[Nfbk] Deaf Blind See Stars ...

Sat Jun 8 23:21:48 UTC 2013

FYI

Deaf-blind see 'stars' at annual retreat; community provides support,
technology

By Joan Kite

Both had come undone. 

For days, teacher Anne Sullivan was spelling words in the hands of young
deaf-blind Helen Keller, a prisoner of darkness and silence in 1887. When
Anne spelled the word "c-u-p" into Helen's palm, Helen answered by smashing
the vessel into bits. Finally, in a fit of angry inspiration, Anne dragged
Helen to a well, shoved her student's tiny hand under the running water and
furiously spelled the word "w-a-t-e-r." 

In one historical second, contact. Helen understood. Connection was made.

Helen Keller went on to become a renowned author, speaker, political
activist and icon for the deaf-blind community. Her efforts inspired
President Ronald Reagan to declare the last week of June as National
Deaf-Blind Awareness Week.

This spring, 22 deaf-blind residents gathered at an annual retreat in Nancy,
Kentucky to hold the stars in their hands.  

With an iPad and the Skyview app, Marilyn Trader, a region representative
for the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults, told
her deaf-blind audience, "We're going to bring the stars to your hands
tonight."

Deaf-blind participants honed an iPad on the Big Dipper. The real-time
stardust appeared instantly on the screen. 

"Oh my goodness, it felt like I was touching Jesus tonight," said Eubank
resident Loretta Gilliand.

Gilliand and her sister, Margo Cameron, of Somerset, were born deaf and
blind. Both use hearings aids and canes. The two attended the annual
retreat, held every April at Lake Cumberland 4-H Recreational Center. There,
counselors helped them to obtain new iPads and iPhones. 

"I was trying to get me something for when I go to the grocery store or here
at home to tell me what the labels on grocery food say," Cameron said. The
48-year-old woman lives alone with her 10-year-old granddaughter. Cameron's
18-year-old daughter was killed in a car crash seven years ago. 

New technology and the caring of skilled professionals expands the world for
Kentucky's deaf-blind community.  It's a small one. Nationally, about 40,000
are deaf-blind. Kentucky's Office of the Blind has 800 deaf-blind consumers,
said Dorothy Brame, state coordinator for deaf-blind programs. 

"If someone is legally blind and has a hearing impairment that is considered
as deaf-blindness too," Brame said. 

Consumers, as they are called in the government system, can be born
deaf-blind or lose sight and hearing at any age. Routinely, the elderly join
the ranks of the deaf-blind due to age-related conditions or illnesses. 

National organizations, like the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind
Youths and Adults and state organizations, like the Office of the Blind, the
Kentucky Deaf-Blind Project, and the Kentucky Association for the
Deaf-Blind, provide assistance to the deaf-blind. Most services help
deaf-blind people live in the world as productive citizens - holding jobs,
earning degrees, and living lives as independently as they can. 

Exclusion and breaking through the isolation are huge hurdles, said Pamela
Glisson, executive director of Independence Place. Located in Lexington,
Independence Place caters to anyone with any kind of disability. 

Glisson, who grew up blind in Harlan County, knows how difficult it is to
get help and understanding. She struggled in grade and high schools, but
went on to learn Braille, attend college and earn her bachelors and masters
degrees. Today, all her office equipment talks to her. 

"I couldn't do my job without assistive technology. All my devices talk - my
computer, my iPhone, and my K-NFB reader," Glisson said. She even has a
device that scans a business card and reads it aloud isntantly. Meeting
people has never been easier. 

Independence Place also offers National Federation of the Blind-Newsline, a
news and information service, to those individuals who have devices with a
refreshable Braille display. Increasingly, software developers are creating
disabled-friendly apps like Humanware Communicator and Purple that plug into
handheld devices. 

"We can see that those in need get financial assistance to acquire assistive
technology," Glisson said. Grants and loans are available. iCanConnect, the
national deaf-blind equipment distribution program, also provides equipment
to those who qualify for the federal program. 

Twyla Hammons, who serves at Somerset's Kentucky Office of the Blind, said
she would like the region to finance and install handicapped-accessible
devices like chirping crosswalk signals so the disabled can find their way
around town. 

The first step to get help is knowing where to go. If you are reading this
story, and know someone who is deaf-blind, share this information with them.
You can introduce them to a new world, a new life. 

Side Bar:

Help for the Deaf-Blind 

Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults

www.hknc.org

hkncinfo at hknc.org 

(516) 944-8900

Kentucky Association of the Deaf-Blind

President Rick Roderick 

(502) 423-8195

Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation

Deaf-Blind Services

www.ovr.ky.gov

(502) 564-4440

Kentucky Office for the Blind

www.blind.ky.gov

(800) 321-6668

Kentucky Office for the Blind (Somerset):

(606) 677-4042

Independence Place 

www.independenceplaceky.org

(877) 266-2807

info at independenceplaceky.org

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