Wednesday, September 13, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
TEACHER: Degenerative
condition led to
blindness
Continued from page 17
Zenger has worked at the
IMESD, Superintendent Mark
Mulvihill has become a fan.
“When we hired her, we
were really excited to have
such a highly qualified per-
son who can relate to kids in
such a unique way,” Mulvihill
said. “She is a huge gift to the
ESD.”
Zenger’s arsenal includes
everything from white canes
to the latest in technology.
“The goal is to make them
as independent as possible,”
Zenger said.
On a recent day, she
worked with Ellen Paulsen, a
freshman at Pendleton High
School. The teenager has uve-
itis, an inflammation of the
middle layer of the eye, and
experiences disconcerting
fluctuations in vision.
The two met up by the
front office after Paulsen
retrieved a white cane from
her locker. They headed to the
school’s front walk where the
teenager practiced sweeping
with the cane to detect objects
and drop-offs. They walked
side by side, Jude guiding
Zenger and Paulsen practicing
with her cane, knowing the
exercise could help her in the
future.
“Potentially, I could go
blind,” Paulsen said.
Paulsen said this matter-
of-factly, as if she was talking
about a minor inconvenience.
Zenger smiled.
“The kids who do the best,
they have confidence and an
attitude of ‘It’s just not going
to stop me,’” she said.
As the teen approaches a
flight of steps, Zenger asked,
“Do you remember how to do
stairs?”
“Yes,” Paulsen said, with a
smile. “I got this.”
She dangled the cane out
front, letting the tip hit each
step as she climbed.
The cane is one of the most
low-tech tools in Paulsen’s
arsenal of resources. Under
Zenger’s tutelage, she is mas-
tering hardware and software
designed for people who
are visually impaired. Tools
include closed-captioned tele-
vision, magnifiers, cameras
and a myriad programs to scan
text and read aloud, enlarge
type and change mouse, back-
ground and type on computer
screens to eye-friendly colors
and contrasts. There’s Braille,
of course, but now there is
something called “refreshable
Braille,” a device that converts
text to Braille characters using
round-tipped pins that can be
raised or lowered into various
letter combinations. Zenger
also has a library of tradi-
tional paper Braille books in
her office: “Charlotte’s Web,”
“Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory,” “Little House on the
Prairie” and dozens of others.
Students can use cameras
and CCTVs to magnify a dis-
secting tray or a white board
across the room. A multitude
of applications designed for
iPads and smartphones round
out an ever-increasing list of
options that didn’t exist when
Zenger was a girl preparing
for blindness.
Paulsen rolls a cart from
class to class, stocked with
camera, computer, CCTV,
iPad and textbooks.
As the teenager goes to her
next class, Zenger and Jude
head for the parking lot.
The two are a team. They
rarely stray from one another.
Zenger’s cell phone message
says, “You’ve reached Sharon
and Jude.”
In the parking lot, Tod
waits for Sharon in a silver
2015 GMC Terrain. While
he waits, he spends his time
sleeping and thinking, run-
ning errands or going to the
car wash as Sharon meets with
students. Back on the road, the
retired electrician drives while
his daughter makes calls.
“She’s mostly on the
phone, taking care of busi-
ness,” Tod said. “This is a roll-
ing work area.”
They travel miles and
miles together — the odome-
ter reads 90,000 miles — in an
easy camaraderie. Except for
the fact that she can’t drive,
there are few reminders that
she can’t see.
“I forget most of the time,”
he said.
He remembers the early
days. Sharon got diagnosed
at age three after her parents
noticed she stumbled in dim
light and sometimes wouldn’t
reach for objects. They helped
her prepare for worsening
vision, but encouraged her to
do what she could, even driv-
ing. He remembers when she
made the decision to turn in
her license.
“One day, she came home
and handed me her license,”
he recalled. “I said, ‘What’s
this?’ She said, ‘I just don’t
feel comfortable anymore.’”
While she doesn’t drive,
it’s obvious Zenger feels
comfortable in life. Part of
the credit goes to Jude. The
dog takes his job as Zenger’s
eyes seriously. He walks a
brisk 3.5 miles-per-hour, she
said, a perfect pace, and likes
to be on the go, just like her.
Occasionally, he disobeys her
in order to shield her from
dangers such as the oncoming
driver who tried to beat her
through a crosswalk and mis-
judged their pace. Jude swung
her around and led her back to
the curb.
The dog doesn’t pay much
attention to anyone other than
Zenger.
“He knows who he’s work-
ing for,” Zenger said, with a
smile, “and that’s me.”
25
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