Empowering people with vision loss to achieve their goals and aspirations.
For Polly Swafford, living with macular degeneration, a disease that limits central vision, was not only challenging, but also isolating and sometimes, scary. Polly, an educator as well as an editor and publisher of a literary magazine, is passionate about using the written word to engage, inform and enlighten others. Now, Polly was cut off…
Jo Anne Cash is a senior living with neurotrophic keratitis and severe glaucoma. Her vision is near blindness. After a low vision evaluation from an optometrist and an occupational therapist at Alphapointe who both specialize in vision rehabilitation, goals were established to prepare for in-home training provided by an occupational therapy assistant. Jo Anne’s main…
Judy has age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in older adults. Macular degeneration affects one’s central vision and causes “blind spots” that make it difficult to read, recognize faces and engage in many other activities. Judy began receiving training through Alphapointe’s Senior Adult Services Program earlier this summer. An individualized program was…
Margaret was having difficulty reading, dialing phone numbers and navigating her home safely. In addition, she was unable to see her kitchen appliance settings and could not determine when to stop pouring liquids or identify food on her plate. Margaret came to Alphapointe’s Low Vision Clinic with a can-do attitude and was open to making…
Pat is a senior living with a recent diagnosis of optic neuropathy, a condition which damages the optic nerve affecting all aspects of vision. Pat came to Alphapointe’s Low Vision Clinic where she was referred to an occupational therapist to assess her needs. She received follow-up in her home to improve her independence with desired…
Meet Dominican Republic native Omar Rodriquez Taveras. Taveras was poked in his left eye when he was seven years old. Following several surgeries, both his left eye and right eye became severely infected. By the age of 12, he was completely blind. Undeterred, Taveras attended a special school for youth with low vision in the…
By Mark D’Altorio The unemployment rate for people with vision loss is 70 percent and Alphapointe aims to address the situation by offering career counseling, job search assistance, resume/cover letter writing and skills for networking, job interviewing and position placement. Erik Ramos was an Alphapointe employee for more than 10 years and held a variety…
Carla Rhines is a senior living with age-related macular degeneration, a condition affecting the central part of the retina (the macula) and resulting in distortion or loss of central vision. Carla was referred to Alphapointe’s Low Vision Clinic where she received an evaluation by the low vision optometrist and occupational therapist. She then received follow…
Bessie Kelly is a 65-year-old woman living with diabetic macular edema. Needing assistance, she was referred to Alphapointe to receive Occupational Therapy services. Alphapointe started with an in-home evaluation and has continued with follow up training visits to help Bessie increase her independence with daily activities. Initially, Bessie’s main challenges included difficulty reading small print,…
What if your entire world changed in a matter of a few days? Everything you knew how to do would need to be done differently. Now, imagine if you were in high school when it happened. Willie Solano can relate because that’s exactly how his life unfolded. As a sophomore at Shawnee Mission (Kan.) West…