Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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2 Week Update! (self.Blind)
submitted by thebrilliantluxury
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to give a 2 week update on my younger brother. For those of you who didn't see my last post, my younger brother started his evaluation at the McDowell Center for the blind in Louisville, KY 2 weeks ago.
He came home this weekend and OMG. When I say he changed, I mean he CHANGED. He is getting around better, the first thing they gave him was a cane and up until 2 weeks ago, it had just been me leading my brother around everywhere he went. Now? He is going right along like he has vision.
He is also able to cook a few things for himself, and the first thing they taught him to make was a grilled cheese sandwich. It sounds simple, but he wasn't able to do this on his own before so it was a pretty big step.
He's learning how to read Braille, which he said isn't as hard as he thought it would be.
This was just his 2 week evaluation, but they said on Thursday morning that his stay at the school would be from 4-6 months. We're all so excited for him and I really just wanted to update everyone to let you know his progress in just 2 weeks!
Thank you guys for all your love and support.
I just wanted to give a 2 week update on my younger brother. For those of you who didn't see my last post, my younger brother started his evaluation at the McDowell Center for the blind in Louisville, KY 2 weeks ago.
He came home this weekend and OMG. When I say he changed, I mean he CHANGED. He is getting around better, the first thing they gave him was a cane and up until 2 weeks ago, it had just been me leading my brother around everywhere he went. Now? He is going right along like he has vision.
He is also able to cook a few things for himself, and the first thing they taught him to make was a grilled cheese sandwich. It sounds simple, but he wasn't able to do this on his own before so it was a pretty big step.
He's learning how to read Braille, which he said isn't as hard as he thought it would be.
This was just his 2 week evaluation, but they said on Thursday morning that his stay at the school would be from 4-6 months. We're all so excited for him and I really just wanted to update everyone to let you know his progress in just 2 weeks!
Thank you guys for all your love and support.
TK_Sleepytime 8 points 3y ago
This makes my heart happy. :)
thebrilliantluxury [OP] 7 points 3y ago
Thank you! It makes mine happy, too! His progress is incredible!
KillerLag 5 points 3y ago
Glad to hear his training is going well!
80percentaccurate 3 points 3y ago
So happy for your brother and your family! It sounds like he’s really taking the experience and learning from it and that he has a great support network to help him grow as he learns these new skills. Good for you guys!
thebrilliantluxury [OP] 3 points 3y ago
Thank you so much! We were so excited this weekend to see just how much these 2 weeks have helped. He no longer believes that his life is confined to 4 walls just because he's blind. The next big event he's going to is my university graduation in May and he's SO excited to use his new skills in a big place like that!
bscross32 2 points 3y ago
Fuck I can't even do grilled cheese, I burn the bread every time because I don't know when to flip. I have a way of doing it, and it comes out well every time, but it's ghetto AF. I basically use a propane torch with an oven safe plate and sweep it over the bread with the flames going outward, then flip and do the other side.
thebrilliantluxury [OP] 3 points 3y ago
I LOVE this idea but I feel like giving my brother a blow torch is a REALLY bad idea LMAO
Now I have to try this.
Now I have to try this.
bscross32 3 points 3y ago
I've heard about construction workers doing that type of thing, so I thought I'd try it out one day.
80percentaccurate 3 points 3y ago
Isn’t the first grilled cheese the throw away one for everyone? If I’m making grilled cheese for a group, guaranteed someone is eating one with more than a little char.
thebrilliantluxury [OP] 3 points 3y ago
I think that's the rule. My first one is always black on one side because I suck at cooking. My brother cooks better than me even now. I'm going to make him teach me the technique they taught him!
codeplaysleep 2 points 3y ago
Pancakes, too - the first pancake is always trash.
bscross32 2 points 3y ago
Maybe but I burn them bad. I haven't figured out the timing of it, and I don't like wasting things, so I kind of get discouraged with it and don't want to try again because I basically wasted two slices of bread and a slice of cheese, and whatever butter I used.
codeplaysleep 1 points 3y ago
I'm so glad to hear that he's doing better. That's great news! That sounds like really good progress for 2 weeks.
Personally, I had a horrible experience with the McDowell center, but that was about a decade ago, so I assume anything can change and/or my experience was just a fluke.
