[real-eyes] Re: kc star
- From: "Kelly Stanfield" <kstannfield@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:11:41 -0500
i got it to work once Brandie said it was in the Star Magazine section.
Kelly
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chip Bloch" <wbloch@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 5:54 PM
Subject: [real-eyes] Re: kc star
> 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
>
>
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