take it out piece by piece. What got me through those rough days was my mom. At my side at the hospital, going with me to my daughter's doctor appointments, she never missed a one, and she never missed an opportunity to pray. I don’t know what I would have done without Mom there to support me.” -Pam Hamrick, mom of a child with a visual impairment

“I was 16 when my oldest daughter was born. Right away the doctors notice something was wrong with her eyes. I practically lived at the hospital, and if it had not been for my mom and dad, I would never have made it. Mom brought me food from home, and both she and Dad took turns holding my baby who never stopped crying. Mom and Dad were the ones the doctors talked to, figuring since I was so young, I couldn’t possibly know what they were talking about. The nurses were kinder, though, sometimes bringing me something to drink or eat. I would say that the support from Mom and Dad, plus the trust I placed in God brought me through. And, despite the fact I did not have any experience, I raised my daughter to believe she could do whatever she set her mind to do.” -Robin Johnson, a mom of a child who is blind

“As a blind mother, I've learned that our children gain advantages from the blindness of their parents. They communicate as fully as possible, even when they don't. But perhaps more importantly, they accept difference as a default part of the human experience.” -Kristen Witucki, a mom who is blind

Reading over all this advice and encouragement, I wondered if I would be able to add anything. After all, I am a blind woman with 2 sighted children. Then, a memory popped into my head. I remember the day when my oldest daughter was 14 months old and sitting in her high chair. She had just finished eating a bowl of instant oatmeal, the flavored kind. She had not been feeling well, and I guess the oatmeal was too much, because without any warning, her stomach rejected the sugary instant breakfast. Victims of this rejection included my daughter and all her clothes, the high chair tray and seat cover, the bowl and spoon, the stuffed Elmo she insisted on carrying around, my shirt, my pants and the floor. By far, it was one of the worst messes I’d ever been faced with. Of course, the poor baby started crying, and for a brief moment, I stood in my kitchen with all that mess and had no idea what to do next. So, I said out loud, “Lord, I don’t have a clue how to clean this up and calm her down. So, if you want me to be a good mom, you got to show me how.”

My point here is that life can be rough, and if you are a mom, whether sighted or blind, raising kids does not come with a manual. We are often overwhelmed and feel like we just can’t do it anymore. But, as I said earlier in this post, we are not alone. I hope what these moms have had to say encourages you, whether you deal with blindness or not.

To end today’s post, I want to leave you with a devotion written by a mom whose daughter is blind and has other difficulties with her health. Be blessed, be encouraged and have a fabulous Mother’s Day.

A Mother’s Anguish

by Linda Reece

In the best of times, mothers tend to be hard on themselves for the occasional displeasing condition of things. When the house is a mess. When dinner is overcooked. We even feel responsible when one of our kids gets poor grades on a test. We believe that just about everything our hands touch should be perfect, or at least near perfect. And so it is when our babies are born with serious health issues. Surely, this must have happened because of something we did or didn’t do. It’s our fault. That was my state of mind when our daughter was born prematurely and she was later diagnosed with various eye problems that rendered her legally blind. This must have somehow been my fault.

My guilt was heavy. I felt ashamed. I wasn’t able to share these feelings with anyone, not even my own mother. But it wasn’t long until I found out that she did know and understand. The revelation came in the mail. It was a simple card that contained a page torn from a small meditation booklet that Mother used every day for her devotions. The scripture reading was from the Gospel of John, chapter 9, verses 1-3. And passing by, Jesus saw a man who was blind from birth. “And his disciples asked him, saying, “Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither has this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God might be revealed in him.” I read that passage over and over again. Although I had not fully understood its entire meaning, the heart of it penetrated my pain and relieved me of the anguish I had been feeling for months. My daughter’s condition was not my fault!

In the years that followed, of course, I learned more of God’s mysterious ways. The passage that my dear mother had shared with me became clearer. Sometimes the calamities that come upon us are our fault. Bad choices in life can result in bad outcomes. But often these calamities come due to our living in a fallen world where the devil has a limited amount of control over what happens to us. God’s “mysterious ways” is working through these calamities. As we learn to trust him more and more, no matter our condition, the world sees the love of God shine through us. We become a testimony for how to overcome whatever life throws our way.

