Growing up, I never thought about my life being different than other kids. When I was a kid, I thought that I would grow up, be a nurse, a doctor, or a stewardess, maybe a schoolteacher... Probably a mom, and that I would live happily ever after. I wasn't one of those girls that wanted to be a princess. I didn't want to be an astronaut. I did think about how much fun it would be to fly a plane...
I guess I just didn't ever think about how different my life would be.
To be a nurse, you need to have good vision, though there are doctors that are blind... I don't know any personally, but Dr. Stanley Wainapel is a blind physician practicing rehabilitation medicine in New York {1}. I can't even fathom how hard it was for him to get through school... I can't even learn braille. My sister wanted me to be a Pediatrician, my aunt wanted me to be a Chiropractor, my mom wanted me to be a nurse... sigh...
College consisted of reading and reading and more reading. Math problems thrown in here and there and more reading. I can't imagine being totally blind and getting through so much material. Then there is the practical side. So much to do and learn, so many miniscule things that you have to remember that add up to be a huge pile of information. I was learning that medicine wasn't the field that I wanted to be in.
I was told when I was about 10 or 11 that I would never fly a plane... this was a recruiter for the Air Force. I had always loved sitting on the fence at my aunt and uncle's house watching the jets take off and land. Their house was just a mile South of an airfield that is now long shut down, but when I was a kid, you could wave at the pilots and they would wave back... that was great, it gave me that thought of wanting to go places, fast. Being told that one of the things that intrigued you was not going to happen...kind of breaks your spirit.
Well, teaching was on the list of possibilities, I love language and studied Latin, French, Spanish and I dabbled in German, Greek, and Italian. One of my aunts had lived in Germany and was fluent, My mother took French and Latin, my dad as well. My grandmother spoke French and well... my best friend's mother was Greek, I worked with her for a year, and I spent a bit of time at their home, and I was getting pretty good at understanding Greek... Spanish comes naturally, I live in the Southwest... and Italian, well... I have a pretty diverse set of friends and family. We have family that re from Japan and China, I am ashamed that I am not at all able to speak Asian languages... I can write simple things like 'double happiness' and maybe... um.... well, that's about it..but you'd think I was kind of qualified to be able to go into teaching language. Not so much.
Reason number one that I am not a language teacher...I was born and raised most of my life in Texas. I have a horrible drawl and I have never been able to get rid of it. We went to France and I was forced to make people understand me, but I am usually too embarrassed to try to speak to people. That's another thing about being a teacher no matter the subject... you have to be able to communicate. It doesn't take sight to be able to talk. I am kind of confused at how it is possible to grade papers and to help find things in books... I know it is possible to be a teacher and be blind...
There are so many aids now to helping read for blind, visually impaired, and low vision. A few items are the magnifiers, readers and large print keyboards {3} College is now more accessible than ever, it is easier than ever to use tools to get through the class loads. Learning should never stop, these aids can be used to continue your education and add fullness to your life!
1...Helen O'neal National Foundation for the Blind. https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm01/bm0105/bm010514.htm
2...http://www.freedomscientific.com/Products/LowVision?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search&utm_campaign=Consumer&gclid=COSP2Jml18ECFaM7Mgodx2QARg
3...Freedom Scientific. http://www.freedomscientific.com/
I guess I just didn't ever think about how different my life would be.
To be a nurse, you need to have good vision, though there are doctors that are blind... I don't know any personally, but Dr. Stanley Wainapel is a blind physician practicing rehabilitation medicine in New York {1}. I can't even fathom how hard it was for him to get through school... I can't even learn braille. My sister wanted me to be a Pediatrician, my aunt wanted me to be a Chiropractor, my mom wanted me to be a nurse... sigh...
College consisted of reading and reading and more reading. Math problems thrown in here and there and more reading. I can't imagine being totally blind and getting through so much material. Then there is the practical side. So much to do and learn, so many miniscule things that you have to remember that add up to be a huge pile of information. I was learning that medicine wasn't the field that I wanted to be in.
I was told when I was about 10 or 11 that I would never fly a plane... this was a recruiter for the Air Force. I had always loved sitting on the fence at my aunt and uncle's house watching the jets take off and land. Their house was just a mile South of an airfield that is now long shut down, but when I was a kid, you could wave at the pilots and they would wave back... that was great, it gave me that thought of wanting to go places, fast. Being told that one of the things that intrigued you was not going to happen...kind of breaks your spirit.
Well, teaching was on the list of possibilities, I love language and studied Latin, French, Spanish and I dabbled in German, Greek, and Italian. One of my aunts had lived in Germany and was fluent, My mother took French and Latin, my dad as well. My grandmother spoke French and well... my best friend's mother was Greek, I worked with her for a year, and I spent a bit of time at their home, and I was getting pretty good at understanding Greek... Spanish comes naturally, I live in the Southwest... and Italian, well... I have a pretty diverse set of friends and family. We have family that re from Japan and China, I am ashamed that I am not at all able to speak Asian languages... I can write simple things like 'double happiness' and maybe... um.... well, that's about it..but you'd think I was kind of qualified to be able to go into teaching language. Not so much.
Reason number one that I am not a language teacher...I was born and raised most of my life in Texas. I have a horrible drawl and I have never been able to get rid of it. We went to France and I was forced to make people understand me, but I am usually too embarrassed to try to speak to people. That's another thing about being a teacher no matter the subject... you have to be able to communicate. It doesn't take sight to be able to talk. I am kind of confused at how it is possible to grade papers and to help find things in books... I know it is possible to be a teacher and be blind...
There are so many aids now to helping read for blind, visually impaired, and low vision. A few items are the magnifiers, readers and large print keyboards {3} College is now more accessible than ever, it is easier than ever to use tools to get through the class loads. Learning should never stop, these aids can be used to continue your education and add fullness to your life!
1...Helen O'neal National Foundation for the Blind. https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm01/bm0105/bm010514.htm
2...http://www.freedomscientific.com/Products/LowVision?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search&utm_campaign=Consumer&gclid=COSP2Jml18ECFaM7Mgodx2QARg
3...Freedom Scientific. http://www.freedomscientific.com/
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