June 2015

by Diane McGeorge

(Editor’s Note: Seniors in Charge is a five day sleep shade training for Colorado seniors. It is offered three times per year and two of those sessions participants stay in our McGeorge Mountain Terrace Apartments. This gives us the opportunity to work with Seniors from outside the Denver Metro area. The goal, as with everything at the Center, is independence.)

Summer Tuesdays are gardening days at the Center, but with all the rain (and even a couple of late snows) it came down to June 2 as the drop-dead date for planting this year. It was just too wet till that late Tuesday to consider digging and planting.

For many years now we’ve had the great fortune to work with a group of Arapahoe County Master Gardeners, and every student gets the opportunity to plant, cultivate and harvest in our garden. With only one day to do it, Kimberley organized everyone into groups that would have half an hour to spend planting. A few staff members got their hands dirty too.

For the second year, the Colorado Center for the Blind has partnered with MasterDrive to take students with sleep shades for practice driving in a dual-control car.

Our students always look forward to this training and test of confidence, and on Saturday six students got the chance to practice while MasterDrive instructors were in the passenger seat to keep them safe.

After a brief orientation on the physical configuration and handling of the car, students practiced in a parking lot with gradually increasing levels of challenge … till they were out on the access road, the speed limit sign obscured by tarps (for safety, not secrecy), and the students were navigating on their own and making adjustments.

“Is that 35 miles per hour?” one student asked, pointing.

“No. It’s much slower,” replied the instructor, with a light laugh and steady hands.

That brief exchange captures what happens during these sessions. Not many times does a student ask a question with a smile right after setting off on the road on their own.