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CREATING NEW POSSIBILITIES - Art
Most people don’t realize I’m visually impaired.
I look just like the man sitting next to you on the train, the husband standing in line at the grocery store with his wife, or the grandfather watching his grandson’s Little League team. I just see differently.
I have macular degeneration, a condition that stole my central vision and left my remaining vision blurry. Like the other 12 million people affected by this disease, I can no longer drive, read regular print or recognize faces.
The hardest thing about losing my vision was fighting the depression that came on. It is difficult to adjust to something that is so unexpected, something that affects every aspect of your life. I am frustrated at times. I can’t just walk into a store and look at the available items. I can no longer read the morning newspaper with my coffee.
But people have to realize that losing your vision doesn’t mean you can’t still function. And, because we’re living longer, more and more of us are facing this problem every day.
If not for organizations like the Guild for the Blind, and my own determination, I would have found it much more difficult to adjust to life after vision loss.
The Guild provides people who are visually impaired with a great resource for training and information. Their New Visions program teaches adults who are experiencing new vision loss about all the tools and resources that can help us stay independent and active. The Guild brings New Visions out into the community where we live, offering their workshops in senior centers, public libraries, and other places that older adults gather—places that are easily accessible for people struggling with vision loss.
At these workshops, you meet people like you, people who are experiencing vision loss, depression, and a loss of independence. The Guild’s staff tell you all about the tools, training, and resources available to you—from simple things like a talking watch to high technology like adaptive software for computers. Sometimes it is just the simple things that bring back hope and that spark of independence.
I now subscribe to books on tape and use a closed-circuit television (CCTV) that magnifies items up to 50 times their size. I also use the descriptive video service and a service that provides recordings of newspapers and magazines. The Guild’s New Visions program tells you about all of these resources and services. Everyone even gets a binder filled with the phone numbers and contact names.
Kerry, the Guild’s Director of Services, came out to my low vision support group at the Northbrook Public Library and explained how important mobility training was. It’s not only about using a white cane or a guide dog, it is about learning to orient yourself to your surroundings—from traffic patterns at lights to navigating through a grocery store. It’s about staying safe while you stay independent.
I now use a white cane. I don’t need it all the time, but now I can walk in areas where there aren’t a lot of people, like the Botanic Gardens where I walk most mornings.
Motivation is important. I prefer to stay proactive and seek out things that I can do. I was an equity partner in a chain of retail stores and an executive in sales management for over 40 years. When I retired, I wanted to find some way to use my experience to help others. I decided to volunteer at SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Businesses.
We work with people who are trying to start their own business and with people having operational problems. All the volunteers either owned their own business or held a high-level position. That way the clients can benefit from our experiences.
I find that the Guild for the Blind operates in much the same way. Most of the program staff have experience being visually impaired in addition to being experts in their areas. They willingly share their personal experiences—how they dealt with the depression, changed careers and continue to adjust to decreases in their vision. Learning to use all the tools available to help us stay independent from someone who uses them every day makes all the difference.
In addition to the New Visions program, I make use of David’s (the Guild’s Manager of Adaptive Technology) technical expertise. He knows all the tricks of the trade when it comes to adaptive technology. I still use my computer regularly—I especially enjoy exploring the Internet. I have special software on my computer called ZoomText that allows me to magnify everything on my screen as large as I need it. David can teach anyone to use computers with this software or with the speech software that helps people with even less vision than I have.
I attend the Tech Exchange club at the Guild pretty regularly. The members gather once a month and discuss different topics in technology as they relate to our needs, such as Internet security and the different features on the newest version of ZoomText. I enjoy learning about all the new technology that is on the horizon and talking with the other members.
Life doesn’t end when you lose your sight; it just gets more complex. The Guild for the Blind helps people address the complex issues and continue to live their life independently and fully. Return to Success Stories
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