Independence Training Program

Cindy served a great meal to the entire Center on September 4 as the culmination of her program. She had lots of family from Arizona with her – her Mom and sister, with two little nephews, as well as her Aunt and Uncle and two of her cousins made the long road trip from Nogales to be a part of her celebration of success and independence.

Cindy made her Uncle’s chicken recipe as part of her chicken salad, which was accompanied by a peach iced tea and strawberry shortcake. Despite a food processor malfunction the morning of her graduation, she powered through on the strength of the confidence she has gained in herself throughout her program, and on the confidence her instructors have in her.

Cindy honored two of her instructors, Delfina for Home Management and Steve for Travel, by asking them to jointly present her Freedom Bell at her graduation.

Andy’s motivation was his desire to be an independent blind person, and he worked hard at it every day to earn his Freedom Bell. His love of learning was also a real asset.

On August 27 Andy graduated from the Center following eight months of joyful learning powered by an intense desire for personal independence.

“I can’t teach hard work and motivation,” his Home Management Instructor, Maureen told him.

Andy was a role model of both characteristics. He rarely missed a day and accepted each day’s new challenge with an equanimity that belied his eagerness to try new things.

The days are hot, but the mornings increasingly cool, almost chilly, and the hot air stirs in the evening. The sound of those breezes, the sound of the leaves, has changed, though – just another tick toward fall.

So we started up art classes with Ann Cunningham again on Monday afternoons and martial arts with Littleton Martial Arts Academy on Tuesday afternoons.

We still have gardening on Tuesday mornings with the Arapahoe County Master Gardeners – it’s all about harvesting now!

Tuesday mornings we have Seniors and NFB of Colorado President Scott LaBarre is here to chat with them, and to hold a philosophy class with our ITP students.

What else? Alex went on his first independent travel route to Romancing the Bean at the Littleton Downtown Light Rail Station.

“The coffee was good,” he said. But really, he was pretty excited about this first step into independent travel.

And Haylee went out on a support drop. She couldn’t tell us where she and her instructor Steve were left off, but she easily described how she got back. And she was a little mad …

It was a magical evening. May 15 marked the end to a long career at the Colorado Center for the Blind for Tom Anderson. More than 150 people came to send Tom and Linda off to Kansas after 27 years teaching Braille – and several other duties. We fed them, and gave the tribute to Tom and Linda that we felt they deserved. And we did it without electricity.

That Friday was a generally mild spring day. Sure there were sprinkles and rumbling thunder in early afternoon as the Center’s Board of Directors met in our new conference room, but all that passed over us.

It’s the last week of July, and at the Colorado Center for the Blind we’re fighting the feeling that summer is almost over. We know that there are still weeks of hot weather, lovely warm Colorado evenings to enjoy.

But that vague anxiety is fueled as the last week of July saw our 22 summer students graduating on Wednesday, cleaning and packing on Thursday and leaving on Friday. Many of them are starting school in the first week of August. For them, summer truly is about over.

From Shay: Here at the airport, waiting to go home. Thinking about this summer, and how great it was. I met a lot of really amazing people this summer that have really help me and challenge me to do the best that I could. I am leaving here with so much. New friendships, amazing memories, and The ability to do more than I ever thought I could. I will never forget the memories or the people I met this summer. hope to come back next summer and to see all of you sometime again.

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.

(For the past year or so, Wayne Marshall has been sharing a “word of the week” on Wednesday and then discussing it on Friday. Below is an article Director Julie Deden included about this in the January-February CCB Newsletter. We’ll begin posting Wayne’s Words on Face Book and Twitter.)

Message from the Director

Every week at announcements on Wednesday mornings, Wayne Marshall presents us with Wayne’s Wise Word of the Week. His words and quotes are thought provoking for all of us. He gives us a couple of days to think about what the Word of the Week means and then on Friday mornings we have a short discussion.

Some of the Word of the Week thoughts have included:

March’s FAST Saturday will involve taking a journey through prehistory with our hands at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Blind kids participating will be putting their hands on actual fossil bones as well as plaster cast replicas – it might even mean holding fossilized dinosaur poop.

I said it’s fossilized! it’s all coming about thanks to the presence of Cat Sartin as a guest researcher at the Nature & Science Museum this winter. Sartin, a doctoral candidate in paleontology at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, has worked with the National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute in its STEM-X programs, providing hands-on learning about evolution and paleontology to blind youth.

Museums have traditionally kept artifacts such as fossils and skeletons just out of reach of patrons, if not behind glass, meaning that blind visitors could enjoy a long walk through cool galleries, but not much more.

(Editor’s Note: Colorado Gives Day seems like a great time to share this. Sam Barasso graduated from the Center in February of 2014. She’s working at a part-time job and getting ready to return to college. This Face Book post reminded us all that blindness isn’t what holds us back – what holds us back is sometimes a lack of skills, and always a lack of confidence in ourselves as blind people. It’s why we do what we do at the Center and in the National Federation of the Blind.)

Day 21 of the 30 people I’m thankful for in 30 days goes to the amazing staff at the Colorado Center for the Blind. You guys have become like family. You’ve seen me through many lows and many highs and you never gave up on me. I appreciate that more than I can tell you. You do so much for everyone who steps through those doors and learns from you and you never stop teaching us, even after we’re students.

You teach us so much more than just the subjects you’re required to, you teach us valuable life lessons and you help us all out in so many ways.

A Celebration to Remember!

The Colorado Center for the Blind first opened its doors in January of 1988 with three staff members and five students. On September 13 & 14, 2013, the Center held its 25th Anniversary Celebration with an open house and a gala banquet.

Friday, September 13

The rain stopped and the sky cleared for a few hours on Friday, September 13, 2013. It lasted just long enough for the opening ceremony of the 25th Anniversary Celebration, along with tours of the Center, and rides in the National Federation of the Blind’s Blind Driver Challenge car. Guests also enjoyed bratwursts grilled by current Center students.

Distinguished guests at the morning ceremony included Littleton’s Mayor Debbie Brinkman, National Federation of the Blind First Vice President Frederick K. Schroeder, NFB of Colorado President Scott LaBarre and founder and long-time Director at the Center, Diane McGeorge.