NAME — Jordan Denari
AGE — 17
NAME — Perri McKinley
AGE — 18
NAME — Alissa Rader
AGE — 18
True or false?
1. All blind people wear sunglasses.
2. If you read Braille in the dark, you need a flashlight and your fingers get tired.
3. All blind people have Seeing Eye dogs.
Answers: False. False. False.
Yet students at Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired hear these assumptions from people who have no idea what it means to be blind.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about blind people," said Kyle Lewis, 16, who is from the Clay County town of Brazil. "A lot of people think because we're blind we use sign language -- that's the deaf people."
Kyle is a student at the state school for the blind, which is on a wooded Northside campus marked by historic brick buildings. The Indianapolis school drew 168 students last year who ranged in age from 3 to 21. All are from Indiana, although the school hosted a German exchange student last year. About 20 percent of the student population is minority.The school is free for Hoosier students, who are admitted through a process that involves their families, employees at the blind school and educators from their public school districts. Their disabilities range in severity.
"There are people who are labeled as totally blind, but they have light perception and they can see shadows," said Mika Baugh, 16. "And then there's some that see only black -- there is no light, there is no anything."Mika was born with optic-nerve hypoplasia and has never been able to see normally. She can see many images but has trouble picking out detail. Still, Mika enjoys watching TV, something she says totally blind students often listen to along with movies and concerts.
In all, more than 50 eye disorders are represented at the blind school. Some students have other disabilities, including developmental disorders.Students enjoy the individual attention they get in their classes, most of which have fewer than 10 students.
Aside from traditional classes like math, reading and science, the school also offers specialized classes that teach students how to get around, exercise and live on their own."Things that other people might take for granted -- simple things like cutting up meat, laying out your clothes, making your bed, things like that -- I learned at a young age from the school," said R.J. Crace, 19, who was last spring's valedictorian.
"They've taught me things that will stick with me for the rest of my life."Students can take classes elsewhere, too. R.J., a Westfield native, took radio broadcasting and physics at North Central High School in Indianapolis.
Kids at the blind school also are thankful for cutting-edge technology, which goes beyond the traditional PC and magnifying glass.Students have access to Braille typewriters and note takers, talking computers and computerized book magnifiers, which modify the size or color of letters on a TV screen. They also have computer screen readers.
"Without that," R.J. said, "it'd be awfully difficult for some of us to use computers."The special equipment makes these classrooms stand out over their traditional school counterparts. What sounded like a classroom full of students hammering in woodshop actually was a writing class. Kids pounded out poems on Braille typewriters that resembled old-fashioned typewriters -- only with fewer keys.
{mosimage}Like most young people, the blind-school students have interests outside the classroom.They have a homecoming dance and a prom. The school also offers band, chorus, piano, scouting, creative dance and a speech team. Students participate in wrestling, cheerleading, track and field and swimming; competition in the latter two sports are against other blind students in other states.
Because home is far away for some students, the blind school offers housing during the week. Students usually go home on the weekends, although some students stay on campus for sports or other events."Of course, the whole going to school is a totally different experience because I basically live here," said Mika, who is from Greenwood. "You know, I've gone here since I was 5, so it's kind of like that in itself is a different thing."
R.J. said some of the kids, teachers and school employees are just like family. They watched him grow from a toddler to a teenager. Their affection shows up in little ways -- like the cafeteria lady who rushed over to comb Kyle's hair before a photographer took his picture.The key lesson kids have learned is that they are normal.
Teachers "help us realize that just because we're blind or visually impaired doesn't mean that we're not like everybody else," said Jazmine Jenkins, 17, who has grown up at the school.R.J., now a Ball State University freshman, is grateful that the school is basically a "normal school" that offers extras.
"Oh, it's been wonderful," he said. "The school has done everything that I could've imagined and then some."ASSISTANT EDITOR: Meera Patel, 14.
REPORTERS: Eric Chen, 13; Alexis Schaefer, 11; Joi Officer, 12.Mika Baugh
Age: 16.
Grade: High school junior.Hometown: Greenwood.
Visual aids: Magnifying glass, large-print books, monocular.Visual impairment: Optic-nerve hypoplasia.
Hobbies: Track, step team, cheerleading.Pet peeve: People who stick to her like glue or try to take her somewhere unasked.
