For one of my classes, we spent two full days at the California School for the Blind in Fremont, CA. This week was a bit brutal because I went to SF Monday, then back Wed night and home late Fri night, and back again tomorrow (Mon). I am having a hard time recovering from the exhaustion.
Aside from being really tired, I had a great experience. We got to do all sorts of hands-on assessments on each other. And then the next day, we broke up in groups of 4 people and got to do all of the assessments on a blind child. Our group got Travis, a 19 year old resident at the facility. (you can either live there, or just do day-school and he lives there). It was just incredible. He was such a cool kid. It is so fascinating that people learn to live without the function that I use the very most. Taking away such a basic element causes the visually impaired people I’ve met to develop other strengths and it really shows in their character.
(Testing visual acuity)
(testing visual fields)
(Testing color blindness)
Learning how to use all sorts of magnifiers. My teacher, Dr. Amanda Leuek, is the one with the really curly hair in the middle. She is so incredible.
Me, modeling the logMAR chart!
Testing visual fields again.
These glasses gave me virtually no vision…it was almost impossible to see the lights!
The big highlight of my trip was getting to stay with Shana. She lives in Oakland, which is only 20 miles from where I was during the two days. So I stayed with her for two nights, and took the BART (high speed train) from her house to the School for the Blind.
Derek and Shana bought this 100 year old house early this year and have spent immense amount of energy and time on remodeling it. It looks incredible. I am always happy to spend time with Shana, I enjoy engaging in conversation on 1,000 different topics with Derek and little Maren is just adorable. I also got to see Donna, Shana’s mom, since she is currently living with them.
I was having sympathy feelings for Shana the whole time since she is 29 weeks pregnant and definitely feeling it. Brings back overwhelming memories!
It’s very comforting to have a friend you’ve known for over 20 years. I cannot believe we’ve been friends for 23 years, it blows my mind. I am grateful she lives close to SFSU because it brings me relief knowing she is right there if I need her! Check out these cute pics…
1 comment:
What a LONG week, but fun you got to spend time with Shana. What a precious little girl she has and her belly it too cute!!
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