 Welcome to Portland Media Center member highlights. I'm Leslie McVane and my guest today is Steve Kelly Who is a certified vision? Rehabilitation Therapist with the Irish Network. Hi Steve. How are you Leslie? I'm fine now. We're gonna talk about Services that people can get the community services and You want to explain a little bit about what that means and community is not just this community But it's the whole state. It is the whole state of Maine and I just want to ask you prior to this Did you ever have had you ever heard of a vision rehab therapist? Actually, I had oh my gosh, you're one of very few then well I have a story there, but we won't go into it. Okay, but yes Well, usually when I ask that question if I'm doing a presentation I see no hands go up so people are very Unaware of what a vision rehab therapist is and what our profession is we are not medical professionals we are rehabilitation professionals and We often see people after the doctor says to them There's nothing more we can do for you and what the doctor really means is there is Nothing more in terms of refraction for eyeglasses So I work with people who have a vision loss. That's not Correctable by wearing a pair of glasses so it can be anything from just a little difficulty reading the newspaper To total blindness and we've got community services that are statewide where we actually work with people in Their homes and it's very Individualized it's based on what their goals are and we write up a plan and then we work with the individuals on those goals And I suppose once they're they're told by their doctor. Okay, this is it This is you help them adapt to the idea that this is what their vision is now There's usually an awful lot of anxiety. Yeah, you know That that is just one area, but it's also common for a person who's having Was recently diagnosed with say macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. That's another common thing for folks who are aging and It's so much better. I think if we hear from people early on But you know, there's there's a stigma about vision loss and blindness. We don't want to talk about it It's we're afraid of it I've if you ever saw the statistics about, you know, what are people afraid of you see cancer and blindness Almost at the very top of the list. So we don't want to talk about it We don't want to mention it to our family and friends but to be honest it's It's great when somebody calls and just says, you know, I'm having some trouble reading the newspaper the doctor recently told me I've got macular degeneration and We can make a referral or the division for the blind and visually impaired can make a referral and Send us to work with that person and as we get older I mean it's something we should be I'll be talking about Oh, absolutely because our eyes are just like the rest of our body. You know, they're not gonna Go the full distance the way they were when we started. That's exactly right And so we need to be recognizing this sure my profession. We're not medical doctors We are not in the medical field per se. We're rehab professionals But part of my job is advocacy and as an advocate for eye health and eye care You know, I would love to see a lot more people going in much sooner to have a dilated eye exam I think, you know, oftentimes these things we're talking about diabetic retinopathy glaucoma Macular degeneration. Those are like the top three as we age There's no there's no pain involved in those things and and sometimes the it's a very gradual thing All of a sudden you're just having a little trouble Reading the newspaper reading a book driving seeing faces across the room Those were all things that become a little more difficult and people just kind of put it off as you know It's a sign of a go to the drugstore and buy some readers and that's exactly right it would be great to to Be working with folks a little bit earlier time where we can talk about some of the things that we normally do We talk about contrast and glare. We talk about magnification Lighting getting from point a to point b That sort of thing. Well, let's talk about some of the the rehab services that you provide And a lot of it is involves going to the person's home and actually working with them They are rather than having them come to you. That's correct in At least with the iris network We have a Large community-based service. That's probably our biggest program and our partner with that That program is the division for the blind and visually impaired the state of Maine DBVI and It's actually a contract so oftentimes a referral comes in to either them or to us either place is fine By the way, people don't need to have their doctor make a referral anyone can pick up the phone and say You know, I'm having difficulty reading the newspaper I would like to work with a vision rehab therapist or see what services are available And and they're able to do that and they're able to do that. Well, that's that's great. Oh, it is Yeah, and you know, they'll meet with somebody from DBVI usually how it starts and then Services will be determined from that A person could also make an appointment with our low vision clinic, which is more of a medical thing That's that's something that you know, their doctor may suggest as a next step. So that's another service We also have the access technology and employment services Which we call at ease because soon as you start talking about technology everybody gets nervous Am I gonna break the computer? Am I gonna be able to see the computer screen? So that's at ease and then we also have a rehab center, which Is focused on people who are employment bound and that's more of a national service folks from Maine or certainly welcome to To participate in that but we also have folks from outside of Maine that come there Oh, so those are primarily our big programs, right, but you work You know, I was reading on online a little bit about what you do and and the things that you do Going into the home helping people Adapt their kitchen say and and how I mean things that you don't think about Normally and and when your vision starts to go just