Lucas beams after pressing an adaptive switch, essentially a much larger version of the button on the bubble machine. Adapting a game like a bubble machine only takes a little extra effort and enables children like Lucas to participate. Photos by Tracey Goldner

On a recent sunny Saturday, more than 100 families arrived at South Meadows Middle School in Hillsboro for a day of fun, games and connection. Community booths lined the halls, a mariachi band from Forest Grove High School performed on the stage and more than 20 tables offering various activities filled the courtyard. 

“There’s lots of fun to be had,” said Elwin, a sophomore from Tualatin High School. Elwin arrived around 11 a.m. with his mom and little sister. They had already stopped by several community booths including the State Library of Oregon, which provides talking books and braille readers. He participated in one round of the treat trot, enjoyed a doughnut and took in the live music. 

Elwin says he participates regularly with the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes and enjoys playing goalball — a game specifically geared toward participants with vision impairments — participating in Judo and riding a tandem bike. 

Elwin, a sophomore from Tualatin High School, poses for a photo with his mom and sister. Elwin holds freshly spun pink cotton candy. He and his mom smile for the camera and his little sister sits in a stroller and looks up at him. Elwin said he was enjoying seeing so many of his friends from the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA). “I’m a fan of goalball,” he said. “I have a full bias toward goalball. Judo is my next and then tandem biking. This is why I love NWABA.”

When asked about his braille skills, he shared that he can read braille at 45 words a minute. But as an auditory learner, he prefers to listen as his primary mode of acquiring information and participating in the world. His current pace is about 745 words a minute, which is about 10x speed. 

“I’m working to make it 750,” he said. 

Emily Recchia, a teacher of the visually impaired with NWRESD, created a map of the venue using braille and sensory materials like paper, pom-poms and gems so participants could read the braille and then match the material on the key with the map. Having maps like this one at community events helps include people with blindness or visual impairments. 

Sean, a fourth grader from Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego, had already participated in 18 activities — as evidenced by the stamps he collected from each booth he visited. 

He was excited to report that he’d just learned how to use a fishing pole. He said casting the line and then cranking it back in was satisfying, especially since he netted two fidgets for his efforts. 

Sean shared that his hobbies are playing video games and listening to rock music. His favorite band is currently AC/DC. 

Sean, left, plays table-style Skee-Ball with volunteer and NWRESD Foundation president Karen Foley. Sean said he’d like to have beeper baseball, which is an adapted version of baseball for visually impaired athletes, closer to his house. He has to drive 3 hours to participate. 

When asked what would make life better, Sean shared that he’d like to have beeper baseball closer to his house. He participates with the Miracle League but has to travel 3 hours to play a game. 

He said he was excited to see an Xbox controller made especially for people with a vision impairment at the adaptive equipment booth. “The Nintendo I can do without adapted stuff, but it would just be cool to have that,” he said. 

His mom, Megan, said she was appreciative of an event like this that is geared specifically to her child’s needs. “Everybody is so supportive and looking for ways to interact with our kids, which is really cool,” she said. 

She thinks summer camps are a great place to start. She says Camp Spark — operated by the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes and funded by the Blind Visually Impaired Student Fund  — which provides sports camp opportunities to children with vision impairments, is great. But she’s looking for more opportunities for Sean to meet new friends, especially children who also experience a vision impairment.  

“He’s probably the only visually impaired kid in his school, so to be able to interact with other kids who have a similar disability is really cool,” Megan says. 

Madelyn blows a bubble as her dad looks on. Rather than giving her a narrow bottle of bubbles to play with, Melissa, the NWRESD staff member who hosted the activity, poured the bubbles into a wide dish so Madelyn could dip the wand into the bubbles more easily. Small adjustments like this one go a long way toward making an activity do-able for children with disabilities.

Holly Lawson from Portland State University’s Teacher of the Visually Impaired program hosted a booth to share information about the graduate program. With just 60 teachers of the visually impaired across the state, Oregon is experiencing a shortage of teachers who can teach students to read braille, navigate through the world and participate fully in school.

Holly says she is working hard to get the word out about the need for more teachers who have the skills to work with blind or visually impaired kids. 

She says part of the shortage is just a lack of understanding about vision impairment. Most of the teachers who come into her program are recruited through word of mouth or because they have a friend or family member with vision impairment. 

Another issue is that there are not many programs like Portland State’s nationwide. States like Hawaii and Alaska don’t have their own training programs. So students who attend the program come from all over the Northwest — Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington — to get that training so they can be a teacher of the visually impaired or an orientation and mobility specialist. 

Holly says people who are interested in potentially becoming a teacher of the visually impaired should shadow educators who work in the field. 

“Really get to know what it’s like because it’s so hard to explain,” she says. 

Kim Medlin and JJ Isaacson, both teachers of the visually impaired at NWRESD, are the main forces behind this event — now in it's second year. Kim came up with the idea as people were emerging from the pandemic era and thought it would be a great way to reconnect students and families to each other and to community resources. 

“Having a child with a disability regardless of what it is, can be isolating,” Kim says. “But it doesn’t have to be. And that’s why events like this are vital.”

• A. Penrod
• Blind Visually Impaired Student Fund
• Carina’s Bakery
• Columbia Regional Inclusive Services
• Diane Sheline
• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
• D. Peterson
• Duyck Family
• E. Lucero
• E. Stotler
• Forest Grove High School
• Hillsboro School District
• J. Cieslak
• J. Danials
• J. Smith Kimzey
• K. Turner
• La Morenita Ricos Taco Truck
• Lindsey family
• L. Matlock
• M. Alexander
• Miss Esma
• Miss Pearl
• Miss Sonia
• M. Shuler
• New Seasons
• Northwest Association for Blind Athletes
• Northwest Regional Education Service District Foundation
• Osborne family
• Pinlac Family
• P. Jones
• Portland State University
• Providence Hospital
• Purdue family
• Scoles family
• Seedlings
• Shari’s Restaurant
• S. Oppenlander
• Swapp family
• S. Zaidma
• West Side Artwerks

• Willamette Bakery

Plus the many anonymous donors and individual volunteers.