Success Stories
"When people lose their sight, they feel cut off. When you sit down and interact with others, sharing stories of failures and triumphs, you feel like you belong again."
Jerome's Story
Jerome is 61 years old and has been happily married to Alicia for 22 years. He retired from his position as a landscape horticultural foreman with the Chicago Park District and Alicia retired from her position as principal in the Chicago Public Schools. Though she still misses "her kids," they were looking forward to enjoying their retirement years, just like millions do.
Then, glaucoma struck. It left Jerome without vision in his right eye and very limited vision in his left. Glaucoma is a disease that can steal your sight without warning or symptoms. Three million Americans have it and only half know; Jerome was one of the other half.
Jerome was devastated. He felt depressed and isolated. He did not know where to go or what to do. Then Alicia saw a feature on the news about the Guild for the Blind.
Jerome came to the Guild and met with Lauri Dishman, our Manager of Counseling Services. Lauri encouraged Jerome to attend the Guild's New Visions group. Polly Abbott, who runs this program, showed him the tools and techniques to make his life easier. Simple tools, like raised dots, helped him do common tasks. Jerome put them on his oven to mark the 350 degree setting and cooked his first pizza.
Alicia attended New Visions with Jerome. "New Visions exposed Jerome to all the adaptive aids—I was amazed at how many there are. I love the talking clock more than he does. I can always hear it announce the hour wherever I am in the house. I never thought something that simple would mean that much to people."
Jerome liked that the Guild includes spouses or other family members in New Visions. Alicia helped Jerome learn new skills and encouraged him to be as independent as possible.
It also helped Jerome to be around other people going through vision loss. "When people lose their sight, they feel cut off. When you sit down and interact with others, sharing stories of failures and triumphs, you feel like you belong again." It motivated him to adapt to a new life, to accept the challenge to find new things to do.
After working with Lauri and Polly, Jerome took up the challenge of learning to use a computer. He was a little intimidated, but coming to the Guild to take computer classes changed everything for him. David Flament, the computer instructor, turned out all the lights and had Jerome learn to type by touch. Now, Jerome confidently uses a computer to make his life easier.
Armed with confidence in himself and his skills, Jerome worked with Lauri to plot out the next stage in his life. His counseling sessions have him the confidence to just go out there and talk about the assets that he brings to the table.
Jerome is pursuing advocacy—making the general public aware about the number of people who are blind or visually impaired and the simple things that can be done to make their lives easier. Jerome is not afraid to make suggestions. There are too many simple things that can be done. The Guild has given him the confidence to make a difference in the lives of people with vision loss.
More Stories
“I’m the first visually impaired person my company hired. They didn’t think we could do the work. Now that they see me and how well I’m doing, they want to hire more people with vision loss." Read Elaine's Story.
"Success to me is learning all the things I can do for myself and for others. When I help other people with vision loss at the Guild, it makes me happy and reminds me of how far I have come and how far I can go." Read Jose's Story
