Spring Break
Blind student learns to teach despite obstacles
Christina Thurston
Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE
Spanish graduate student Eric Fuentes teaches his Spanish lab class with little difficulty. Patrolling the classroom, calling on students for participation and providing visual examples to his students are the typical duties that Fuentes performs as an instructor. Aside from the walking cane strategically folded and placed beside the podium, one may not notice that he is blind.
Fuentes suffers from a genetic eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, in which abnormalities of the retina lead to progressive loss of eyesight beginning with the loss of night vision, then peripheral vision and eventually central vision. Fuentes, who inherited the disease from his mother, has already lost his night peripheral visions but still maintains his central vision.
"My mom has it, but she's still able to drive," Fuentes said. "She's lost some vision, but not enough to keep her from driving. My older brother has the same condition also, but he still has all of his vision."
Although he was particularly clumsy, Fuentes said he led a relatively normal childhood. He played little league baseball for three years, never questioning why in all those years he had only managed to hit two foul balls and never actually saw a pitch.
"When I was a kid, everyone just thought I was clumsy because I was always running into stuff," Fuentes said. "I was like, 'Man, I need to pay attention more.' I used to play Little League Baseball, and I had no idea that the kids could see the ball. I thought they were all guessing, so when I went up to bat, I was just swinging. I had no idea that I was supposed to be able to see the ball."
It wasn't until he entered the sixth grade that Fuentes' family noticed a real problem with his vision and took him to see a specialist.
"I was having a bunch of accidents. I was missing a lot of information on the board, and my grades started to suffer," Fuentes said. "My dad took me to see a specialist, and that's how I find out that I had it. My mom had no idea that she had it, then they found out that my brother had it."
Fuentes suffers from a genetic eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, in which abnormalities of the retina lead to progressive loss of eyesight beginning with the loss of night vision, then peripheral vision and eventually central vision. Fuentes, who inherited the disease from his mother, has already lost his night peripheral visions but still maintains his central vision.
"My mom has it, but she's still able to drive," Fuentes said. "She's lost some vision, but not enough to keep her from driving. My older brother has the same condition also, but he still has all of his vision."
Although he was particularly clumsy, Fuentes said he led a relatively normal childhood. He played little league baseball for three years, never questioning why in all those years he had only managed to hit two foul balls and never actually saw a pitch.
"When I was a kid, everyone just thought I was clumsy because I was always running into stuff," Fuentes said. "I was like, 'Man, I need to pay attention more.' I used to play Little League Baseball, and I had no idea that the kids could see the ball. I thought they were all guessing, so when I went up to bat, I was just swinging. I had no idea that I was supposed to be able to see the ball."
It wasn't until he entered the sixth grade that Fuentes' family noticed a real problem with his vision and took him to see a specialist.
"I was having a bunch of accidents. I was missing a lot of information on the board, and my grades started to suffer," Fuentes said. "My dad took me to see a specialist, and that's how I find out that I had it. My mom had no idea that she had it, then they found out that my brother had it."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Paula Tanner
Paula
posted 10/07/08 @ 1:17 PM CST
Besides being blind and having obstacles and barriers that go along with it, he is the first on both sides of his family to receive a bachelor's degree, and will be the first to receive his master's degree as wel
Post a Comment