[real-eyes] Re: kc star
- From: "Chip Bloch" <wbloch@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:54:32 -0500
Here you go, Brandie. I hope this works. This is the article for anyone
who is having trouble with the KC Star webpage. If you have enough vision
to see the pictures, you will have to go to the original article on lime in
the Star Magazine section.
Chip
Monday, Oct 29, 2007
Posted on Sat, Oct. 27, 2007
First Steps for the Blind helps clients make the transition from seeing to
sightless
Story by SU BACON Photos by JILL TOYOSHIBA
Cathy Pyper holds a mascara wand up to her eye and blinks several times,
brushing her pale lashes over the wand to give them color.
She's getting ready to greet a houseful of people later tonight. Earlier she
shampooed and styled her blond bob with a hot air brush.
Cathy doesn't look in the mirror. She uses her hands to tell her when her
hair feels styled and when her foundation is applied evenly.
She wants to look good for her guests even though many of them, like Cathy
herself, won't be able to tell what she looks like.
Tonight's guests are members of First Steps for the Blind, a nonprofit
organization Cathy and her husband, Peter Pyper, started in 2002.
The group's goal: to help people make the transition from seeing to
sightless.
Cathy and Peter, who are both blind, want other people who are blind or
visually impaired to know there's life after blindness.
"You learn to adapt in a million ways," Peter says.
It might be in little ways - such as blinking instead of stroking mascara
on, or squirting toothpaste on your finger or in your mouth rather than
trying to find the toothbrush.
Or it might be in big ways, such as learning to use a computer or cooking or
owning a home.
Challenge one: Reading
Anyone who calls First Steps for the Blind speaks directly to Cathy or
Peter - often through tears.
"It's an emotional and traumatic experience," Cathy says. "I remember crying
on the phone to every single person I talked to trying to find help when I
was going blind."
Help with reading is often what prompts the first call to First Steps.
"How much vision do you have?" Cathy will ask.
If the caller has some usable vision, Cathy mentions special lighting and
different kinds of magnifiers. If the caller is blind, she'll tell them
about books on tape, a telephone news service and other forms of
communication.
Because there's no bureaucracy involved, assistance from First Steps can be
quick and hassle-free. The nonprofit often purchases the basic equipment for
clients - talking clock, watch, thermometer and color detector, and
templates for writing checks and on envelopes - for around $200.
"I've found that most people who call for assistance are very honest about
whether they can afford the equipment," Cathy says. "Most cannot. We never
ask for reimbursement."
The Pypers, both 53, are volunteers. They rely on fundraising activities and
donations to sustain the nonprofit.
Whether over the phone or at meetings, Cathy and Peter try to make First
Steps one-stop shopping where individuals and their families can get all the
information they need. Cathy remembers clearly the frustration she felt
calling various agencies in the early days of her vision loss.
The Pypers can direct callers to local, state and federal government
programs, discuss adaptive equipment, explain what entertainment options are
available and share their experience and advice.
Blind, not deaf
The Pypers hold the organization's monthly meetings in the dining room of
their home in Kansas City, North.
Clients come from all over the metropolitan area. Some ride with sighted
friends or family members. Others use the Share-A-Fare service - a transit
service for blind and disabled people - and some take taxis.
And some simply can't make it to meetings because they can't afford to.
Attendance was down, for example, at the Pypers' Fourth of July party last
summer because fares were higher for the holiday.
While tears may flow over the phone, laughter prevails at the meetings.
At the July meeting, participants and guide dogs crowd into the narrow
dining room to hear Reg George, a Kansas City computer consultant who has
been blind since birth, discuss software.
Before the program begins, member Ed Reyes describes the scene at a recent
convention for blind people when a hotel fire alarm sounded: "We were like
bowling pins bumping into each other in the hallways."
A hotel employee, he recalls, yelled in his ear that the noise was the fire
alarm. Then the employee left.
"They think if you're blind, you're deaf," Reyes says. What he really
needed, of course, was help getting out of the hotel. His statement is met
with agreement and laughter.
Fortunately, there was no fire.
Proximity to the bus stop
The Pypers bought their house shortly before they started First Steps. Not
needing space for a car, they converted the garage into the dining room that
later became the First Steps meeting room.
