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We want to share with you the world of possibilities.
The Washington State Department of Services for the Blind,
or DSB, is a statewide vocational rehabilitation agency
that partners with people who are blind or visually impaired.
The DSB believe that with appropriate training,
skills and access to information,
blind individuals can take charge of their lives,
go to work in good jobs with benefits,
support their families and become
contributing members of their communities.
DSB services are tailored to meet the personal needs
of our customers and include: Community Programs,
Child and Family and Independent Living.
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Our employment programs include: Vocational Rehabilitation,
skills training at our Orientation and Training Center
and the Business Enterprise Program.
DSB Services support the whole family
in networking and finding support.
Charlie is four years old and was born with Glaucoma,
a degenerative eye condition that
has severely reduced his vision.
Without his glasses I don't even know what his acuity would be.
He is virtually blind.
Ideally, I want him to grow up, enjoy sports and the outdoors.
I'm hoping to be able to travel with him,
but, you know, at almost five now,
I can't -- it's too stressful to think about.
Does it beep when it backs up? Beep. Beep.
Let's backup -- Okay.
The Child and Family Program is designed to support families
confidence in making choices about their child's education.
I have felt like I have to get him out there.
I have to get him out there doing things, being in the
community and being used to being with other kids.
I want him to be able to stand up for himself and to just
make it clear that his vision issues are one aspect
of who he is, but they're not everything.
He needs to be good at something because I think
that is where we get a lot of our self esteem.
You first need to get involved with the DSB.
You need to get connected with people who can help you.
I don't know what I would do without the network of people
who form the sort of nest around Charlie.
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Abby is 16 and currently is in her second year of high school.
I started track this spring. I run the one hundred meter dash.
I've done three weeks and when people are cheering for me,
I felt like, hey, I can really do this, you know.
I wouldn't have been able to do that without DSB.
The thing about our track team is it's not really
about winning, it's about improving.
I think the idea of accomplishing
something that just feels really good.
If I had a really bad day, I get better after track.
If you are not connected with DSB
and others in the blind community, get connected.
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The Independent Living Program assists those
who are unable to engage in everyday activities.
My name is Berniece Cady. I was diagnosed with
Macular Degeneration and I look up at the ceiling
and I see a big black spot.
Those black spots, whew, that was not fun.
So now they are permanently there.
People who are visually impaired can sometimes feel isolated or
be unable to participate in activities they enjoy.
I called DSB because I couldn't see too good.
What they had done for me is made me happy.
I feel very comfortable.
If I need them, I can call them any time.
I am more confident in making sure I can do it or have
somebody to call to help me do it.
The Independent Living Program allows people with vision loss
to enjoy independent and active lives.
I do everything by myself. I feel very comfortable.
If I need them, I can call them any time.
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The DSB supports the economic vitality
of Washington State citizens.
The Vocational Rehabilitation Program, or VR,
is the core of establishing economic vitality.
They can do a job.
They can complete job tasks and basically can continue working
or find work in almost any position.
When I moved out to the Northwest,
I was depending on a check that came in the mail from
Social Security disability income every month.
I'm proud to say today I no longer need that assistance
through that program.
Our primary focus is on employment
through vocational rehabilitation.
This program is supported by our in-house technology services
along with orientation and mobility training.
I'm a vocational rehabilitation counselor with
the Department of Services for the Blind
and I worked for the agency for 21 years.
I graduated from Washington State in '92 in Criminal Justice
and Sociology and wanted to become a police officer.
To qualify for services for the blind,
a person has to first meet the visual criteria
and they have to have functional limitations.
I was a police diver -- scuba diver,
and I was also a defensive tactics Instructor,
then an explosives detection K-9 unit opening came up.
I applied for that, tested and I earned the position.
Later in those years I became sergeant of the Dive Team
and the Boat Team and life was great.
The intake is gathering information because we want to
know what their background is and
do they have any idea of what work is all about?
I loved to play golf, loved to water ski.
Used to like to run, you know, play basketball.
And I really, really loved the independence.
Once a person is qualified for services then we start planning
for what services they're going to require
to reach their goal of employment.
