4 ways to make cities better for people who are blind (and sighted)

by Beth Finke

My Seeing Eye dog Whitney thinks city life is pretty fantastic. (Photo courtesy WBEZ.)

I subscribe to TED Talks even though I can’t see the videos — just reading the descriptions of their featured talk each morning gives me an inkling of what “the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers” are thinking and doing these days.

A couple weeks ago an email update popped up in my inbox linking to a talk by an architect who has lost his sight. The promo material said architect Chris Downey’s 12-minute talk, called City Designed with the Blind in Mind, “shows how the thoughtful designs that enhance his life now might actually make everyone’s life better, sighted or not.”

Downey had been a working architect in San Francisco for years before 2008, when surgery to treat a brain tumor left him blind at the age of 45. He was so familiar with the city that within six months he was back at work and using a white cane to commute to the office on his own.

When I watched (okay, listened to) Downey’s TED Talk, I found myself nodding in total agreement when he declared “cities are fantastic places for the blind.” I lost my sight in 1985. Since then, I’ve lived in a college town, a suburb, a touristy beach town, and a big city. I enjoyed each place for different reasons, but for me, the past ten years in Chicago have rewarded me with the most opportunities and an unequaled sense of independence.

Downey doesn’t explain in the TED Talk how he works as an architect without being able to see anymore, but I found an interview at The Architect’s Newspaper where Downey describes one of the first projects he worked on after losing his sight: a Polytrauma and Blind Rehabilitation Center for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Palo Alto. “The client and the team were becoming aware that they really didn’t understand how space and architecture would be experienced and managed by users who would not see the building,” he said. “When I showed up as a newly blinded architect with 20 years of experience, there seemed an opportunity to bridge that gap.”

The fact that he was a rookie at being blind was a bonus, he said. “I was not that far removed from the experience of the veterans who were dealing with their new vision loss.” Now Downey runs his own business consulting on design for people who are blind and visually impaired. In addition to the VA project in Pal Alto, he has worked on renovations of housing for people who are blind in New York City and consulted on the new Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco. He says urban planners who think of people who are blind as prototypical city dwellers will come up with design elements that make life better for everyone, whether sighted or not:

1. a rich, walkable array of predictable sidewalks
2. no cars
3. many options and choices at the street level
4. a robust, accessible, well-connected transit system

I don’t know how a city like that might look to all you Easter Seals blog readers, but it sure sounds, ahem, good to me!

Travel help at airports this Thanksgiving

by Beth Finke

Flying over the Thanksgiving holidays? Here’s something you should know: the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has ways you can get help navigating airport checkpoints. The TSA’s Passenger Support Specialists Program trains select Transportation Security Officers, Lead TSOs and Supervisors to take on the extra responsibility of helping passengers who may be in need of special assistance. From the Transportation Security Administration web site:

More than 2,600 Passenger Support Specialists at airports across the country assist passengers who require additional assistance with security checkpoint screening.

Passenger Support Specialists receive specialized disability training provided by TSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Liberties, Ombudsman and Traveler Engagement. Training for Passenger Support Specialists include how to assist with individuals with special needs, how to communicate with passengers by listening and explaining, and disability etiquette and disability civil rights.

The site said that travelers who need special accommodations or are concerned about checkpoint screening can ask a checkpoint officer or supervisor for a Passenger Support Specialist to provide on-the-spot assistance. Travelers can request a Passenger Support specialist ahead of time, too, by calling the TSA Cares hotline at 855.787.2227. TSA recommends you call approximately 72 hours ahead of travel to give TSA Cares a chance to coordinate checkpoint support with a TSA Customer Service Manager at the airport if necessary. I may just give this a try. Experience has shown me that you can never get enough help when it comes to navigating O’Hare Airport!

Book review: Naoki Higashida’s “The Reason I Jump”

by Gui Batista

I’m proud of myself. Last week I checked 14 tasks off my to-do list. This week, I have exactly 35 new tasks on my to-do list. Yes, you read that correctly. For every task I checked off my list, exactly 1.5 new tasks emerged in its place. I’m not sure how that happened. I’ll put it on my to-do list to figure it out.

I’m fairly certain that I am not alone in sometimes feeling overwhelmed by the lack of white space on my calendar or the abundance of (mostly self-induced) stress in my life. It is easy for me to get stuck on a seemingly infinite to-do list and forget that I check off the items on that list from my comfortable Easter Seals Headquarters office on the 24th floor of the Willis Tower on one of two monitors (or my iPad or iPhone). The point is it’s all about putting things into perspective.

