What would happen if you lost the ability to see the news, the sky, or the people you love? Imagine having to live unable to view your everyday life. These were concerns raised in the documentary "Going Blind" by Joseph Lovett.
World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment.
UCF celebrated World Sight Day by hosting an open learning forum. This free information session was held at the Cape Coral Ballroom by the Student Disability Services with the support of several other student organizations. It included guest and information tables from Lighthouse Central Florida, Freedom Scientific, Florida Division of Blind Services, Florida Reading and Vision Technology and College Optical.
The event opened up with the documentary "Going Blind." In this short film viewers get to follow Lovett as he learns to be at peace with his vision loss. Guests had the chance to view Lovett's journey, scientifically and emotionally, as he experienced going blind.
After the documentary a panel of visually impaired guest speakers discussed their experiences about losing their vision and dealing with academic accommodations. The panel of guests included UCF students.
Lee Van Eepoel, one of the guest panelists and director and case manager at Lighthouse Central Florida, began losing her vision when she was in college. She explained the most difficult part of her journey has been the fear of the unknown.
"You go through a lot emotionally when you become visually impaired," Eepoel said. "The fear of the unknown is terrifying, it will kill you. I was at a very pivotal point in my life, and I had a lot of people who treated me like I was dying."
Other guest panelists included: Dr. Suha Saleh, director of UCF health sciences in the pre clinical program, Kyle Coon junior in the College of Sciences, Toni Clalie senior in the College of Business, Maria Saavedra senior in the College of Sciences, and history major Danielle Rodriguez.
The guests began with sharing their unique stories of the causes that led to their vision loss. All of the guests said the most important part of their journey is the love and support they receive from their family and friends.
Coon, who was diagnosed with cancer in the eyes when he was just 10-months old, shared how studying has helped him value communication.
"I wanted to do everything on my own," Coon said, "but studying has helped me work on interpersonal communication."
Rodriguez was diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity; she explained her transition from a school in New York for the visually impaired to UCF.
"Professors have made it easier, but they need to have directions before hand in how to deal with a student who is visually impaired," Rodriguez said.
The students shared difficulties they have experienced in their academic life, especially while at UCF. For the most part the students agreed that the school and faculty members have done an excellent job in adapting to their needs.
"Dealing with others was the worst part…I don't want to hide my visual impairment, I just want to do what I do. The world is not going to adapt to you, but it helps to be helped," Van Eepcel said.
After the panelists were done sharing their stories and answering the questions asked by audience members, guests were then invited to eat the food that was provided by the Student Government Association. Viewers also had the opportunity of talk one-on-one with the members of the panel and the representatives from the information tables.
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