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PEOPLE
SOUND FOR SIGHT
by Katherine Loeck
For the visually impaired, Penthouse,the radio and braille have something
in common.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Naomi Lomax has seen the ocean and the sunrise. She's seen Disney Land and the circus. Now she wants to see if her daughter looks tired and if her son's hair is growing gray. She wants to see the differences between her granddaughter and grandson.
Lomax, a 68-year-old Olathe resident, wants something that she can never have again; her sight.
Lomax had knee-replacement surgery on Valentine's Day in 2000. She stopped breathing that night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., leaving her in a vegetative state for three days. Doctors said she would be non-responsive for the rest of her life and encouraged her family to pull the plug on her.
Lomax says she was miraculously brought back to life by a message from God to never give up.She was alive, but unable to see.The doctor said her vision may come back within 18 months. It didn't.
Today Lomax is unable to walk and can only see shapes and shadows with her 20/2800 vision — anything less than 20/200 is considered legally blind. "I have no eye contact with anyone," Lomax says. "It's so lonely."
A service at the University of Kansas helps fill the void in Lomax's days. The Kansas Audio Reader Network, 1120 W. 11th St., broadcasts current printed materials to individuals who are unable to read for themselves. Everything from Oprah's Book Club to Penthouse magazine is available on a specially tuned radio that is loaned, free of charge, to any applicant who is diagnosed with visual impairment, says Sarah Hemme, development associate for the network.
The Audio Reader Network fosters an enriched and independent lifestyle for more than 6,000 people who are print-impaired throughout Kansas and western Missouri, Hemme says.
A radio schedule listed in Braille allows listeners to tune in to their favorite programs, which are read live or recorded by volunteers.
Lomax's Audio-Reader radio is the first thing she turns on in the morning and the last thing she turns off at night. In addition to The Washington Post, local news, the weather and books from the Harry Potter series, Lomax listens to a disability program that provides information like how to use a computer with damaged hands or how to get a job. The travel shows take Lomax out 09>JAYPLAY 10:19.2006
of her chair to places where she cannot physically go. Audio Reader takes her into another world, she says. "It may be the only laugh I have in a day."
The broadcasters themselves have
an impact on listeners too. About 25 of the 300 volunteers who broadcast for Audio Reader are KU students, and the service works flexibly around students' schedules, Hemme says.
Marissa Massoni, Lawrence freshman.
BE A SOUND FOR SIGHT
To get involved with Kansas Audio-Reader contact Jennifer Nigro, Coordinator of Volunteers, at jnigro@ku.edu or visit http://reader.ku.edu for more information
was the second radio reading service in the world. Today, Audio Reader is one of 100 services in the U.S. The signal is transmitted 24 hours a day to regional listeners. Only the special Audio-Reader
has volunteered with the program for three years. She broadcasts the newspapers of northwest Missouri. Having access to local newspapers and information is an important part of being in a community, Massoni says. Her work is emotionally involving and fulfilling, she says."If one of my friends didn't have access to a newspaper, I would do it for them."
more information.
Established in 1971, Audio Readers
radios can pick up the signal.
In Lawrence the program runs on 91.5, Kansas Public Radio. The signal is also streamed worldwide on the Internet. "It's just like a library, letting people listen to what they would normally read," says
Art Hadley, Audio Reader producer and engineer.
Ben Englebrecht, Wichita freshman, works for KU Disability Resources, another service that assists the visually impaired. He reads tests aloud to visually-impaired students, writes answers for them and takes notes.
Englebrecht, a mechanical engineering major, walks to school, wears glasses and was born legally
blind. Without his glasses, which are barely thicker than average, his vision is 20/800. With them it's 20/200.
He is one of 15 visually impaired KU students who use Disability Resources every year, says Melissa Manning, Disability Resources associate director.
Engelbrecht can't read the clock on the wall, but he can read print in a 12 point font just fine. However, at 10 point he reads considerably slower. By filing for disability services at KU, Engelbrecht receives more time to take tests than his classmates. The worst thing about being legally blind is that he can never have a driver's license, he says. "I really don't have a big problem with it. All my friends know, and they take care of me."
Individuals with visual impairments are unable to do everyday things — like simply reading a magazine — that most people take for granted.
After her surgery, Lomax asked God to take her life. She couldn't walk, talk or find her nose with her hand. Today, she still cannot find her nose but Audio-Reader reminds her to never give up. "It becomes my life" she says.
Blake Cripps, Topeka senior, reads the TV Guide aloud Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 19, at Audio Reader, 1120 W. 11th St.