We want to find out what their barriers to employment are so we
can start developing the plan because every person that comes
through the door has different needs.
I had a boat -- brand new -- and we went out on Lake Tapps.
A couple friends, my roommate and another gal.
And we were on the lake, just relaxing, enjoying the sun,
listening to some good music and just relaxing.
And later that evening I wanted to leave
and so did my other friend so we jumped in the boat
and we were going to take it back to the boat launch.
I felt like I knew that lake like the back of my hand.
I remember taking off.
They were telling us to be careful.
I remember swinging out wide around this point of
Tapps Island because it was really shallow out there.
And that's the last thing I remember.
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Sometimes it's just a matter of spending
a lot of counseling time with an individual
to kind of look at what are their basic fears?
Apparently -- I don't remember this -- but all you can really
see the water that you want to go to and they just have this
one little light blinking on the corner of this road and I guess
I just ran right into it and my boat stuck.
Didn't move. Just, bam.
And my two passengers were fine, but I went flying forward into
the windshield frame and it hit me right across the eyes.
When my friends realized what happened,
they saw me underneath the steering wheel and my friend
lifted me up and thought I was dead.
And I was air lifted from there to Madigan Hospital
at Fort Lewis and from Fort Lewis to Harborview.
I had recently had an individual come to me that was
very, very angry that they'd lost their vision.
They did feel that their life was over.
They could not see any possibility for employment.
They're very angry. They thought that their whole life
would be sitting at home, very depressed.
There was nothing in their life that they could look forward to.
When I first became blind I thought I was so alone.
What am I going to do?
I sometimes catch myself and I take a deep breath and I catch
myself and think, how the heck did I get here.
And I think man, how far I have fallen from where I used to be
-- on top of the world, so it seemed -- to here,
this point in my life. What am I supposed to do?
Once a person does get to a place where they actually
can see that they are able to do something with their life
and get really exited about a career,
then we focus on what that is
and what that person wants to do.
And we talk about all the different steps to get there.
And so then I got hooked up with DSB,
the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind
and my life started to change.
And I just started trying to have a positive attitude
and start thinking about the good things.
And I started appreciating the things I have.
I started meeting people who were also blind
and just getting out there and doing things.
The individual has to have good blindness skills
to have to become independent in their activities,
daily living and certainly to go to school or to be employed.
With the training I received here and equipment I received,
it's going to help me go to college and get my degree.
They can never take away my degree.
And I will be a valuable asset to somebody.
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The DSB's Orientation and Training Center provides
comprehensive training in alternative skills such as
braille, orientation and mobility and computer use,
as well physical skills such as home maintenance and shop class.
DSB supports strong partnerships with customers,
communities employers and business.
At the core of these partnerships is the
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service Program.
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The fact of the matter is it enabled me to have
a life of freedom and independence and
to be no different than anybody else is.
These skills allow participants the opportunity to live
independently and be successfully employed.
Today I'm the President and CEO of
Certain Victory Food Services, Incorporated.
As a business man who has worked very hard in the
Business Enterprise Program, I've become successful
and financially stable, to where I am able to have my own
independence and be able to be free. I make a difference.
Making a difference is what life's all about.
With focus on personal independence,
The Orientation and Training Center also builds
the skills students need for employment.
Doing those things that the everyday person does and enjoys.
Just because they're blind,
they're not letting that stop them.
You first need to get involved with the DSB.
You need to get connected with people who can help you.
I still remember and I still recall a lot of my experiences.
My skill set is still there. And my network is still there.
Being able to provide different aides
or devices that improve someone's life
and enable them to move back into their normal lifestyle.
It's so exciting to see a person who is now able
to be active in the community.
It's a great feeling that I can stay
a productive member of society.
If I hadn't gotten connected to these people,
I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now.
We're always available to provide assistance
when there is a need,
Vision loss is not the end of the road.
This program has worked.
This program has become very successful.
They're taking it one step further
to be not only adjusted, but living a happy life.
They're there to support, assist you,
help you with training, whatever you need to succeed.
When they're happy and feeling successful, that makes my day.
With Department Services for the Blind,
they're allowing me to go forward.
They have places to go and things to do.
And it's worth me giving it a shot.