Every once in awhile I watch a documentary or read a book that reminds me that perspective is the key to keeping my sanity. The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism, written by Naoki Higashida and translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell, was the latest reminder of how important perspective really is.

Naoki was diagnosed on the Autism spectrum. He is unable to express himself using speech. In fact, he lacks many of the control mechanisms in his brain that control his speech, sensory input and behavior — the same mechanisms many of us take for granted. However, with the help of his mother and an alphabet grid, Naoki learned to express himself through writing.

About that alphabet grid. I was confused by that term, but it is in fact what it is called in the book. In the book, David Mitchell (one of the translators) describes and defines the alphabet grid like this:

A Japanese alphabet grid is a table of the basic forty Japanese hiragana letters, and its English counterpart is a copy of the QWERTY keyboard, drawn onto a card and laminated. Naoki communicates by pointing to the letters on these grids to spell out whole words, which a helper at his side then transcribes.

Naoki can also write and blog directly onto a computer using its keyboard, but Mitchell says Naoki finds the lower-tech alphabet grid a “steadier handrail” because it offers fewer distractions and helps him focus.

In 176 short pages, Naoki opens a window into the mind and the life of a person diagnosed on the Autism spectrum in a deeply personal, sincere and revelatory way. I will never view a person diagnosed on the Autism spectrum (or any person living with a disability) the same again.

Naoki’s story provided a much needed reminder that I needed to put my life into perspective. If you are in need of the same, this book might be just what you are looking for.

Special kids on the football team

by Rachel Talen

I’ve gotten more and more into watching professional football recently. I’m a former Michigander and current Detroit Lions fan, and football has become increasingly more exciting to tune into over the past couple years. I wanted to share a couple football stories I’ve seen pop up this fall.

CBS’ On the Road covered the story of a middle school student and football player with special needs in Olivet, Michigan. Keith Moore has a learning disability, and according to his classmates, was never cool or popular.

His teammates wanted Keith to know he was a valuable team member, so they devised a plan—a plan not to score. I was almost in tears when I saw the footage of Keith’s teammate stopping at the one-yard line when he could have easily scored. The next play, Keith’s teammates furiously blocked for him as he scored his first touchdown.

Steve Hartman interviewed wide receiver Justice Miller, who with tears running down his face said, “He went from being pretty much a nobody to making everyone’s day.”

Being part of a team can be a valuable experience, but for one of our Easter Seals families, the football story was slightly different.

Scott Gaither proudly wearing his team's jersey

You may have heard of former Easter Seals representative Scott Gaither. We’ve watched Scott grow up over the years and heard he started playing football this fall.

He has not had a superstar story like Keith, but for his family and friends, it has been an exciting time. He has had play time in 3 out of 4 games and his middle school team in Columbus, Georgia is currently undefeated.

When Scott told his parents  he was trying out for football, they were shocked. He said, “I’ve got the size and I think I can have the aggressiveness needed.”

“We did not stop him from trying, but honestly were not too optimistic. Though he had never played football and doesn’t even like watching it on TV, he got very serious about tryouts. He was at every practice, practicing in the yard on weekends with dad and running on off days to get in shape,” said his mom, Barbara. “He said he just wanted to feel a part of something before he left middle school.”

Barbara went on to say that the day Scott was given a letter in homeroom stating he had made the team was probably the happiest day of his middle school career. He has worn his jersey with pride on every game day and stands on the sidelines intently watching the game and paying attention to the coach until the moment when the coach finally yells, “Gaither! Get out there!” which is generally only when his team is winning by a good margin. Since joining the team, he has told his mom on several occasions that he is still so happy to be a part of it. When asked if he will play in high school, he says, “Nah-I just wanted to leave middle school having been a part of a team.”

Scott has made lots of friends on his team, but he has also found some of the other boys to be bullies.

Barbara still says it has been a great experience for Scott in so many ways. He even asked to go to the school dance last week and had a blast with his football buddies.

His sisters, aunt, brother-in-law and parents have acted like he was up for the Heisman trophy while watching him play. “It has been thrilling and beyond anything I ever dreamed he would or could do when he was diagnosed with autism some 12 years ago,” his proud mom said.

