Sunday, December 05, 1999
Blind college student needs devices, special software
BY CHUCK MARTIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Angela Taylor with children Dierra, 6; Demario, 9; and Daniel 7.
| ZOOM |
|
Angela Taylor's spirit shines plain as day.
A single mother of three young children, Ms. Taylor is studying full-time at Cincinnati State to become a dietitian. She loves to cook “anything,” is active in her church and likes to write inspirational poetry and roller skate — when she can find time.
Knowing all that, it's hard for some to believe the 32- year-old is blind.
“I don't want people to see me as having a visual impairment,” she says, smiling, curls tumbling down around her face. “I like to keep busy. It makes me feel a part of things to stay involved.”
But it's still not easy raising kids and pulling in A's and B's at college in a sighted world. In order to type her class papers, Ms. Taylor has to catch a bus in her Golf Manor neighborhood and travel to the Cincinnati Association for the Blind headquarters in Walnut Hills. There, she uses a special “talking” computer.
“The computer tells me what I've typed and if I've misspelled anything,” she says.
Things would be much easier, though, if Ms. Taylor could work on her own computer with adaptive speech software at home. It would mean fewer bus rides and more time to spend with her children.
“It would be a blessing,” she says.
She rarely complains. When she was 6 years old, she woke up one morning and the world was dark. Doctors believed her optic nerve was somehow damaged.
“In a way, it was good it happened then because I've been able to adapt to it,” Ms. Taylor says.
Nothing is more important than her children — Demario, 9, Daniel, 7 and Dierra, 6.
“Demario likes baseball, Daniel likes to read and to do math,” she says proudly. “Dierra's 6 going on 16. She likes wear to clothes and fix up her hair.”
“People tell me my boys look alike,” she says. “They say Dierra looks like me.”
Introduction to the Wish List
Use this coupon
How the Wish List works
Their wishes came true: 1998 recipients
Equipment could ease communication for palsy patients
Single father of two ill children needs appliances, furniture
Computer would offer gift of voice
Mom needs a safe place to sleep for her daughter
Blind college student needs devices, special software
Home needs to be wheelchair equipped
Hospital bed can add to independence
Lift chair can make standing easier
Ky. man's smile might shine more brightly
Scooter would give Avondale man new freedom
Computer could help mother helpo her children
Reading machine would open world
