Program helps visually impared learn real-world skills

ST. LOUIS -- As Justin Reynolds turned in to the vegetable aisle, his guide grabbed his arm.

"Did you feel the temperature change?" Millie Eads asked him.

Justin, a visually impaired 16-year-old, nodded.

"So that's why I always get cold when I walk in the grocery," he said, smiling.

Justin also learned to differentiate between green beans and snow peas, and between bags of sugar and coconut, by touch. And with the help of a magnifying glass, he learned to read price tags and serving sizes on butter, chicken and onion rings.

Justin, a junior at Bayless High School, was joined by Amanda Stogsdill, a senior at the Missouri School for the Blind. They walked into the Schnucks in Brentwood recently to shop for a meal with the help of Eads and Gail Beard, who are vision rehabilitation therapists.

The trip was part of a two-week pilot program by the Lighthouse for the Blind and the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The goal is to equip teens with the skills to venture on their own to college or for a job.

The program emphasizes everything from computer training to tasks such as grocery shopping and laundry.

"We are working on more in-depth, one-on-one training in computers and daily living skills," said David Ekin, president of the Society for the Blind, which serves about 1,200 people each year.

Roxann Mayros, the program director, said the teens are adept technology users and good students. But because of the "fairy godmother syndrome," she said, they are accustomed to parents who provide everything.

"What they can't do is pour their own milk, put food on their own plates or button their own shirts," Mayros said. "Because they have been protected and loved their whole lives, it's simpler for Mom to do everything for them. We are trying to help them understand that the sighted world watches what they do, and they're judged for it."

The two-week program enrolled a handful of students this year, but organizers are talking about expanding it next year, and even lengthening it.

Casey Lynn, a senior at Francis Howell North High School, said the program has helped him gain confidence with independent living skills, such as washing dishes and ironing.

He plans to apply to some top universities, including Northwestern and Harvard, this fall. He wants to major in political science and eventually earn a law degree. One of his inspirations was Alice Conway, a blind St. Louis lawyer who visited the students last week as a guest speaker.

"The important thing for blind people to remember is that you have to take a risk," Casey said. "You have to be willing to put yourself out in the world and to not always succeed in everything you do. Give it a shot and don't be afraid."

The National Center for Education Statistics estimated that there were 18,650 blind or visually impaired students enrolled in two- and four-year colleges in 1998, the last year for which figures are available.

The numbers at individual colleges are often small, though many offer services to help the students. At Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, for example, there are typically a dozen students with visual impairments enrolled.

The number is small enough that the university can develop individualized plans to help with living arrangements or classes, said Jane Floyd-Hendey, director of disability support services.

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville students with visual impairments can also arrange for tours before the first day of class. Staff members help them find the best routes to classes and identify campus landmarks. Once the school year starts, students are offered items such as books on compact disc to help with coursework.

Amanda, 18, plans to enroll at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park next fall. The program at the St. Louis Society for the Blind has taught her to hone her computer skills so she can surf the Web and write a letter, using a software program that reads the screen contents to users. She plans to become a Braille teacher, and also wants to write children's books.

"I want to teach them something they can use all their lives," she said.

On Wednesday, the goal was more immediate: She and Justin had to work off a grocery list and buy the items they would need for a meal.

As they found the items and dropped them into their cart, Amanda punched the dots on her Braille grocery list. When they were done, they used rubber bands to affix labels with large print and Braille on the items.

The next project for the pair: to cook a meal featuring chicken breast and green bean casserole.

After all, as Eads said, the point was to "learn skills for the real world."