‘Opportunistic Teaching’ Brings Low Vision Technology Into The Classroom

By Eliza Hallabeck

 When opportunities present themselves, Newtown Middle School technology education teacher Don Ramsey said Monday, September 26, he brings in outside specialists to speak to his students; ye calls this “opportunistic teaching.”

On Monday, Charlie Collins, owner of Vision Dynamics of Cheshire, visited one of Mr Ramsey’s seventh grade classes to speak about supportive technology available for people with low vision, “when an individual’s vision cannot be adequately corrected with medical, surgical therapy, conventional eyewear or contact lenses,” according to a Vision Dynamics pamphlet.

The class was targeted specifically because a student, Kevin Eckler, is visually impaired. Kevin’s mother was also invited to attend the class for the day.

The opportunity of having Mr Collins, who is also visually impaired, speak to the class was brought about by NMS student teacher Ben Haase.

“There’s nothing really stopping you,” said Mr Collins, “it is you.”

The theme for the day, Mr Ramsey said, was celebrating the fact that every student is gifted and every student has a disability.

Mr Collins began his presentation by telling the students when he was in seventh grade he was declared legally blind after being diagnosed a few years earlier with macular degeneration.

He was not given glasses or medication; instead, he said, he was told there was nothing that could be done for him.

Mr Collins said he did not like that.

“Because somebody told me I have a disability,” he said, “I believed it. Today I don’t believe I have a disability.”

His world closed in on him and he went through high school with that feeling. In his words, he also “feared,” not failed, out of college while dealing with his diagnosis.

One day he realized it was his fault for not being accepting of his circumstances. When he was young, Mr Collins said, he would take risks, like jumping out of a tree, and eventually he began taking professional risks that led him to being the vice president of a motorcycle company after starting at the company by mowing the lawn.

“Life is interesting,” said Mr Collins. “Life is even more interesting with a handicap.”

Now Mr Collins owns three companies centered on helping others with low vision, including Vision Dynamics in Cheshire, which sells products to help people with vision problems. Mr Collins brought some of those products with him and shared them with the class. After speaking about each product, Mr Collins made sure Kevin had the opportunity to inspect each one.

One product was a beeper that hangs of the edge of a cup to indicate or “beep” when a liquid is nearing the fill line. Another product was a clock with large print for those with low vision and a button that voiced the time and date for those unable to see the clock.

“These products are looking more mainstream,” said Mr Collins, after explaining that the products available to him in seventh grade were different.

 One device Mr Collins shared with the students took a photo of any paper or book with text and read the words out loud.

“All of us have things we need to compensate for,” Mr Ramsey told the class.

Mr Collins also explained he never thinks that he “can’t” do something.

“It you’re not told what you can’t do, you don’t entertain it,” said Mr Collins.

Mr Collin’s mother, Pat Collins, was also in attendance for the day, as her son’s driver.

When asked, Ms Collins said Mr Collins and his siblings who are also visually impaired were never treated like they had a handicap, but were taught four words: “I can do it.”