Deaf And Blind Man Gives Talk On Life's Struggle

Ernest Tracy talks to Disability Services Coordinator/Counselor Annie Clingenpeel by feeling her hands as she communicates in sign language. Tracy, who was born deaf and went blind as an adult, gave a talk through his interpreter/wife in Ferguson Auditorium.

Ernest Tracy's first job was working for the circus -$15 a week plus food and a bleak future. Nearly blind and completely deaf, he stumbled his way around, worked long hours and slept on the floors of the trains.

Born deaf, his sight, as well as his family, began to fail him at an early age. As a young adult, he was abandoned by a family that moved far away. He took more ill-fitting jobs as a hospital porter, a hat maker and a laborer. He ate dinner from a can. He managed to get an apartment. He kept his blindness a secret. He had no goals or hopes for the future.

Tracy was born with Usher's Syndrome. At 60, he is now completely deaf and blind "like Helen Keller," he explains.

Using sign language, translated by his wife and A-B Tech Interpreter Brenda Tracy, he spoke to students at A-B Tech Oct. 17 as part of Disability Awareness Month.

It wasn't until Tracy was again unemployed and assigned a counselor with a rehabilitation center, that he finally confessed his blindness. "I finally confessed to the counselor, 'You know I can't see you.' They were very surprised," Tracy said.

He was later placed on a two-year waiting list for deaf and blind rehabilitation. "I was very alone and frustrated." Finally, he entered the center, now called the Helen Keller National Center for the Deaf and Blind, and was trained to use a cane, clean, cook and work. He landed a job with Polaroid packing and assembling. "They didn't want to hire me and I was nervous but I got the job, got a good report and I became a full-time employee."

This, of course, was before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was enacted, so communication was a challenge. He taught co-workers to write in his hand. But as soon as he would learn to communicate with them, he was transferred, working in as many as 40 different offices. In spite of being shuffled around, Tracy won the Governor's Award for Most Outstanding Handicapped in Massachusetts.

He later bought a house and a knock on his door introduced him to the world of sign language. It was then he met his wife - one of several Jehovah's Witnesses that teach sign language as part of their ministry. They later had two boys "both hearing," who now teach sign language to the deaf and hearing.

Tracy was 38 when he completely lost his sight (he now feels the signs, placing his hands on top of the person speaking to him) and reluctantly learned Braille. He commented that only 2% of Americans know Braille compared to Japan's 98%. Braille would become his future as he was laid off from Polaroid, awarded only severance pay, after 27 years of service. "I couldn't find a job after that so I started my own business (Brailling Enterprises) making Braille menus and room directories for hotels and restaurants."

Opening up his watch to feel for the time, Tracy added he was recently filmed for a show about the deaf and blind that will run at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Mass. Return to top

A-B Tech Adjunct Writes Of Love and Loss

Marie Maher's new book chronicles the life of her son, Shane, whose artwork appears on the cover.

A-B Tech Adjunct Marie Maher, who teaches sociology and criminal justice, has written a book Gifts from Shane about her son's life.

Her son Shane was a special needs boy who spent his entire life overcoming mild retardation by attending public schools, keeping a part-time job and becoming a museum-quality artist. He learned early on to "triumph over fear and imperfection," according to Maher. As a teenager in 1996, Shane was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called aplastic anemia. He died less than two years later.

The book details his struggle in this powerful story of high drama, dry humor, and deep despair. Through Maher's recollection - and Shane's own words and art - readers will come to realize that from loss comes gain, courage, renewal, and the ultimate "gift" that loved ones leave behind - the special uniqueness of each human heart.

In the foreword, written by Forest Gump author Winston Groom, he says, "Marie Maher tells the story of Shane's life and death in a touching, droll, and utterly straightforward way; a tale of triumph and tragedy that at times elates, at times gives one chills. The reader comes away at each turn of the page sharing the hope, feeling the let-downs, getting to know Shane and his remarkable family."

The book is now available in print through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and iUniverse.com and is endorsed by the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, the Starlight Children's Foundation (similar to Make-A-Wish) and the National Marrow Donor Program. Retail price is $18.95 with a percentage of the proceeds benefiting these nonprofit organizations.

Read an excerpt or download an e-book version of 'Gifts from Shane' by visiting the author's website at http://www.onceawriter.com. Maher is a professional freelance writer and has published two prior nonfiction books.

Excerpt:

"'Have you been crying, Mama?' He moves over so I can sit beside him on the bed. He knows whatever I have to say next isn't good.

'Oh, maybe a little. I've been talking with Dr. Beaty and he says the donor who was going to help you get a transplant has a virus. So we can't use him. That means you won't be going to transplant soon like we thought.'

'Does it mean I'm going to die?' He asks the question with a calmness and clarity I can barely comprehend. How is it that he can take this devastating blow with such grace? I clasp his hand in mine and rub his smooth skin. I am remembering when he is four years old and I am bathing him before bed. I've gone to get a bath towel and when I return he is sitting upright in the tub, his eyes squeezed tight, and a soap-filled washcloth in his hand.

'What happened sweetie, you get soap in your eyes?'

'No,' he says. He is smiling, his lips parted, a peaceful look on his funny little face.

'You weren't really gone,' he says. 'Because I can see you in my eyes!'

While I sit and hold him now, rocking him slowly on his bed, his words fly softly back to me. 'No matter what,' I whisper into his ear, 'I'll always see you in my eyes.'"Return to top

Munn's The Word

Tracy Munn, a Continuing Education Community Services instructor who teaches a class in simple slipcovers and window treatments, was featured in the Oct. 10 edition of the Citizen Times. Tracy has recently completed a book titled Simple Slipcovers: Stylish New Looks For Every Room."

CRC Appoints Morrissey

Vice President of Instructional Services Sharon Morrisey has been appointed to the Curriculum Review Committee (CRC). This committee has oversight for maintenance and revision of the North Carolina Community College System Common Course Library and Curriculum Standards. This includes providing recommendations to the Program Committee of the State Board of Community Colleges for revisions and development of courses for Curriculum Standards.

At the Y-W-C-A!

The Basic Skills program has begun a new partnership with the YWCA in Asheville teaching ABE/GED classes. Free childcare is available to single parents enrolled in the classes.

Tech Talk is published for employees of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College by the College Relations Division.

Executive Editor:
Mona Cornwell
Managing Editor:
Jodi Ford

Send submissions to Mona Cornwell, director of communications, at mcornwell@abtech.edu. Publication of the next issue is scheduled Dec. 2. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 18. This edition of Tech Talk was produced October 2002. Equal Opportunity Educational Institution.

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