Career goal: Geneticist. Quote: "You can't cut class 'cause there's, like, only five people in the class. Obviously, somebody knows when you're not there. Our classes are extremely individualized. It can be good and bad; some people get spoon-fed a lot of their work."Redmond "R.J." Crace
Age: 19.
Grade: Freshman at Ball State University, majoring in telecommunications.Hometown: Westfield.
Visual aids: Braille 'n Speak, Braille computer, cane.Visual impairment: Caused by a cancerous eye tumor at age 8 and ear infections that left him blind and nearly deaf.
Hobbies: Broadcasting for local radio stations, discussing history with enthusiastic people.Career goal: Radio broadcaster.
Role model: Station manager and program director Mike Hulvey, WDAN-AM (1490), Danville, Ill. (R.J. has done a radio show at the station for about four years). Quote: "A loss of sight doesn't necessarily mean a loss of brain power."Sarah Gibbs
Age: 11.
Grade: Sixth.Hometown: Monticello.
Visual aids: Large-print books, glasses when she's outside.Visual impairment: Cone-Rod Dystrophy, a progressive retinal degenerative disease that causes deterioration of the cones and rods in the retina.
Hobbies: Playing piano and drums, baking.Role model: She doesn't have one because she thinks "that you should be your own person."
Dream: To be a professional drummer. Quote: "In my spare time, usually I like to hang out with friends and bug people. I've gone to a lot of different schools. I'd say this one is better than all my other ones."
Jazmine Jenkins
Age: 17.Grade: High school junior.
Hometown: Indianapolis.Visual aids: CCTV, magnifying glass. CCTVs enlarge printed material for people who have low vision and can no longer use glasses or special lenses to read regular-size print.
Visual impairment: Optic nerve hypoplasia, which is the underdevelopment of the optic nerve in utero.Hobbies: Track, swimming, cheerleading, reading nonfiction, music.
Role model: Helen Keller.Career goal: Veterinary technician.
Quote: "Some people come to me and yell really loud: 'ARE YOU BLIND?' They act like I'm deaf, but I'm not deaf -- OK -- I'm blind. And they assume all visually impaired people are dumb or something. I try to explain what my eye condition is and say, 'Hey, I've got a visual impairment; I just can't see as well as you can.' "Kyle Lewis
Age: 16.
Grade: High school sophomore.Hometown: Brazil.
Visual aids: Large-print books; special computer key commands.Visual impairment: X-linked cone-rod dystrophy, a retinal disease that affects the cone photoreceptors.
Hobbies: Guitar, music, goalball, a sport for the blind invented in 1946 to help blind war veterans.Blind role model: Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to climb Mount Everest.
Life goal: To become a missionary in Africa. Quote: "I want to go skydiving and parasailing and stuff like that because those are the things you don't see a lot of blind people doing."Tony Patrick
Age: 13.
Grade: Eighth.Hometown: Cloverdale.
Visual aids: Monocular, reading glasses, cane, Braille 'n Speak, a typewriter that transforms speech into Braille.Visual impairment: Born blind for an unknown reason. Tony's vision improved after a year; he can now see partially out of his right eye.
Hobbies: Singing, playing piano and guitar with his family's band, the Circle of Friends; typing on his Braille 'n Speak, playing arcade video games.Favorite country music artists: George Strait, Alabama, Reba McIntire.
Career goal: Successful country singer by 25; if that dream fails, he will become a banker like his sister.
Quote: "At this school I feel that they give more one-on-one attention to the student. At my other school (in Cloverdale), we'd have 20, 30 kids in the classroom, so I really wouldn't get much help."
Samantha (Sammy) Weisenbach
Age: 15.
Grade: High school freshman.
Hometown: Batesville.
Visual aids: Special computer key commands; BrailleNote, a personal information management system that allows a person to take notes on the Braille keyboard and print documents.
Visual impairment: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a retinal disease related to a baby's early birth.
Hobbies: Listening to music, singing, reading, hanging out with friends.
Career goal: Counselor.
Dream: To meet singer LeAnn Rimes or Josh Gracin, country singer and an "American Idol" finalist.
Quote: "There's a lot of girls (in my dorm). It's really fun 'cause you get to hang out with them and share experiences with each other."
Originally published 9-17-06
Copyright 2006 Y-Press