Master's Prayer Network

A — Background and Beginning Employment

I wore eyeglasses for myopia and astigmatism from the time I began elementary school. Throughout my youth, I had trouble seeing things at a distance even with glasses. My best corrected acuity was about 20/40, with a restricted central field of vision. Reading was difficult without good lighting. My night vision was poor, and my adjustment between dim and bright lighting conditions was much slower than for most people. When I was a senior in high school, my ophthalmologist told me that I had retinitis pigmentosa, that there was no treatment or cure, and I would very likely become totally blind at some point in my life. When I was old enough to apply for a driving permit, I couldn’t pass the eye test, and I have never been able to drive.

Near the end of the summer after graduation, the father of one of my friends — who was Director of Public Works — hired me for a seasonal job with an engineering field crew. When that position ran out, he arranged for an interview at the Sewage Disposal Plant, and I was immediately hired as a laborer to work as an aide on an operations shift. A driver’s license was not required for the position.

Most of my work was menial building or grounds work, but I did get some exposure to the laboratory and general operations. While in this position I passed a basic wastewater course, and then passed the beginning level, Ohio Class I Wastewater Plant Operations exam. In 1966 I was selected to be a Plant Operator after passing a Civil Service exam. I continued with training courses and independent textbook study, and passed the Ohio Class II exam in 1967 and the Class III exam in 1968.

B — First Level Supervision and First Level Rehabilitation

In 1971 I was selected as the Assistant Superintendent of the Springfield Wastewater Treatment Plant from a field of three applicants. About two weeks after that appointment, construction began on a two million dollar, year-long treatment process upgrade. Through those years however, my eyesight continued to deteriorate from the retinitis pigmentosa, and at the same time my drive and desire deteriorated. I was medically certified as legally blind in 1973 and in January 1974 I began an eleven week rehabilitation program designed specifically for the adventitiously blind, sponsored by the Ohio Bureau of Services for the Blind.

I had been encouraged not to give up my career through disability retirement, by my boss and by the Assistant Personnel Director. These two men especially, and other friends at the plant, helped me make the right decision when my life seemed to be falling apart. We should never underestimate how crucial our genuine encouragement to another might be, during major trials in their lives. My position was held open while I attended rehab on paid sick leave. How could I have guessed that I would work for another thirty years!

The major aspects of the program at the rehab center in Cincinnati were mobility with the Hoover long cane, the basics of Braille, other alternatives for learning, and organizational techniques for independent living skills. I also interacted with about half a dozen other partially sighted people in the residence program. I gained a respect for sight-impaired people that I never had before, and this helped me overcome my personal fear of blindness, which I later learned is perhaps the most feared disability.

C — Blending Rehab Preparation with Return to the Work Environment

When I returned to work, some of the high level of confidence I had gained through rehab ebbed away, because the work environment I returned to was not as ideally suited to my needs as was the rehab environment in Cincinnati. Re-entry into “normal” conditions at work and at home was more difficult than I had anticipated. Again, cooperation and support from the plant employees and from management carried me through; and I gained an even more important resource, because that summer I became a Christian by the grace of the Lord. My life was more significantly changed by my spiritual conversion than by the rehab experience, but it would be about another year before that would become clearer to me.

I now used a closed circuit TV system with reverse image to magnify and contrast print for easier reading, both at work and at home. As a supervisor/manager my function was to collect information, evaluate and plan, and to direct the efforts of others. This was doable for someone with sight limitation. It was quite interesting to find a number of people who opened up to me to share their own personal experience with some physical problem, because my impairment had become very public. I also personally purchased and used a course from Xerox Learning Institute, called Effective Listening, which was on 33 rpm records. Over the years, I found that I often came away from discussions or meetings with as much or more information as my sighted counterparts.

D — Blending Vocation, Avocation, and Family, and Maximizing Alternative Techniques

In August 1975 I was appointed as the Superintendent of the Springfield Wastewater Treatment Plant; and in July 1976 I married Carolyn, the love of my life, who is the best change in my life, next to my surrender to Christ Jesus. Our son Tom was born in 1978, our son Shaun was born in 1981, and we brought Marci at the age of 16 into our family as a “daughter” in 1995. Over the twenty-eight years as Superintendent until I retired in January 2004, I had excellent support from superiors, the employees of the Springfield Wastewater Treatment Plant, various City departments, City consultants, manufacturer’s representatives, and product vendors.

Carolyn read technical information onto cassette tape for me beginning in 1976. She also helped me by reading other print materials and by providing “audio description” for scenery, video programs, and live plays. My subordinate supervisors often read technical product or process information to me, and described blueprints or diagrams. Sometimes after meetings or interviews, I would even ask them for feedback on the body language that I missed. In 1988, a tactual model was made of the major processes and one critical routing structure when the plant was being converted from trickling filter to complete mix activated sludge in series. Often maintenance personnel would bring various mechanical items to my office so I could examine them tactually as we had discussion.

One of the continuing aspects of my rehabilitation for sight loss was learning to accept help from many sources, and this also taught me the value of reciprocation as I found increased opportunities to help others.

E — The Lord Was Guiding My Path

From the beginning of my work in municipal government, opportunities were opened to me all along the way, and for the first ten years, I had no idea that the blessings were from the Lord. I did not even apply for the seasonal job that gave me my first work experience, nor for the first position at the wastewater treatment plant, which began my career in full time public service. And at each step after that, the gifts of aptitudes and inclinations from the Lord were fashioned by Him to prepare me for each next step.

For more detail about my journey as a blind computer user, see the linked article.