We’re all rooting for you, Scott!

You may have seen stories similar to the Olivet, Michigan story lately. There’s been a lot of them on television and in social media, and they pose an interesting question about inclusion. While the Olivet story is certainly heartwarming, is what Keith’s teammates did for him truly inclusive? Or is it special treatment of someone with a disability? Scott’s story seems more realistic—people with and without disabilities are bullied, and no one goes out of the way to allow Scott to score. He’s just a part of the team.

I’d love to know your thoughts on these stories and about inclusion—please feel free to comment below.

A most deserving homecoming king

by Beth Finke

She’s back! Here’s our former intern Elsa Remak with a guest post.

Once a Kang, always a Kang

by Elsa Remak

The high school I went to has a slogan: Once a Kang, Always a Kang (the mascot is a kangaroo). I have always found that phrase a bit cheesy. My high school years in Kirkland, Washington were not my “glory years.” They were simply a passage way to college. I met some amazing, lifelong friends along the way, but our high school operated like a teen movie, plagued by the cliques and bullies that fill the halls of schools across the country.

My indifferent views of my high school recently changed thanks to a senior there named Tre Walker. An article in the Kirkland Reporter, my hometown newspaper, profiled Tre, whose name sounds like “Tray.” Tre is an 18-year-old with special needs, and he’s Lake Washington High School’s 2013 Homecoming King.

Tre did not win the crown because of his disability, he won because of his character. He is the epitome of what a Homecoming King should be: he’s social, bleeds purple and white (our school colors) and is involved in various school activities.

Tre also has the power to unify a school: he won the crown with 90% of the vote. It was a landslide victory, and even Tre’s fellow nominees advocated for him!

The article explained that each nominee had to produce a video clip to gain the student body’s votes, and this year many nominees took the opportunity to express why Tre is the one who should be King. “To be a Kang is to be one person — Tre Walker,” senior Tommy Oliver said in his video. “This kid is more of a Kang than any of us will ever be in our lives. He owns more purple and white, he goes to more sporting events and, overall, he’s a Kang … Vote for Tre — he’s king.” You can check out all the videos (if you have the patience to listen to all the school announcements first or you could just skip to 4:33) and you’ll notice how so many of the videos from other nominees followed Tommy Oliver’s example.

I’m not sure who I’m more proud of, Tre Walker or the entire student body at Lake Washington High School. Trey has redefined what it means to be Homecoming King. My high school has drastically changed since I graduated nearly four years ago. Many college students and adults could learn from the acceptance that the teens of LWHS are practicing. For the first time in my life, I am proud to be an alumni of Lake Washington High School.

Thanks to you and Newman’s Own Foundation: we’re all winners!

by Beth Finke

Wow — supporters like you are amazing! Thank you so much for helping Dixon Center at Easter Seals win the Honoring Those who Serve Challenge!

And a huge thank you also goes out to Newman’s Own Foundation for choosing Dixon Center at Easter Seals as one of a select group of military service nonprofit organizations that competed in its Honoring Those Who Serve Challenge this year. The challenge started September 30 and ended on Veteran’s Day. The challenge worked like this: the charity that raised the most during the past six-plus weeks would win a $75,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation. Thanks to your support with a grand total of $135,599 contributed during the challenge, we won! Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Community Services at Easter Seals is the grand prize winner of the Newman’s Own Challenge! We’ll be receiving the $75,000 bonus from the Foundation, and with additional weekly bonuses, the grand total raised and won is over $220,000.

Easter Seals has been serving veterans since WWII, and over the past decade, as tens of thousands of service members have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with new and unmet needs, the demand for the services Easter Seals and Dixon Center provide has increased dramatically. You can learn more about Easter Seals & Dixon Center by linking to a couple stories that came out about us over Veterans Day weekend this year:

• On Friday, Easter Seals, Dixon Center and Colonel David Sutherland, the co-founder and Chairman of the Center, appeared in a page 3 Q&A interview article and an ad about our services for military families in a special Thanking our Troops section in USA Today.
• On Monday, NBC’s The Today Show aired a three-minute-piece with COL Sutherland about how Dixon Center at Easter Seals was inspired by Donnie Dixon to impact communities and support veterans in new ways.

The investment and encouragement from Newman’s Own Foundation and you supporters out there allows Easter Seals and Dixon Center to continue helping returning veterans to thrive where they live. Thank you.

