Devon’s Story

Devon lost his vision unexpectedly due to a stroke that occurred in his eye that damaged his optic nerve. As a result, he has very little useable vision and can only see dim light, blurry objects and limited colors. He turned to Lighthouse Guild to receive services that would help him adapt to his sudden vision loss.

Devon was exposed to Braille at an early age by his father who used it due to blindness. With his interest in Braille, Devon took this opportunity and began to work with Audrey Schading, a former Lighthouse Guild’s Braille instructor. He has mastered it so well that now he is starting to learn Unified English Braille (UEB), the new Braille code that has been adopted by most countries where English is a principal or significantly used language.

Devon was able to regain his independence thanks to the Adaptive Daily Living (ADL) and mobility instruction he received. In ADL he learned how to clean, sew, cook and organize his belongings with a system that makes sense for him. Through orientation and mobility, he practiced navigational skills such as listening to traffic, safely crossing the street, using a guide cane and traveling on buses and trains.

The service he has been most excited about, however, is college prep. The last time Devon was in college was 2001. Because so much time had passed and he lost his vision, he decided to take Lighthouse Guild’s college preparation courses to reacquaint himself with college standards and learn new technology and skills that could benefit him when he returned. He worked in tandem with our assistive technology department to learn how to use the computer with adaptive software.

Lighthouse Guild has been a resource and support for Devon, and he often recommends the programs to people who are experiencing vision loss. Devon found that the best part about coming to Lighthouse Guild is that “you get to meet people who may not have the same thing you have, but they have something similar as far as a disability.”

His advice to people going through a similar situation: “There is always a better day ahead of you, so just stay positive. That’s the only thing you can do.”