Organization helps people adjust to vision loss
By Sean Nelson
CM I He FimtiM
Carleton Wood, a participant
in the Cottage Grove chapter of
Vision Northwest, is almost
completely visually impaired.
But through his involvement
in Vision Northwest, a non
profit organization created for
the purpose of providing infor
mation and support services to
the blind, he realizes he is not
alone "I vp been happy just to
tie around other blind people."
Wood said.
Wood, who is the owner of
the Lucky l-ogger Inn in Spr
ingfield. was in Salem Hospital
a year ago having his leg am
putated when he liegati to lose
his sight "At the time I just
kept thinking it (his sight)
would come Iwck." Wood said
Wood had lost his sight once
before when he was being
treated in a hospital for a
gangrenoous foot and leg
However he regained his vision
and never did find out what
caused the initial vision loss
"I’ve come to realize I will
always be blind. I am just star
ting to learn to live with it."
Wood said, "The amputation of
a leg is one thing, but blindness
is a thousand limes worse."
Wood's blindness was caused
by a condition called diabetic
retinopathy, which is a
degenerative eye disease trig
gered by diabetes. I balletic
retinopathy affects the nutrients
going to the retina, which is the
organ responsible for the
perception of colors and sight.
The disease causes the retina to
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degenerate until the |>erson is
partially or totally blind
Wood only can see silhouet
tes. “I thank God for that.” he
said.
Vision Northwest, and the
support of his family, has pro
vided a ray of hope for Wood.
At first Wood was frustrated
just trying to put toothpaste on
his toothbrush. "It sounds sim
ple, but try it with your eyes
closed sometime," Wood said.
Members of the group let him in
on the secret. "They put it on
their finger and put it on the
toothbrush.”
Not knowing the time was
also frustrating for Wood;
however, the problem was solv
ed with the help of a talking
watch
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faced by a visually impaired
parson is using public transpor
tation, he said. Wood's wife
helps him with this problem
"My wife drives me wherever I
go. I haven't driven since about
a year ago last June,"
Wood can no longer par
ticipate in what was one of his
hobbies: fishing. However.
"I'm still looking around for
some hobbies," he said. Wood
is active in The Lion's Club and
is the chairman of the Sight and
Hearing section of the club.
“We help people get glasses
who don't have the means,"
Wood said.
"We (The Lion's Club) have
one boy who lost his eye in an
accident with a BB gun," Wood
said. "We will take care of all
his bills until he is 18," he
added.
Audrey Wood said she helps
her husband, "by doing things
for him that he wasn't able to do
himself and being understan
ding of the various emotional
adjustments that he was going
through "
It took a long time for Wood
to get over his initial grief, and
he withdrew for a time.
However becoming more active
in the Lion's Club helped Wood
to overcome his grief, Audry
Wood said.
The Vision Northwest
meetings are held “for the pur
pose of giving each other emo
tional and peer support." said
Darian Hartman, program coor
dinator of Vision Northwest. A
great need is filled when a
visually impaired person learns
that he or she is not alone and
that there is hope in learning to
deal with their predicament
from others, he said.
From the moment a person
becomes blind, he or she must
make an emotional and a
physical adjustment. Each day
that person will have to deal
with the frustrations of being
blind. The simplest tusks, such
as getting a drink of water, can
seem insurmountable at first.
Hartman said.
In order tu lead a happy and
productive life, a person must
adjust to his or her blindness.
With the help of Vision Nor
thwest a person is able to make
this adjustment by learning
from others who have already
made the adjustment, according
to a press packet released by the
organization.
Vision Northwest was found
ed in 1985 by Dr. Robin
DeVour. who became blind
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shortly before obtaining his
master of arts degree in clinical
psychology. ‘‘Luckily I was in
something I could continue."
he said. There are now chapters
of the organization in most ma
jor cities in Oregon.
Through his own efforts to
cope with blindness, DcY'our
learned how to teach others to
cope with total or partial vision
loss. He founded the organiza
tion while running a private
practice in Tualitin, Ore., Hart
man said.
A visually impaired person
must volunteer to form a group.
A typical group begins with bet
ween two and eight people who
have recenly lost their vision,
Hartman said.
"Groups address topics such
as where to get help learning
how to cook, how- to mark items
such as temperatures on ovens
or settings on appliances with
raised notches or dots to iden
tify them and how to buy
clothing." Hartman said. If tlit?
group cannot teach someone,
then that person is referred pro
fessionals who can. Hartman
said.
Information such as where a
person can go to learn how to
walk with a cane or a guide dog.
or where to go to buy cooking
utensils or a talking watch can
also be obtained by calling Vi
sion Northwest. Hartman said.
Sylvia Turner, who attends a
support group in Portland, com
pletely has lost her vision in her
right eye and can only see
silhouettes with her left eye. "If
I put my hand close to my left
eye I can see that I have five
fingers,” Turner said. She has
berm visually impaired since
last July.
"One day I was driving my
car and my vision blurred."
Turner said. The fact that her
jaw also hurt was the clue that
led doctors to have her
hospitalized, and three days
after she was hospitalized she
was completely blind, she said.
Turner had a condition
known as temporal arthritis,
which is an inflammation of the
small artery leading to the eyes.
The inflammation caused a lack
of blood flow to the eyes caus
ing the visual impairment,
Turner said.
After doctors treated the im
pairment by giving Turner large
amounts of steroids, the vision
in her left eye started to come
back. "We had some hope.”
Turner said. However, she did
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