This Veterans Day, ways to move past the thanks and really get to know us

by Col. David Sutherland

Veterans Day is a very special day in my family. We take time to remember the men and women with whom I have served, many of whom have eaten dinner with us, played with the kids and crashed on our couch. In the military, everyone is family.

My military family now numbers 21 million – the number of veterans we commemorate today. About 1,000 are coming back from service daily, with the bulk of those who have served in Afghanistan to be home by New Year’s. Many of them are returning with experiences of war trauma.

These returning heroes deserve to be thanked for their tremendous service to their country. But, like many civilians, it also might make them uncomfortable to be singled out. So what to do?

Here’s one idea. Thank their family. Thank the spouse who serves as a single parent for six, even 12 months at a time while her service member is deployed. Of course, times have changed for the better and nowadays, you may actually be thanking a stay-at-home dad who is juggling the kids while his wife carries out her country’s duties on a ship thousands of miles away in the Pacific.

For a family whose deployed service member has recently come home, lend a hand. Offer to babysit the kids so that the parents can have some much-needed alone time. Be a real neighbor. Instead of waving from your front door and then disappearing back into your world, take the time to while raking leaves.

In her book When Johnny and Jane Came Marching Home, Paula Caplan writes that helping may be as simple (and as difficult) as not turning away when vets speak of their experiences, but rather listening attentively and nonjudgmentally. In other words, show some empathy.

Americans love to talk. I’m guilty of it myself. But on this Veterans Day, might I suggest a different approach? Sit down with a vet and simply listen, one-on-one. You’ll be surprised at what you hear, at what you’ll learn.

If you’re one of the 99 percent of our country who has not served in the military or have close family ties to someone in service, make a resolution today to get to know us. We are your neighbors, the person you stand behind in the supermarket cashier line and the family sitting next to you in the church pew. We like hot coffee and can be good listeners, too, if you need it.

Caplan’s book is sub-titled How All of Us Can Help Veterans. I’d like to suggest it’s less “help” than an opportunity to get to know a remarkable group of people. And there’s no better day than today to start.

These war wounds aren’t easy to heal

by Beth Finke

Last year my Seeing Eye dog Whitney and I volunteered at a sports camp here in Chicago that was specially designed for injured military personnel. The camp was sponsored by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) and the Wounded Heroes Fund, and volunteering there was an experience I’ll never forget.

Out of respect for privacy, I won’t be sharing any specifics here about the veterans who participated in the camp. One thing that surprised me, though? Very few of them had physical disabilities. The vast majority had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress (PTS) or a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

An op-ed article about the high percentage of veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan who report mental health problems happen to come out in the New York Times the very day I started volunteering at the military sports camp. The piece followed the heartbreaking story of Maj. Ben Richards. He came home in 2007 after suffering multiple concussions in Iraq, and it took three years for him to get a diagnosis of TBI and PTS. Richards was retiring from the U.S. Army when the article came out, and the article quotes him saying that things might have been easier if he had lost a leg in Iraq.

“I’d trade a leg for this in a heartbeat,” Ben said. “If all I was missing was a leg, I’d be a stud. And if I’d lost a leg, I’d be able to stay in the Army. That’s all I want to do.” He summed up his future saying, “it comes to failure.”

The article referred to traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress as the signature wounds of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, “partly because of the strains of repeated combat tours and partly because the enemy now relies more on bombs than bullets.” It quoted then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta admitting in a congressional hearing last year that the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs are overburdened by the mental health demands of returning soldiers. “This system is going to be overwhelmed,” he said. “Let’s not kid anybody. We’re looking at a system — it’s already overwhelmed.”

Today is Veterans Day. It brings that New York Times story and my experience at the summer camp back to mind, and I’m hoping maybe Easter Seals is helping some.

Last year, the Dixon Center partnered with Easter Seals to help meet the needs of veterans and service members by focusing on employment, education and access to health care. If the stories I heard at that summer camp last year are any indication, our veterans need that help.

Create * Adapt * Inspire

by Beth Finke

She’s back! Here’s our former intern Kelly Zatlin with a guest post.

Katie can do, and you can, too

by Kelly Zatlin

It’s been over six months since I finished my internship at Easter Seals Headquarters in Chicago, but my three months there connected me to the red seal for life, and my heart will forever have a spot for people who are affected by disabilities.

