Welcome! We are so glad you are here! Today’s entry is another edition of Interviews to Empower, and our interviewee will surely inspire you to never give up. Allow me to introduce Kristen Witucki!
Q: Hi, Kristen. Thank you so much for being with us today. First, how long have you been blind, and what caused it?
A: I’ve been blind since birth from an eye condition called microphthalmia, as well as hypoplasia of the optic nerve. I was born premature, which caused the blindness; no one else in my family is blind.
Q: Did you attend a public school or school for the blind, and did you participate in any extracarricular activities?
A: I attended a pre-school for children with disabilities, though I was the only blind child in the school at that time. After that, I attended public school throughout my education. Outside of school, I participated in as many bands as I could, (I played piano, clarinet,
bass guitar and percussion), and I also worked in community service and debate activities. I tried our literary magazine, but I didn’t like it. One really great aspect of schools for the blind that I learned about when I taught in one was their equal access to sports. I wasn't the best at sports anyway, but that was one area in which my
public school was also mostly unequipped to adapt.
Q: When did you start receiving orientation and mobility training? Do you use a cane today or a guide dog?
A: I began learning the cane when I was three, I think! For most of my life I've been a cane traveler, though I did travel with a guide dog for seven years and might do it again someday. Right now I don’t travel enough to use one, but that might change.
Q: Where did you attend college and what was your major? What challenges
did you have. How did you overcome them?
A: I attended Vassar College where I majored in English, minored in German and also earned certification to teach English to students in grades 7-12. My teaching internships were challenging at times, but I learned a lot from them and from my students and cooperating teachers.
Q: What jobs have you had and where are you working now?
A: I’ve worked in various positions in membership development and customer support at Learning Ally. For two years, I taught English, creative writing and some braille to secondary students at the West Virginia School for the Blind. Now I'm the curriculum and content editor for Learning Ally's College Success Program, I mentor college students through a program called New Jersey EDGE, and I teach braille to a high school student.
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
A: I can usually be found chasing my children around, but when they’re asleep, I love to read, write, or listen to music. I also enjoy a conversation with a good friend.
Q: What are the challenges of both you and your husband being blind? How
do you two manage?
A: If the kids are quiet, they usually need one of us to investigate what they're doing, unless they've told us first. :) I don't feel that our family has any extraordinary challenges, though ask me when my kids are older! My sons are seven and two years old. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to raise them. Most of the time, I think of myself as their mom, and I'm also very lucky to live in an area in which our parenting is respected. The only time it seemed harder was when my
first son was born. Some doctors and other hospital personnel were skeptical. It's a relief not to interact with them anymore!
Q: You mentioned writing. Tell us about your book.
A: My book, Outside Myself, took ten years to write, on and off! It cycles between the points of view of two characters: Tallie, a young girl who first obsesses about being sighted and later grapples with what being blind in a sighted world really means; and Benjamin, an older customer service representative who looks back on his life, the incredible misunderstanding he endured as he tried to fit in and his complex feelings about becoming blind.
Q: If you could give any advice to someone facing sight loss, what would it be?
A: I read or heard somewhere that blindness is the most feared "affliction" after cancer and AIDS. I'm not sure if that's still true. But there will be a time "after the adjustment," and that time really has the potential to be good, if not great! Hang onto a good opinion
of yourself, and seek out individuals who can help you to maintain that!
Q: When life gets you down, and you feel like you just can’t go on, what keeps you motivated?
A: My family and friends, birds and crickets singing, the wind in the trees, the ocean, probably most of nature. And curiosity about what is going to happen next!
We hope you have enjoyed today’s post, and we would love it if you would leave us a comment below. Be sure and come back every second and fourth Thursdays for more encouragement along this journey. Until next time, be blessed.
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