REACHING INTO THE DARKNESS The Star Beacon Ashtabula, Ohio December 4, 2001 By CARL E. FEATHER Lifestyle Editor Like most of us, Grace Minick had never heard of The Hadley School for the Blind. Indeed, aside from a couple blind people who lived in the community she grew up in, Minick never had any contact with the visually impaired. That changed in January 1995, when her daughter, Heidi Craffey, prematurely gave birth to twin boys. One of them, Michael George, would be fine. But the other boy, Austin, suffered cerebral palsy, epilepsy and severely low residual vision. "You never figure this would happen to you," said Minick, a North Kingsville resident. "There is a period of adjustment you have to go through, then you realize it happened and you have to face the situation and get on with it." For Minick, education was the key to helping herself and family adapt to Austin's special needs. "The more you know about a subject, the better you understand it," said the retired administrative assistant. Minick turned to The Hadley School for the Blind, a Chicago-area school that helps sight-impaired persons and their families deal with the realities of their disability. Funded by donors, foundations and corporations, the Hadley School has 10,000 distance-learning students around the world. It offers 90 different courses at no cost to students, who include the visually impaired and family members who care for them. The Cleveland Sight Center suggested Hadley as a resource for the family. Minick obtained information about Hadley shortly after Austin was born, but put it aside for a year. She said Austin's other health issues were more pressing. Heidi and her husband, Michael, lived in Painesville at the time, and Minick spent at least one afternoon a week with her daughter. The visits gave Heidi a respite from caring for the two young boys and provided Minick a chance to play with and get to know her only grandchildren. As she watched Austin's painfully slow development, she became aware of how crucial sight is to learning and development. "Sighted people don't realize how much you learn by vision," she said. "Your body movements, for example, are learned by watching how others move. ... If you can't see that, you don't know what to do. They can't see the world, so you have to bring the world to them." All too aware of her inexperience with the visually impaired, Minick enrolled in a distance-learning course from Hadley. "I thought 'Perhaps this is a way to help (Heidi) and her husband as well as Austin,'" she said. "Plus it would help me learn how I could help him." The free course material included a textbook, workbook and series of examinations. Minick started with an orientation course, then dug into "Reach Out and Teach," a basic course for caregivers of blind infants and youngsters. "It was basically teaching you how to be a teacher," she said. Reaching out to Austin Minick learned early into the courses that having the correct attitude toward Austin was essential to his success. "You have to realize that this is a child who is a child first and who just happens to not be able to see or not see very well," she said. "But you have to see him as a child first." Each course included tests and examinations, as well as practical exercises. Every time she visited Austin, Minick looked for new ways to apply what she had learned. One experience in particular was like a light bulb going on for Minick. She said Austin had begun to bend his knees and touch his toes, and she realized that at that point he possessed the necessary motor skills to put his socks on. "It just popped into my head," she said. "If I hadn't just read that, I might not have thought of it." "The books try to teach you to be observant and to take advantage of the opportunity when they are ready to do something, then go ahead and do it," she added. "Basically, it's just small things that seem very, very minor, but once you read about it, it gets your attention," Heidi Craffey said. "You realize how important it is." For example Heidi said she has told all of Austin's teachers at Reynolds Elementary School in Mentor that Austin constantly needs to be given reference points for everything in his environment: left, right, above or below. Not only does this help him navigate his world, it prepares him for learning Braille. "That's a really big thing, learning left and right," she said. Small things matter Minick has taken Hadley courses on child development, ways to encourage early independence, and how to use toys and play to help children learn. She is enrolled in her sixth course, which explores the use of raised markers to help the visually impaired identify objects and navigate their world. These markers are small objects made of plastic, felt or other material with excellent tactile feedback qualities. They are attached to items ranging from clothing to stove dials. Heidi said her mother recently helped Austin advance one notch toward independence by using a rubber band to differentiate his toothbrush from his brother's. "I thought I would have to put his in a separate drawer from his brother's, but Mom suggested using a rubber band to mark his," Heidi said. Minick said she often finds herself using techniques from several different courses to solve a problem or teach Austin a new skill. Austin enjoys playing board games, and Sorry is his favorite. However, the pawns are too small for him to manipulate. Further, because the playing board is smooth, Austin is unable to count the number of spaces to move his pawn. Minick said Austin has a small amount of vision that is sensitive to pink, so she re-created a strip of the playing board using neon-pink poster board. She used plastic fabric paint to define the spaces so Austin could recognize them through tactile feedback. She purchased wooden doorknobs, painted each one in one of the four colors of the pawns, and glued a small spot of Velcro to the bottom. A complementing piece of Velcro was glued inside each playing square. Minick said that Austin can now move his pawns and count the spaces by listening to the sound of the Velcro pieces being pulled apart. An adult's hand guides his hand over each space and counts off the squares. Grace said the challenge of living with a disability is addressed in taking these little steps of adaptation. She credits the Hadley material for awakening her creativity. "I have learned that, yes, I am competent," she said. "I have learned the importance of coaching to move a child toward independence. I have gained an understanding of blindness. I have become more tolerant, more patient and understanding. Hopefully, I can use these lessons to help Austin." Family Education Award Until last summer, Minick's reward for helping Austin learn came from her grandson. "To see his little face just shine when you say, 'Good job, Austin,"' Minick said of the gratification she receives from working with Austin. Then Minick was advised by the Hadley School that her dedication to helping Austin and his family had caught the attention of her instructors. She was nominated for and received in October the Robert J. Winn Family Education Award. Holly Goldin, associate director of communications at the school, said instructors nominate students for the award. "Grace's story is particularly wonderful because she felt she wanted to do something to help and she couldn't figure out what to do," Goldin said. "She took some courses and it really helped her come up with ways to help her grandson." Minick, her husband Bart, Austin and his parents and brother traveled to Winnetka, Ill., to receive the award. Four other top students of the school were recognized during the banquet. Minick said three of the students honored are visually impaired. She said the testimonies of those who have been helped by the school were inspiring. Minick hopes others who are struggling with vision- impairment issues would avail themselves of the free resources offered by The Hadley School. For Austin, and his grandmother, it has helped bring some light into an otherwise dark world. "It was a total surprise," Minick said of the award. "I didn't even realize they gave these awards. I wondered why they gave it to me. I was just doing something to help me, Austin's family and himself." To learn more about The Hadley School for the Blind, go online to hadley- school.org or call 847/446-8111.