Overcoming visual impairment
As a woodworker who became legally blind a few years ago, I was able to evolve my long-term hobby into an income-generating small business, Creations by BG. This improvement in my reality was helped through working with counselors at the Oregon Council for the Blind (OCB).
FUN FACT: Of all the people who are diagnosed as “legally blind”, only 12% have no sight at all. My vision is near the other end of the spectrum. My main limitation is my peripheral vision in one eye and my central vision in the other is poor, which means no driving (THAT took some adjustment) as well as needing some magnification for some tasks.
I want to inform people that the OCB has many programs and can provide a wide range of adaptive aids to make the visually impaired more independent and productive. Of high importance to all, there is no fee for the service. It has been supported by our taxes since the early 1960s, a federal program administered by each state. Oregon’s main office is in Portland with administrative offices and a training center.
Some personal history: Although I have been very near-sighted (can’t see far away but could see up close) since the 4th grade, I was correctable with glasses and contact lenses. Over 17 years ago, I had laser refraction surgery to correct my near-sightedness and astigmatism. For several months, it was wonderful to be able to see without glasses, only needing “drugstore readers” for closeup work. One day while sitting in my office, I noticed my right eye vision was like looking through a dirty window. I was able to get into an ophthalmologist at the end of the day who diagnosed a retinal tear which caused bleeding inside my eye. That led to the first of several laser treatments and surgeries to repair the damage. Eventually, the left eye also developed tears, and more surgery was required. The net result is I have scar tissue on both retinas which deteriorated my vision by the time we had moved to Oregon over ten years ago.
My wife’s late husband and his two brothers had vision issues as well. Their experience with the local Council in Tennessee prompted her to encourage me to reach out to the Oregon Council. Initially, OCB provided me with a cane, a larger computer screen, and an enlarger device. I only need the cane a few times, like navigating a dimly lit restaurant, and it sure has proven helpful in parting the crowds in busy airports. With the computer screen and enlarger, I was able to continue teaching at Western Oregon University. With a drop in enrollment at Western, adjunct positions were cut back for low-enrollment courses, including the forensic chemistry classes I had been teaching. Wanting to offset the loss in income, I decided to turn my woodworking hobby into a full-time small business.
OCB has many courses for visually impaired people to be able to develop adaptive skills to improve functionality and be able to be employed full-time. One course is Woodworking for the Visually Impaired. However, to access this I had to show that I could become a small business entrepreneur. I worked with an outside contractor provided by OCB to develop a business plan for the next 5 years. As part of the plan, I applied for a grant to buy special computer-controlled woodworking equipment which would increase my productivity as well as reduce the possibility of injury due to my limited sight. Following the woodworking course, I received the equipment which has allowed me to significantly increase productivity of my regular items as well as accepting custom commissions. Several regular products started out as a question: “Can you make something like this?”.
The cribbage board above was made with the Longmill CNC Router funded by OCB. The lettering is laser etched with my Atomstack CNC Laser. Without these two devices, this item would be almost impossible for me to produce. Just drilling all those holes evenly would take hours, but only 10 minutes for the Longmill which is the other image. The laptop was also funded by OCB.
Being able to be active, even with this vision impairment, is a gift that was very much enabled by OCB. Please speak of the services they provide to anyone you know with any serious vision impairment.
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