[nagdu] Blind Lexington athlete making history with dog

[Sheila Leigland]

Really nice article. I enjoyed this post and thank you for sending it.

Sheila Leigland

-----Original Message-----
From: Steven Johnson <blinddog3 at charter.net>
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 6:19 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,	the National Association of Guide Dog Users' <nagdu at nfbnet.org>; 'Wisconsin Association of Guide Dog Users List' <wagdu at nfbwis.org>
Subject: [nagdu] Blind Lexington athlete making history with dog

Sami Stoner, a junior runner at Lexington, competes with her guide dog,
Chloe, at the Galion Cross Country Festival this fall. Stoner is believed to
be the first high school athlete in Ohio to run cross country with a guide
dog. / Submitted photo 
Written by
Rob McCurdy 
News Journal


Filed Under
News
Local News
WHAT IS STARGARDT DISEASE? PILOT DOGS

Founded by Stanley Doran, Charles W. Medick and Everett R. Steece in 1950 in
Columbus, it is a private, nonprofit organization that trains guide dogs for
the blind.


Recipients must be at least a junior in high school and able to care for the
dog, plus document their medical history and need through an extensive
interview and screening process.


Puppies are raised by foster families to socialize them to deal with people
of all sorts, large crowds, traffic and other animals. After about a year,
the dogs are returned to Pilot Dogs, where they undergo six months of
specialized training to help the needs of the blind.


Recipients must spend four weeks living at Pilot Dogs on West Town Street in
Columbus learning to work with their dog. From four students in 1950, Pilot
Dogs now pairs up to 150 students with dogs each year. Among the breeds used
in the program are golden retrievers, Doberman pinschers, German shepherds,
Labrador retrievers, standard poodles, boxers and vizslas.


No government dollars support Pilot Dogs. Funding comes from membership
drives, the Lions Club and donations. The program is free for the blind.


For information, visit Sites.Google.com/site/ pilotdogs or call
614-221-6367.


It is an inherited form of macular degeneration that starts in childhood or
teen years. It affects about one in every 10,000 children and leads to legal
blindness.


It is a progressive loss of central vision, though peripheral vision is
often retained. The disease was first reported in 1901 by German
ophthalmologist Karl Stargardt.


There is no cure, and very little that can be done to slow its progression.





Source: American Macular Degeneration Foundation 

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LEXINGTON -- Sami Stoner has yet to cross the finish line in first place,
but she has won over fans while trying.

In the process, she's become a champion for teens with challenges.

Stoner, who is legally blind and a runner on the Lexington girls cross
country team, is believed to be the first high school athlete in Ohio to
compete with a guide dog.

"How could anyone in cross country complain when you look at what she is
doing? It's powerful stuff," Lexington head coach Denise Benson said.

Yet, that powerful example almost wasn't allowed to happen.

Historic precedent
As with anything pioneering, Stoner's quest was initially met with
resistance.

"We had a hard time getting her approved through the OHSAA," Lexington
assistant coach Anne Petrie said. "(Athletic Director) John Harris went
above and beyond to get Sami a dispensation."

In order for Stoner to compete in events sanctioned by the Ohio High School
Athletic Association, a waiver was needed. Harris made the phone calls to
the organization's Columbus office and was denied.

"Initially they thought they couldn't do anything like that because in other
sports it would be hard to compete with a Pilot Dog, as you could imagine in
a sport like soccer, for example," Harris said of the OHSAA's concern about
precedent.

But he wasn't going to be denied. Harris continued to appeal to Dale Gabor,
the director of cross country and track and field for the OHSAA, each time
hashing out ways to safely allow Stoner to run.

"To be very honest and be what the OHSAA stands for, we want to accommodate
any kids with disabilities," Gabor said.

When OHSAA commissioners told Gabor it was his call, it didn't take him long
to search his soul.

"As I told John, she already has a handicap. She doesn't need another one,
so let her run," Gabor said of the decision made in September. "We have to
do what's best for kids, and we either stand with them or we don't."

Gabor's waiver came with conditions. Stoner has to wait 20 seconds after the
start of the race before she can run. That's to assure the dog doesn't get
spiked or inadvertently knock another runner over. Stoner can pass other
runners, but she can't impede them with the dog. She is to be a non-scoring
competitor, and if finish chutes are deemed too small, she cannot cross the
finish line with the dog for the same reasons she can't start with the
field.

"We agreed full-heartedly," Harris said. "What's happened to her isn't fair,
but she's such a positive example for everyone, and it motivated me to get
this done."

Gabor, who has been around the sport for decades, believes Stoner is a
trailblazer, possibly the first blind cross country runner to compete with a
guide dog. He thinks she exemplifies the purpose of interscholastic sports,
which is to broaden horizons and teach life lessons.

"The example she sets for those kids is phenomenal," Gabor said.

The funny thing is Stoner didn't set out to be a role model, just a runner.

"I don't run for time or place or anything. I run because I love it," she
said.

Running with blindness
Like dozens of kids at Lexington, Stoner ran cross country in junior high,
and she enjoyed the sport. However, in eighth grade, her vision began to
worsen.

"When she started having eye problems, I thought that part of her life was
over," her father Keith Stoner said. "It took eight or nine months to get
the diagnosis, and as you can imagine, the Internet is a wonderful thing and
a scary thing."

Stoner and his wife, Lisa, were trying to figure out what the problem was
and what kind of future lay ahead for their daughter. When they finally got
the diagnosis, it was a worst-case scenario.

Sami had inherited Stargardt disease, a juvenile form of macular
degeneration that robs children and teens of their central vision. She would
soon be legally blind, although she retains some of her peripheral vision.

"I was devastated. You have hopes for your kids, and a lot of it has to do
with the things you see. It was a tough time for all of us," her father
said.

Stoner's only question for doctors was whether she'd ever get to drive a
car.

"She was pretty down," Keith said of the answer she received. "She was 14 at
the time. She's now 16 and a lot of her friends are getting licenses and
it's hard. She has a lot of wonderful friends and they are so good about
picking her up and including her."

One thing Stoner could do is run.

"When she ran in ninth grade, we wondered how she would do it," Benson said