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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>FYI<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Deaf-blind see ‘stars’ at annual retreat; community provides support, technology<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By Joan Kite<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Both had come undone. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In one historical second, contact. Helen understood. Connection was made.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This spring, 22 deaf-blind residents gathered at an annual retreat in Nancy, Kentucky to hold the stars in their hands. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Deaf-blind participants honed an iPad on the Big Dipper. The real-time stardust appeared instantly on the screen. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Oh my goodness, it felt like I was touching Jesus tonight,” said Eubank resident Loretta Gilliand.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“If someone is legally blind and has a hearing impairment that is considered as deaf-blindness too,” Brame said. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Side Bar:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Help for the Deaf-Blind <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>www.hknc.org<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>hkncinfo@hknc.org <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>(516) 944-8900<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Kentucky Association of the Deaf-Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>President Rick Roderick <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>(502) 423-8195<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Deaf-Blind Services<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>www.ovr.ky.gov<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>(502) 564-4440<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Kentucky Office for the Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>www.blind.ky.gov<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>(800) 321-6668<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Kentucky Office for the Blind (Somerset):<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>(606) 677-4042<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Independence Place <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>www.independenceplaceky.org<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> (877) 266-2807<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>info@independenceplaceky.org<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>