In the open, unfinished basement, Peter built three rooms. Despite being
blind, he is not daunted by power tools. He has taken on carpentry projects
ranging from framing rooms and hanging drywall to building and painting
birdhouses that are raffled at First Steps fundraisers.
"I've had sight issues my whole life," he says. "It's helped me adapt."
The Pypers met and married in 1999 after both had been blind for nearly two
years.
Peter lost his vision gradually. Weighing 2 pounds, 3 ounces at birth, he
spent 66 days in an incubator in 1954. Too much oxygen led to the loss of
his vision.
When he was 23, his left eye was removed and replaced with a prosthesis. In
the 1980s he began developing glaucoma and trouble with the retina in his
right eye. Three surgeries in 1997 attempted unsuccessfully to attach the
retina, and he lost all vision.
"From 20/20 to zero" in 15 months is how Cathy describes her blindness. She
lost her vision to diabetes despite four invasive surgeries and eight laser
surgeries.
The two got to know each other while participating in a vocational
rehabilitation program. Cathy was divorced; Peter had never married. When
they got married, Cathy's one-bedroom apartment was too small for the three
of them: Cathy, Peter and Packard, their yellow Labrador guide dog.
So Cathy asked a longtime friend and Northland real-estate agent, Beth
McKern, to help them find a house. The couple wanted a level lot, a home
with few or no steps and a sunroom, and a fenced yard for Packard. And they
wanted it in a safe neighborhood.
A big consideration for blind homebuyers is the distance from the house to a
bus stop. To qualify for Share-A-Fare transportation, the Pypers needed to
live within three-quarters of a mile of a Metro bus stop.
When taking the couple through houses, McKern says she described the colors,
the condition, the neighborhood and whether there were sidewalks or curbs,
which can help orient people who are blind because a cane can detect them.
Dogs and devices
Packard retired from guide-dog duties several years ago and is now one of
three pet dogs that live with the Pypers. Because dogs play an important
role in the lives of many First Steps members, the Pypers celebrated the
organization's fifth anniversary with a best-dressed dog contest at a picnic
in June.
Seventeen dogs in costumes as varied as a coach, a hula dancer and a
princess competed for prizes. Andrea Breier of Kansas City brought her
German shepherd guide dog to the contest along with a teenage friend who is
blind.
Breier, 44, who has been blind all her life, works as the club coordinator
for Adventure Fitness, a program of Camp Fire USA for school-age children
who are blind or physically impaired. Breier invited the 15-year-old girl
because First Steps members are good role models.
"I wanted her to meet adults who are already out working and living lives
not limited by their blindness," she says.
That's exactly what Cathy and Peter envisioned when they founded First
Steps: to help people prepare for and adjust to a life with no or low
vision.
"There's very little that a blind person can't do," Cathy says. "We just
have to work at it harder and do it differently."
Some of what helps them do everyday things in a different way is adaptive
equipment. This includes goggles with a powerful magnification system for
people with low vision, software that reads e-mail messages out loud and a
telephone caller ID system that speaks the name of the caller.
"The list of items is endless," Cathy says. "The problem is money - none of
the equipment is cheap."
Pumpkin burritos
Sighted friends or family members often attend First Steps meetings to learn
what they can do and what to expect.
"I saw how hard my vision loss was on my children, my mother and my sister,"
Cathy recalls.
Before going blind, she worked as a supervisor in a bank. Not being able to
see the money, she was unable to keep the job.
Suddenly her 17-year-old daughter, Amy Hochstedler, had to take over car
payments and help with the rent. She and Hochstedler laugh now about some of
Cathy's early attempts at cooking.
"My mother once served pumpkin burritos and pink macaroni and cheese,"
Hochstedler says.
It was an understandable mix-up: Canned pumpkin resembles refried beans. A
tub of strawberry cream cheese feels like a tub of margarine.
Now, Cathy and Peter use devices that read labels out loud so they know what's
in a can or container on the kitchen shelves.
A talking color detector also spares embarrassment about going out in public
in clothes that clash.
Cathy still cringes but laughs when she remembers attending a formal event
with Peter shortly after they were married. She thought she was wearing a
black blouse and skirt and a red blazer, with red and black shoes. Later she
discovered by touching the buttons that what she thought was her
single-breasted red blazer was actually a double-breasted navy one.