This Mother’s Day, dare to celebrate a messy house and overcooked dinners. Stop blaming yourself for everything! And, by all means, praise the Lord for that precious blind child he gave into your care. Trust him to work his work through you and through him/her. Allow God’s light to shine through you both.

High Expectations

Welcome. Anita here with you this week. Today’s post will be about high expectations. If you were to ask an educator about their beliefs about student achievement, she would likely tell  you that it is important to have high expectations for students. To me, that definition is too vague. It assumes everybody is in agreement about what high expectations mean, and that is not true. People tend to have different views on ability based on various factors, including race, religion, sex, disability, and so on.  Consequently, these beliefs set the point on their expectation gauge. As a result, a limitation is set.

Imagine you  need to cross a huge river. How would you do it? Take some time to think about this answer, and write down your ideas. On your list, did you write you would fly across the river by using your physical strength? I am guessing the answer to that question is no. You don't expect you have the ability to fly, and so you don't even think to try it. You might be thinking: "Well, silly, everybody knows people can't fly. We don't have wings." I agree with that, but that doesn't mean we should accept that as a fact. Before we get too blown away, let's turn to a more realistic goal.

Imagine you are a teacher. A student comes into your class. He cannot see. He wants to be a heart surgeon  someday. He's enrolled in your college chemistry course in order to work toward that goal. Does he have a realistic goal? What do you think he will be able to do when it comes to experimenting with chemicals and recording data about them? Write down what you think will be easy for him. Write down the challenges you feel he might have. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being not at all and 10 being definitely, do you think he will succeed? Would you let him operate on you, assuming he graduates and manages to get a job? Why or why not?  Don't worry; I won't be collecting your answers. So please be honest.

 What you have just done is to set a limitation for this student. You have done the equivalent of filling a glass beaker to a certain mark. How high is that mark? I know you would like for it to be near the top of the beaker, but let's face it; it probably isn't. Unintentional though it was, you have set the expectation point using your experiences and what you think you know about the topic. To reach the top of the beaker, in other words, to achieve the highest expectations, what you will need to do is to step back and write down the skills necessary to perform heart surgery. Then, you will need to determine which of those skills your chemistry class addresses. You will then need to assess the student who is blind  to see what he knows. Your goal is to teach him all of the content and to assume he possesses the ability to learn the information. He may never succeed, but if you don't expect him to learn all of it, he will never do it. Remember, you didn't fly across that river because you thought you couldn’t.

It is ok if the student never masters all of the skills, as long as he strives to do so and as long as the teacher supports him and believes in his abilities by teaching the content and having a positive attitude about the capabilities of the blind, in other words, by expecting him to do the same Quality and level of work that is expected of other students in the class. What is important is that you start with what he knows and begin by teaching the subskills. If you do that, then he will master more of the material then you or he expected him to master. It may be that, at the end of the course, he realizes heart surgery isn't for him, but also, it may be that he succeeds in his venture.

I've used a very serious example here to show you that, if we want people who are blind or visually impaired to succeed, then we must assume they can do what their normative, in other words, sighted, peers can do. We break down a large task into its subskills, and then we teach those subskills beginning at the point where the student's instructional level is and progress until we reach the highest point which the student is able to master. An instructional level is the level above independent--the level at which the student can accomplish the skill with no help--and the frustrational level--the level at which the student is so frustrated he cannot benefit from continuing to work on the skill. At the instructional level, the student can succeed with guidance from an instructor.

While we're talking about skills,  I want to mention that students who are blind or visually impaired must be taught expanded core skills, in other words, skills to help them accommodate for their disability. Children with vision learn through vision, and can do so easily. Children who are blind must be physically shown and taught how to do the same things that other children learn. They must also learn special skills, such as how to read braille or how to use a cane. After they learn expanded core skills, students with blindness and low vision are then able to accomplish their goals. I hope that, after reading this blog, you will not limit your self or others by thinking that you are setting high expectations when you decide what a student with blindness or a visual impairment can do. I hope you don't say blind people can't... Rather, I hope you say what do I, Or the person who is blind or visually impaired, need to do to accomplish this goal, and then you begin working toward those goals by beginning with small steps and by learning the sub skills so that you will be able to master more than you ever imagined! ,

Thanks for being with me today. Be sure and come back next Thursday, when S.J. Wells will be honoring all you moms out there. Be blessed.