What it Was Like at the Commission for the Blind

     In the winter of 2009, my eye doctor recommended through my case manager from the Commission for the Blind to go there to learn mobility, braille, computer skills for the visually impaired, aptitude testing and home

management.  The reason being that I have retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive eye disease that often leads to total blindness and am already legally blind and totally blind in one eye, except for a tiny bit of light perception that is pretty subtle and vague.
     When Alan drove me to Columbia on other business, I said, "let's go see what the Commission for the Blind is like.  I was there as a teenager in the '70's when my dad was there and my son Ted went, but I would like to see it again."
     It is on Confederate Street in Columbia.  When we went in I told the director I was coming in April.  She said, "no you are coming in March."  That was after I told her my name.  It turned out I went in February.
     Donna showed us around and introduced us to George the other administrator.  
     The first day there, Clint my mobility instructor oriented me and two other new students.  It took a while to remember my way around.
     The dormitories were upstairs.  You took an elevator.  I had my own room and shared a bathroom with a girl on the other side of my suite.  At night city light shown through the high windows.  
     We had three meals a day.  I tried to choose healthy stuff like yogurt, fruit and raisin bran, but could not resist the bacon eggs and biscuits.  Also I love fried chicken, so I gained a little weight there from the southern cooking.
     It was hard.  I learned to read braille and I was relatively happy and enjoyed the communal atmosphere, but I was going through inner turmoil about the blindness.  
     There were about ten men and ten women who lived on campus.  We were driven home and picked back up on weekends, wherever our homes were throughout the state.  They provided transportation.
     We went out in the evenings.  There was a young man named Michael who drove us around to malls and Walmart, etc..  Donna even had him take me to a yoga class I wanted to go to once a week near the university.  I would always cry during relaxation period because I was going through a lot and yoga enabled me to cleanse this.
     I learned to read braille.  I learned to get around the city with a cane for the visually impaired, and I learned to sew without threading a needle.  I made pillows for my mother's couch in my home management class.
     I was already computer literate and a fast officiant typist, but I learned a program called Zoomtext which enlarges everything, has audio features and cursor choices as well as different color options, customized to your visual needs.
     I helped other students who had no computer background.  I also helped students who had no vision at all.  I was used to that because my father was completely blind and legally blind my whole life.
     All in all I am proud of myself for having gone there and receiving their diploma called Adjustment to Blindness Certificate.  I also learned that I have a spacial relations IQ of 150, my other areas of IQ are a bit above average, but I did all my testing orally and manually so it might be different if you can actually read the material.  I did the math with felt black pens on paper.
     In addition they gave me a lot of things to make life easier at home, like sock sorters and lots of cooking utensils, such as oven mitts that go high on your arm and a contrasting cutting board as well as neon orange marking liquid and bump dots and braille writing equipment.
     I would like to go back some time and get more computer training, but their careers are very limited, although some people I know are doing well from them, the concession stand business and costumer service.  They used to have horticulture at one time.  
     I was there for five months, got burned out and had to take a break after a week long migraine headache.
    When I returned for my completion, they were remodeling the dorms, so we stayed at the Ramada which had a swimming pool, half of which was indoor and half outdoor.  It was November, but one night I swam under the separator into the night.  It was an amazing experience.  My head was in the cold November night sky, but the water was heated and I was not cold.  It was heavenly.
     I took my friend Rolando swimming.  He was totally blind from birth, and he enjoyed the pool but he could not go under because he had tubes in his ears.  We sat in the hot tub as well.
     On Tuesday nights, even though we ate supper at the commission before returning to the hotel, they had happy hour with free drinks and food.  
     So that is my story of the days at the Commission for the Blind.  There were some difficult times too, but I chose to focus on the happiest of times.