Beyond The Mall

Beyond The Mall

The Braille Monitor_______November

1997

(next)

(contents)

Cody Greiser

Kyle Neddo

Amanda Jones

Brett Boyer

Around the Block, to

the Mall, and Beyond

From the Editor: At the seminar

for parents and educators of blind children sponsored by the National Organization

of Parents of Blind Children at the 1997 NFB convention in New Orleans, one

of the most delightful and inspiring presentations was a panel of blind youngsters

talking about their experience of blindness. Each presenter prepared and read

remarks in Braille. It was clear that all of these students are growing up understanding

and living by Federation philosophy. The first speaker was Cody Greiser (ten),

whose father Marty is one of the leaders of NOPBC. Kyle Neddo (nine) is the

son of Dawn Neddo, the President of the Michigan parents division. Amanda Jones

and her twin sister April (eleven) are the granddaughters of Pat Jones, who

leads parent activities in Tennessee. And Brett Boyer graduated from high school

last January. This is what each student said:

Cody Greiser: Hello, everyone. My name

is Cody Greiser. I am ten years old and live in Polson, Montana. Next year I

will be in the fifth grade. My Dad says I was two and a half when I got my first

cane, but I really don't remember that. My O&M teacher comes once a month

to our school, where he shows me how to follow sidewalks and go around the block

and stuff like that. Mrs. Colburn and I practice those things when he is not

there.

I don't use a cane in my house or my

Dad's house or my grandma's house or in the classroom, but I do just about everywhere

else. If I don't have my cane with me, I have to be very careful. Sometimes

I get so excited about recess I leave the room without it. Then I think, "Oh

my cane," and go back and get it. If I lay my cane down on the playground,

sometimes kids take it, but I always get it back.

When I get in the car, I put my cane

crosswise on the floor or between the seat and door. Once, when I went to my

Dad's, I forgot my cane and had to use a collapsible one he had. I didn't like

it because, when it collapses, it feels like you're going to step into a hole.

I have been to lots of conventions, and I like Detroit the best because everything

wasn't carpeted, and they had lots of escalators. Escalators are really neat,

but I hate the moving sidewalks in airports because the end comes when you are

not ready.

I like going up in the mountains where

I can climb on steep hillsides and throw rocks off cliffs. I like the way they

bounce all the way to the bottom. I have been skiing but really don't like it

because you can't use your cane. Somebody should invent a ski cane.

When I walk down the railroad tracks

with my Dad back to the slew and the river, I throw rocks on both sides to see

what's over there. No matter where I go, I sometimes run into things. If I hit

some thing really, really hard, the first thing I do is check to see if I'm

bleeding. I've had bruises, bumps, and stitches, but that's the way it goes

because I don't want to sit around. Thanks for listening.

Kyle Neddo: My name is Kyle Neddo, and

I got my first cane when I was three years old. I like to use my cane because

I can take my time looking at things and go where I want to go. Sometimes people

at school say I take too long. They want to drag me along, but they don't know

that I can do it myself. Some of my friends at goalball don't use a cane, and

they have their mom or someone guiding them around. I feel good being independent

using my cane.

My cane helps me play games where we

chase each other, keeping the ball away. I can play just like sighted kids when

I use my cane. My friends think that I have a special power. Really, I just

learned to use my ears and my cane together from my friend Allen Harris.

Amanda Jones: Hello. My name is Amanda

Jones. I would like to tell you about a time when I was selling things for school.

I was walking down the street with my cane, and a dog started barking at my

sister April and me. We were scared of the dogs, so we started running back

up the hill. Another thing happened to me when I was selling candy for the girls'

choir. My neighbor Jimmy let me in, and my grandma started looking for us. When

she finally found us, we didn't want to go home. Last year I was almost late

for the bus. I had to fly up the hill. I almost fell on my nose. I beat my sister

for once. April was running behind me, and her backpack was on one shoulder.

The last thing I wanted to talk about

was when I tried out for track and cross country. I have tried out for both

of them each year ever since fourth grade. What I want to tell you about is

when I ran the 100-meter run. I did better last year than I did in fourth grade.

I made twenty-two seconds last year and forty-two seconds the year before. I

also tried out for the 200-meter run. My sister and I made the same score, which

was sixty-seven seconds. Other things I tried out for were shot put, running

jump, and the 400-meter run, all of which I am not good at. Right now I am learning

to go around in my school because I will have to change classes every day. I

am in the band, playing the clarinet.

Have a nice day. I will be going to the

baby-sitting course.

Brett Boyer: Good morning, everybody.

I'm here today to talk about my independent travel experiences. So let's start

with my first independent journey. I was three years old and was determined

to mail a letter. I decided that I would go to the mailbox that I thought was

at the corner of the block. I set out to find it. Keep in mind that this was

before I had ever heard of a cane--I was introduced to a cane when I was five.

Anyway, I continued to walk down the block, looking for the mailbox, which I

did not find. As all little kids do, I lost concentration and found myself stumbling

around and crying in driveways and yards. Finally a lady found me and brought

me home. To this day I've never found that mailbox.

A few years later I was introduced to

the cane but would only use it when my mobility teacher came. My first real

experience of independence was in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the National

Convention in 1992. I had my NFB cane, and I went cruisin' around that hotel.

I didn't go to general sessions much. I remember the feeling that I could go

anywhere and do anything. I explored every room in that hotel. If I found stairs,

I went with them. If I found a door, I went inside. But I don't think the room

service employees liked it much when I found myself in the room service kitchen

elevator.

Like I said, that was one of my turning

points. From then on I would use my cane in school, going to classes, but at

that point I lived in a small town in New Jersey. I was independent, but not

fully. I would still use a sighted guide whenever I could. I never really ventured

out on my own.

I went to the conventions after North

Carolina, and in Detroit I met a student who was at the Colorado Center for

the Blind. He told me about a program that the CCB offers high school students

in the summertime. I went through the program, which gave me my independence,

I believe--learning how to clean, shop, cook, and travel almost anywhere in

Denver, Colorado, on my own. I liked Colorado so much I decided to move there.

I finished high school and graduated in January of this year. Then I became

a full-time student at the Colorado Center, which I am still today. This has

given me the complete independence that I have earned. Learning how to take

care of an apartment, manage it, and just do everything on your own is a great

experience.

Before I go, I want to share one more

travel experience with you. During the summer program of 1996, I worked for

the American Red Cross the last four weeks of the program. One day after work

I was so tired that I caught my bus and fell asleep. I was supposed to catch

another bus and join the other students to go home. But, as I said, I fell asleep.

I woke up, and I was on the bus that everyone else from CCB had caught home.

It turned out that the bus I had taken from work was the bus I needed to take

to go home--it was the only one during the day to make that switch. Pretty amazing!

I would like to thank everybody, and I hope everyone has a great convention.