[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] Two Good Reads

Wed Aug 27 17:24:14 UTC 2025

Ohio, Two good reads.

Suzanne

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University Circle Police Department hires blind police ambassador

Spectrum News 1
August 26, 2025

CLEVELAND — Kenny Foderaro has been blind since birth, but that hasn’t stopped him from following his dreams.

Foderaro sings and plays the piano; he even got to perform in Israel with an international band. Now, he’s the newest member of the University Circle Police Department.

“It was so great when I got sworn in,” Foderaro said. “They have a big courtyard, which was perfect because all of my friends could come and watch me get sworn in as a police ambassador.”

Foderaro was officially sworn in as University Circle’s newest police ambassador at the Cleveland Sight Center. As a police ambassador, Foderaro hopes he can help police officers connect with those who are blind or visually impaired.

“I believe it’s so important that policemen know that people have disabilities and that we do exist,” he said. “We may need their help at times, and I want to make sure I’m able to teach them what it’s like.”

University Circle Police officer Jeff Ridler asked Foderaro to join the department. The two first met 28 years ago.

“It started back in 1997. I was running an adapted aquatics program in Parma, and Kenny and his family were one of the first ones to sign up for the program,” Ridler explained. 

After losing touch over the years, Ridler was on assignment at the Cleveland Sight Center when he ran into Foderaro. 

“I couldn’t believe he was there on the same day that I was,” said Ridler. “Life has certain ways of bringing us all back around together to where we need to be at certain points in time. This is where both Kenny and myself need to be to help others.” 

Ridler said the addition of Foderaro will help the department better serve the entire community. Ridler and Foderaro attend public events in University Circle with other officers so they can emulate how the two interact when they encounter somebody who’s visually impaired. Ridler said he will also create a presentation for the agency. 

“We need to be better equipped to understand the challenges that he has or someone like him has,” said Ridler. 

Foderaro jumped at the chance to help his friend. 

“This has got to be something special,” Foderaro said. “Take the opportunity to listen very carefully so we can serve you guys better, hopefully as much as you guys will be serving us too.”

Along the way, Foderaro hopes he can continue to be an inspiration to those around him. 

“To be an inspiration is an honor; it’s one of the most important things anybody could be,” he said. “It’s not always easy to serve the community. It’s not always easy for me at all, but if we take it one step at a time, we can be an inspiration to everybody.”

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Non-speaking teen with autism — once thought to be intellectually disabled — accepted at MIT

Ideastream Public Media - WBUR
August 26, 2025

When Viraj Dhanda begins his freshman year <https://drive.google.com/file/d/15ItneA3gvw8TnCtXVHEMFkuN3JFcVWdL/view>  at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he’ll be the university’s first-ever non-speaking student <https://nationalautismassociation.org/>  with autism.

Diagnosed with autism at age 2, Viraj Dhanda was mistakenly thought to be intellectually disabled for the first 14 years of his life, his father, Sumit Dhanda <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/young-man-brilliance-unlocked-by-fathers-persistence/> , said. Viraj Dhanda also has apraxia, a neurological condition that limits muscle movements and motor skills. The condition is not uncommon <https://as.virginia.edu/study-reveals-unexpected-literacy-autistic-people-who-cannot-speak>  among people on the autism spectrum. Viraj Dhanda communicates using text-to-speech assistive technology, typing on his tablet with one thumb.

“I hated being labeled mentally disabled. People thought I was behavioral because I flopped on the floor, used my body to communicate, but what was I supposed to do?” Viraj Dhanda said. “I couldn’t sign or speak, and I was desperate for the world to know that I had a fully functional brain.”

After his initial autism diagnosis, Viraj Dhanda received some therapies and interventions, but they were all based on the notion that he had an intellectual disability. Then, when he was 10, his babysitter suggested he use an augmentative and alternative communication device, a box with buttons labeled ‘yes’ and ‘no.’

Viraj Dhanda started using the communication device to request his favorite TV shows, then a breakthrough came right before his 13th birthday when he was watching a show called “Super Why!,” where animated characters spell out words. In this episode, the word was ‘waterfall.’

“Before it gets spelled on the screen by the superhero, he says the letters that he can — A-T-E-R — and then a light bulb goes on in me,” Sumit Dhanda said. “Oh my God. We had this entirely misdiagnosed.”

Viraj Dhanda remembers that moment too. He said he was trying to send a message to his father.

Sumit Dhanda said that from there, Viraj Dhanda was reassessed and correctly diagnosed as having non-speaking autism with above-average intellectual capabilities. His father explained that the apraxia leaves him unable to speak.

“Speech and language are two different centers of the brain. So, you can have language without having speech because speech is a motor function,” Sumit Dhanda said, “and this is where I think the therapist community at large often fails these children.”

Viraj Dhanda started using a large letter board, pointing to individual letters to spell out his thoughts. With the help of his father, he then started working on smaller and smaller devices until he found success on a tablet that could verbalize his thoughts.

Dhanda said he doesn’t think that Viraj’s situation is unique, and that other non-speaking autistic children could also be more capable than people realize.

“There’s something there. It could be the mind, but the limitation is often the body,” Sumit Dhanda said. “You’ve got to presume that your child has the ability to think.”

By the time Viraj Dhanda was reevaluated, he was ready for college-level math courses and enrolled at Fusion Academy in Newton, Massachusetts, where he flourished with personalized lesson plans and one-on-one instruction.

“ It felt liberating,” Viraj Dhanda said. “The simple dignity of being able to speak was enough for me.”

Viraj Dhanda then decided to apply to MIT, even though “Dad said I had no shot,” he joked.

Video <https://drive.google.com/file/d/15ItneA3gvw8TnCtXVHEMFkuN3JFcVWdL/view>  his father shared with Here & Now shows the moment Viraj Dhanda learned he was accepted.

“You got in!” his father screamed. “Oh, my goodness!”

Viraj Dhana plans to take a gap year before starting college. He said he looks forward to meeting his fellow classmates on campus.

“I would love to have others reach out. I am just as normal as you, except I can’t speak,” Viraj Dhanda said. “If you are patient, we can hang together.

Suzanne M. Hartfield Turner

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, Vice President

Ohio Legislative Director

Cleveland Chapter, President

The National Federation of the Blind advances the lives of its members and all blind people in the United States. We know that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. Our collective power, determination, and diversity achieve the aspirations of all blind people.

P: (216) 990-6199

W: NFBOhio.ORG

Facebook:  <https://www.facebook.com/ohiosblind/photos/> https://www.facebook.com/ohiosblind/photos/

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