you know is something turned off or correct How do you iron if you're losing your vision and make sure? Talk a little bit about some of those things everybody's gonna have their own priorities You know, I'm thinking about someone who is like a handy person around the house And all of a sudden they're having difficulty using their tools and that sort of thing because they're having difficulty seeing That that might be something Employment even though we often see People who are living at home independently Elders there are a lot of folks that we see in employment situations someone who's having difficulty all of a sudden Managing some paperwork or seeing the computer screen that is now a big one Someone trying to use the iPad with a little less vision than they had before I mean that's pretty typical But there are all kinds of you know leisure activities I mean, I'm I'm just thinking of all the different crafting activities Some of my co-workers have worked with people who have been crocheting and all of a sudden they're Dropping stitches and they're having trouble seeing it. So it's you know, it runs of the full gamut And athletics to athletics exactly runners or Swimmers, you know to sort of adapt it so they can keep doing those things in in a lot of ways I think our profession We're problem-solvers I mean so we go in and we kind of listen to what's happening with the person where they're trying to go what they're challenged with and then We try to solve those problems or challenges figure out and we call them adaptive daily living skills, but basically Whatever we're approaching We approach it with the idea. Well, how can we adapt this? So that person is able to do it a little bit more effectively or efficiently right and and when you do these home visits It doesn't mean just Portland. You can go to Prescott. You can go to oh anywhere Oh, we can go out to the islands. It really it doesn't matter. That's wonderful. Yeah We've we've met people in the local library if it's more comfortable for them Or you know if reading is one of the things that's going on or using the the computer in the library You know, we'll meet a person there. We're pretty flexible as far as that goes well being an island person part-time I love the idea that you go to the islands because they're they're often not given a lot of this or Have access to a lot of service and folks may think that it's not available to them And by the way, I just want to say the community-based program is At no cost to individuals. This is paid for through DBVI funding. It's you know, we've paid for this through our tax dollars over the years So, you know if a person needs a magnifying glass or they need some lighting or something like that Sometimes there's a negotiation process, you know if a person does not have the means to to get those things and I think it's going to help them Stay independent the state will sometimes step in or have a conversation. Can you split it with us 50-50? So I don't want people to worry about funding for this kind of a service It's it's there and there's usually no cost for it. So people take advantage of this. I mean, it's wonderful It's like this big secret that we all want to know I know you just reminded me I said earlier It's like sometimes my co-workers and I say we are the best kept secret in the state of Maine But you know that the flip side of it is just to be Candid who wants to talk about vision loss and blindness? Yeah, we you know There's such a stigma attached to that that we don't want to admit that we have a vision loss We're uncomfortable with the topic And as you said before, you know as we age main ages I think it's one of those things we just need to get a little bit more comfortable with You know, it does have its scary components. I'm not going to be a Pollyanna about this There's no question about it and I talk with people every single day about this subject and You know, sometimes it's not easy, but let's talk about it. Let's figure out a solution That's it a lot of these things computers are easy because I know a little something about them But for example, most of us didn't grow up with friends who were blind or had low vision. It's just We don't have a whole lot of experience with that We don't know for example that most computers can talk to you You can either put software in it or just turn on a switch and the computer will then start reading things that are on it Is there a learning curve? You bet there's a learning curve, but We we so many times I will see somebody who's who said oh, I stopped using the computer. I can't see the screen. It's like You know, it's an important part of your life Let's figure out a way that you're going to be using that computer again And and your iPhone I realize talks to you sometimes when you don't want it Well, you've got there's a setting in there where you can turn on voiceover and you can begin using the there are So many people who are totally blind see absolutely nothing at all that rely on their iPhone And it's the same one that you and I buy at the store They just turn voiceover on and they know how to use it and and it's just you know, bringing out these other senses that we Sort of put aside sometimes in some cases. That's that's true, too Well, thank you so much for all this Information and if people want to learn more they can get in touch with you iris network and it's WWW dot the iris org and they can reach us in state 7746273 and I'd also encourage folks to call the division for the blind and visually impaired Too if they want to make a referral or get a little more information in their area That's another option. Well, this is terrific and we'll get you back again and talk about even more stuff I need to make one more plug. Okay Vision rehabilitation therapists. We have our awareness week. It's coming up the second week of April around April 14th which is the Birthday of Annie Sullivan and if you think about Annie Sullivan, she was really one of the pioneers of my profession So vision rehab therapist awareness week is the week of April 14th wonderful. Well, congratulations. Thanks so much Thank you so much