Personally, I had a horrible experience with the McDowell center, but that was about a decade ago, so I assume anything can change and/or my experience was just a fluke.
Flyaway-Rainbow16 1 points 3y ago
Any progress is progress. I'm so greatful I had a family who already knew what to do (Mom and dad are both blind as well), but knowing that there are resources to help other people makes all the difference. Your support for your brother makes me smile.
blackberrybunny 1 points 3y ago
I am SO happy to read an update about your brother, and SO GLAD he is doing so well! Hoooorah! You guys should throw him a party. :-) So so happy he is doing so much better and gaining independence. You are right--a grilled cheese sandwich is nothing to those with sight, but to someone who is newly visually impaired/blind, it is a pretty big deal. It takes so much longer for blind people do accomplish small tasks at first. It simply does take longer to do things. No shame in that. I can attest. AND it is scary to cook with fire and hot pans at first. But it'll get easier.
May I suggest buying for him a 3 quart Instant Pot? You can brown meat, cook grits, oatmeal, soups, stews, anything/everything in it. If you make spaghetti in it, you simply toss in the ingredients, like the raw hard pasta spaghettis, all in at once, and let it cook. Stir, and voila! Just make sure to brown any meat first for pasta dishes. Otherwise, you can toss in raw chicken, roasts, anything really, and it'll cook it up so fast and they are awesome. They are like rice cookers, on steroids! We love ours. They are great for the visually impaired. Just a suggestion. I say the 3 quart one because he is at school, and cooking only for himself (I assume), and not a family. They come in 3, 6, and 8 quart sizes. SO much better and faster than a slow cooker!
Also, the Braille, phew, wow!! Braille was fun, but HARD! If he says it's easy, then more power to him!! As he progresses from Grade 1 Braille, he'll move onto Grade 2 Braille, and that is when it gets harder. And THEN, the meth---the Nemocode! Oh man, I never did get that.... but I'm lucky enough to be able to use a large CCTV screen and magnify my books... Braille was hard for me because as soon as I'd read one word, then two, then alas, an entire string of words, I used SO much brain power and energy that I would forget the beginning of the sentence. I'd have to go over it three times just to get it all down at once. What I found fun was using a slate and stylus to write Braille. A lot of sighted people don't realize that when you write Braille by hand with this method, you have to do it all BACKWARDS! Oh, errr, I mean, "SDRAWKCAB!" Yes, it's true. I am sure he will learn to use a BrailleWriter, which is like a typewriter, but in Braille.
So happy for your brother! Please keep the awesome reports coming and let him know we are rooting for him!
May I suggest buying for him a 3 quart Instant Pot? You can brown meat, cook grits, oatmeal, soups, stews, anything/everything in it. If you make spaghetti in it, you simply toss in the ingredients, like the raw hard pasta spaghettis, all in at once, and let it cook. Stir, and voila! Just make sure to brown any meat first for pasta dishes. Otherwise, you can toss in raw chicken, roasts, anything really, and it'll cook it up so fast and they are awesome. They are like rice cookers, on steroids! We love ours. They are great for the visually impaired. Just a suggestion. I say the 3 quart one because he is at school, and cooking only for himself (I assume), and not a family. They come in 3, 6, and 8 quart sizes. SO much better and faster than a slow cooker!
Also, the Braille, phew, wow!! Braille was fun, but HARD! If he says it's easy, then more power to him!! As he progresses from Grade 1 Braille, he'll move onto Grade 2 Braille, and that is when it gets harder. And THEN, the meth---the Nemocode! Oh man, I never did get that.... but I'm lucky enough to be able to use a large CCTV screen and magnify my books... Braille was hard for me because as soon as I'd read one word, then two, then alas, an entire string of words, I used SO much brain power and energy that I would forget the beginning of the sentence. I'd have to go over it three times just to get it all down at once. What I found fun was using a slate and stylus to write Braille. A lot of sighted people don't realize that when you write Braille by hand with this method, you have to do it all BACKWARDS! Oh, errr, I mean, "SDRAWKCAB!" Yes, it's true. I am sure he will learn to use a BrailleWriter, which is like a typewriter, but in Braille.
So happy for your brother! Please keep the awesome reports coming and let him know we are rooting for him!
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