Woman Sees Way To Serve (Despite being legally blind, since having arthritis as a child)

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Woman sees ways to serve

Monday, February 27, 2006

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/022706/met_6598652.shtml

AIKEN - Liz carries a heavy caseload, responsible for helping 100

individuals in the state get the most from high school in preparation for

the adult world.

It doesn't matter to her that she's legally blind.

In her role as a transition counselor, Liz , who is legally blind,

helps blind teenagers become more independent.

Leaving for the lunch hour from her job as a transition counselor for the

South Carolina Commission for the Blind, she grabs her bag and confidently

dashes for the door.

Though she sees the world in contrasts rather than distinct shapes, her

limited vision hasn't left her timid.

Her family saw to that.

" That's what made me tough. The doctor that I had was awesome. He told my

parents and my brothers that they needed to treat me normal, " Ms.

said.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis claimed Ms. 's sight as a young child.

She attended a school for the blind for several years, when mainstream

schools couldn't provide for her needs. But on weekends at home in East

Tawas, Mich., on the shore of Lake Huron, her four brothers reminded her

there wasn't anything " special " about her.

She received the assistance of the Michigan Commission for the Blind to get

her through college, and now she's helping blind teenagers receive the tools

and services they need to grow into productive independence.

In the years between college and taking a position 10 years ago with the

South Carolina Commission for the Blind, Ms. taught braille and

communications skills to blind adults at Roosevelt Warm Springs (Ga.)

Institute for Rehabilitation, performed drug and alcohol counselling at

Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga., and counseled kidney dialysis

patients and their families in Aiken.

The mother to a 15-year-old son, Rhys, points to a higher power to explain

why she chose a life helping others.

" I always had a mind for service, " she said. " Sometimes I think God just

lays things on my heart. "

In addition to providing the links to assistance her " consumers " can use,

Ms. knows she serves as a role model to blind youths who might be

apprehensive about how they'll make it in a sighted world.

" I just try to present myself being comfortable with (my own) blindness.

" I just fill out my paperwork with my nose to the table, just to let (them)

see, whether you like it or not, you're not the only one who has trouble.

" I just love the kids. It's just so neat to hear their goals and their

dreams of what they want to do, " she said.

Of her own disability, she shrugs, " You get used to whatever the Lord hands

you. "