Transcript:
Narrator: "Jill Shelton: My Journey" Narrator: "Jill talks about the nature of her disability."
Jill: I have an adolescent form of macular degeneration called Stargardt's disease and it causes central vision impairment. I was diagnosed with Stargardt's when I was 14 years old, when I had just moved to Chattanooga. It was really difficult at first. I was in high school; at that point you are really concerned about being like everyone else. It was difficult if people asked me to read in the classroom, I couldn't see to read in the classroom. It was embarrassing. It was really difficult for me at first and I really did whatever I could to hide the fact that I had a visual impairment cause I wanted to be like everybody else. At that point, I didn't have any accommodations in the classroom; I didn't have any assistive technology, so it was really hard to function.
Narrator: "Jill talks about the Assistive Technology and Vocational Rehabilitation programs."
Jill: Well, once I was actually diagnosed with my eye disease, they sent me to Smyrna, Tennessee to have an evaluation and to see what kind of assistive technology would help me. After that, they found out that a CCTV, which enlarges text, and some screen-reading software for the computer would be ideal, and so I opened my relationship with vocational rehab and it went from there. They sent me to the Signal Center, and that's where they decided exactly which pieces of each kind of equipment I should use.
Narrator: "Jill demonstrates the Kurzweil reader, a portable printed document reader"
Kurzweil: Field of view report: Portrait orientation. All four edges are visible. 71% field, picture.
Jill: And I'll bet she'll still read it to me good...
Kurzweil: Our mission: strengthening children, adults, and families through services focusing on disabilities, early childhood education, and self sufficiency.
Kurzweil: Our vision: A community that fosters lifelong independence for children, adults, and families.
Kurzweil: End of text.
Narrator: "Jill talks about her college education."
Jill: I've received a bachelor's degree in psychology, and after that, I received a master's degree in research psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. From that point, I decided that I wanted to be an experimental psychologist. Now I am working on my PhD in experimental psychology. I just received a grant through the National Institute of Health as a pre-doctoral fellowship for students with disabilities. It took quite a bit of time to read all the material necessary to submit that grant proposal. Again, the assistive technology helped me to do that. It helped me to cover all the material I needed, and I'll receive my PhD in about three semesters. I wouldn't be able to take tests, to read to study my tests, if I didn't have that assistive technology.
Narrator: "Jill talks about her support system."
Well, I've been married now for three and a half years. I married my best friend, so I kinda lucked out there. He's always been really supportive of me. I've been lucky in general with my family. My mom and my dad and my husband have all been very supportive of me. They help me with mobility, to get around and they drive me everywhere. Now I live in Louisiana, my life is there, yet all of my family is still here in Chattanooga, so it is nice to have somebody there to help me get back and forth. I think to have the support of friends and family around you makes a huge difference. I am really thankful to my husband and my family for being so supportive.
Narrator: "Jill discusses her attitude about the future."
It's a whole different world now. Now, I'm excited to tell people that I have a disability. Any opportunity that I get, I want to talk to people about it, to let people know that I am just like everybody else, I just have to do different things to do the same kind of tasks that everyone else does. I like the opportunity to share my experience with other people, hope that it helps even people without disabilities. I think it is important to let them know we're not so different, everybody has obstacles to overcome, and they each have their own way of doing that. For me, I've used assistive technology that I've received through VR and that's allowed me to live like everybody else in the world. I'm excited and I feel blessed to have had the experience that I've had.
Narrator: "Credits page: Jill Shelton: A digital story, starring: Jill Shelton, produced by: Ezra Reynolds for Signal Centers of Chattanooga"