"Create. Adapt. Inspire." - Katie

The other day I learned about a 10-year-old girl who wrote and published a book. Umm. What? I’m 22 and can only dream of getting a book published! But wait, there’s more! She also surfs, swims, skis, plays basketball, has raced in a 5k, speaks at events, has won a pageant and has been on television. How many of those things have I done? Let’s just say that I still have a lot to cross off my bucket list.

One thing that I haven’t told you yet is that this young lady, Katie Hull, has spina bifida, which has left her feet paralyzed and her legs partially paralyzed. Katie uses a wheelchair, but she doesn’t let that stop her from participating in physical activities that others might think are impossible. And this is exactly what led her to write a book.

Katie was recovering from hip surgery when she decided to write about her experiences in a wheelchair. Katie Can Do and You Can Too is meant to inspire and teach others about all the different things that are possible for people, whether or not they have a physical disability. From Katie’s web site:

She has shared her personal journey in order to help inspire others, with and without visible challenges, to work hard, remain positive, and hold true to a can-do attitude. Katie can do, and you can too!

I’ve been following Katie’s journey through her amazing mom Sarah Hull’s blog and Instagram page for a few months now, and once I heard about Katie’s book, I said to myself, “Ok, the Easter Seals community needs to know about this!” I contacted them immediately and here I am, writing a guest blog six months after leaving my internship in Chicago, graduating college and coming back to my Southern California home.

I truly hope that Katie’s book will inspire other children and adults who have challenges, whatever they may be. Her smile and positive attitude alone are enough to encourage me to write my own book, take up surfing lessons or go back to school to get my Masters Degree.

I just want to leave you with one last thing that brought tears to my eyes: in a television interview, a reporter asked Katie if she thought God made her this way for a reason. Katie’s response? “I think he made me this way because I think he knew I could handle it.” All I can say is WOW!

Visit Katie’s web site to learn more about this amazing young lady. You can see a video of Katie in action there, and you can order her book there, too.

Hey, wanna go across 500 miles of northern Spain?

by Beth Finke

Here’s Mary Van Poolen, our Marketing and Corporate Relations intern, with another guest blog post.

I’ll push you

by Mary Van Poolen

Justin and Pat

Easter Seals Project ACTION staff members were at the Every Body Walk! Summit in Washington, D.C. last month and spoke with two courageous friends about the incredible journey they are about to undertake. From June 1 to July 12, 2014, Justin Skeesuck and his best friend Patrick Gray plan on taking a 500 mile trek across northern Spain. The two men were born a little over 24 hours apart and were friends from the get-go.

These life-long friends have a deep relationship that spans over 38 years. They tell their supporters, “We travel together; we live life together through ups and downs, and most importantly, will do anything for each other.”

Normally the Camino de Santiago walk takes travelers about 4 weeks, but because of Justin and Pat’s circumstances, it will take them 5-6 weeks. Justin has an auto-immune disorder that attacks his nervous system. He has loss of movement in his legs (and, more recently, his arms and hands) and uses a wheelchair. Pat reflects on the day they began planning their journey, “We were sitting in his living room and…uh, he asked me, ‘you wanna go across 500 miles of northern Spain with me?’ and I said, ‘I’ll push you.’”

Justin is a motivational speaker, an accessible travel consultant, and a trainer who inspires and instructs people with disabilities how to overcome challenges when traveling. Patrick, “the best friend,” is a program manager for St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho. He will not only use his physical strength to push his best friend 500 miles on this journey, but will use his skills as a registered nurse to help Justin with his everyday needs.

The Camino used to be a Roman trade route until it became a Christian pilgrimage to Santiago, Spain. Justin and Pat will be leaving from St. Jean Pied de Port on the French side and ending in Santiago de Compostela on the west coast of Spain. They are taking the journey to actively promote physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and wellness.

Justin and Pat want to inspire others with the world changing message that there is more to life than just sitting around and complaining about our daily challenges; life is too short and dreams are achievable if you only try! The two live by this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

In partnership with Emota, a digital storytelling company, Pat and Justin are creating a “real-time” documentary covering the 500 mile wheelchair journey, and you can read more about it all now at their I’ll Push You web site.

I am amazed by the strength that Justin and Pat have both as individuals and as friends and hope their story will be heard, shared and end up impacting the lives of others. “This turned into fuel to do more,” says Justin, “to dream big, that’s a world changing message.”