Hands become eyes for the blind.
Peter cleans the kitchen by feeling for crumbs on the countertops and dirt
on the floor. He sweeps the floor first with a broom and then gets down on
his hands and knees to wipe it clean with a towel and cleanser.
He washes dishes by hand first and then runs them through the dishwasher.
"I don't want people finding chunks of food stuck to a fork," he says.
Remaining positive
First Steps for the Blind "is of great value in providing a place to meet
and learn from others with the same disability," says Patrick Palmer of the
Whole Person, a KC service and advocacy organization for disabled people.
These days First Steps helps more than 170 clients of all ages throughout
the metropolitan area. Called clients or members of the nonprofit, they pay
no dues or fees.
The first client, Don Thompson of Kansas City, North, is now president of
First Steps' board of directors.
Thompson, 63, was diagnosed with macular dystrophy, a condition that limits
his range of vision. He and his wife, Carol, say they found the support they
needed at First Steps and have become regular volunteers.
"When I look at Peter and Cathy," he says, "I see people that are examples
of what life can be if you remain positive." ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Different people, similar challenges
.James Herndon found his way to First Steps for the Blind in 2005, a year
after he lost his vision.
"I went to bed on the Fourth of July and woke up blind on the 5th," he says.
Herndon, 46, was in Texas, where he'd spent 16 years working as a hazardous
materials technician for a private firm.
His diagnosis: ruptured blood vessels in his eyes.
A mutual friend referred him to Cathy and Peter Pyper. Herndon moved to
Kansas City and began attending First Steps meetings.
The Pypers have shown him "how you can be independent without sight."
He's now in the process of buying a home.
.A telephone customer service position brought Erika Wolf to Kansas City
from Lincoln, Neb., in April 2005.
Wolf, 35, lost her vision gradually through retinal deterioration, diagnosed
in 1983 when she was 11.
"I was told that it was inevitable that I would go blind," she recalls.
She has retained perception of light, the ability to detect hand motions and
a little peripheral vision.
A friend in Nebraska knew of the Pypers and suggested Wolf contact them. She
began attending First Steps meetings not long after she moved here.
Cathy Pyper threw her a "Welcome to Kansas City" party, and she has been
made to feel at home here, she says.
.A computer consultant and bass singer with the Kansas City Singers, Reg
George is a familiar voice to members of First Steps.
"We always draw a crowd when Reggie is the program," Cathy Pyper says.
George, who was born blind, was named volunteer of the year in 2006 for the
many hours he devoted to helping First Steps clients with their computers.
George also has entertained First Steps members as part of the 16-voice a
cappella choir.
"First Steps has helped a lot of people by getting them information they
need," he says. "There are a lot of state and federal organizations, but
there is no other overarching organization like First Steps that helps
people who are losing their vision know what steps to take."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about First Steps for the Blind, visit
firststepsfortheblind.org, call 816-455-5219 or send e-mail to
cpyper@xxxxxxxxxx
Su Bacon of Gladstone is a freelance writer. Jill Toyoshiba is a
photographer for The Star. To comment on this story, call 816-234-4779 or
send e-mail to starmag@xxxxxxxxxxx
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brandie Young" <deaftaz@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 5:30 PM
Subject: [real-eyes] Re: kc star
> maybe to ask chip bloch to help copy paste put into that for you
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kelly Stanfield" <kstannfield@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 4:57 PM
> Subject: [real-eyes] Re: kc star
>
>
>> Brandie,
>>
>> What story is this supposed to be a link to view? When I entered on the
>> link in your e-mail all I found was the links for the different sections
>> of
>> the KC Star and stuff you can do on their web site.
>>
>> Kelly
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Brandie Young" <deaftaz@xxxxxxxxx>
>> To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 2:20 PM
>> Subject: [real-eyes] kc star
>>
>>
>>> here is the link to your story
>>> http://www.kansascity.com/starmagazine/story/328131.html
>>>
>>> Brandie and the cats!
>>> To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options,
>>> go to www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes
>>>
>>>
>>
>> To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options,
>> go to www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes
>>
>>
>
> To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options,
> go to www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes
>
>
To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, go to
www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes
Other related posts:
