Through Our Eyes: Just Being a Kid

It was a hot summer day in August 1996. I was just 7 years old and I was sitting in a swimming pool, waiting for another boy about my age to jump onto the other end of a large inflatable I was on.

When he launched off the platform and landed, it sent me upward what felt like a mile. As I soared over the pool, I momentarily forgot that I was blind. I forgot that, for most of the year at school, I was the only blind kid and always felt different from everyone else. All I knew was that the kids in the water below me were like me — they, too, had some form of vision loss.

As I splashed down to cheers, I don’t think any of us were thinking about our eyesight. For that moment, we were just kids at camp.

30 Years Later

As I reflect on that day – and those times – I’m reminded of how important summer camp was for me. It wasn’t just any camp. There in the hills of Missouri, at a place called Camp Barnabas, I got to be around people like me. I had experiences, made memories, and built confidence in a way that still stays with me today.

The Importance of Being a Kid

I grew up in the public school system, and until the day I walked across the stage to receive my high school diploma, I was the only blind student in my class — something that seems unlikely considering I attended multiple schools across two states.

I went to specialized classes, carried a large braille writer from class to class, and had a woman who followed me to each class to help obtain assignments. She even assisted me with exams. Despite her presence — and the support of my family and school faculty — I still felt isolated.

Of course, I resisted using a cane, which is not uncommon. I didn’t want to stand out any more than I already did. I’m not sure it mattered, because I wasn’t going to fit in no matter what. I was different — except for one week each year at camp, when I wasn’t.

Summer camp was so much more than a week’s vacation for me. During the 10 years I attended as a camper and the five years I worked as summer staff, it was the only time of year I felt “normal.”

I was just like everyone else, and everyone else was just like me. Now, as an adult approaching 40, it means a lot to be working for an organization that offers those same opportunities to youth with vision loss.

Alphapointe Youth Programs

From my experience, the programs Alphapointe offers youth with vision loss have tremendous value. When you enroll a child in activities like Kids in the Kitchen, Tech Camp, or Adventure Camp, you’re giving them far more than a week away. You’re giving them confidence, independence, community — and the chance to just be a kid.

That includes learning through the expanded core curriculum. Through our youth programs, kids and teens learn and play in environments that support orientation and mobility (O&M), socialization, recreation and leisure, and independence.

Put another way, they’re surrounded by a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment where they can have the experiences every child deserves — while growing emotionally and mentally along the way.

Just Being a Kid

Some might think learning to live with vision loss begins after high school — with a first job or first apartment. But for most of us, that learning happens alongside everything else.

It’s part of growing up — the ups and downs, the experiences, and the process of figuring out who you are. Every kid deserves that. It carries forward into adulthood, when they step into a world that isn’t always designed with them in mind.

Alphapointe’s camps and programs are designed to help them move into those next stages of life ready — confident and capable. And soon, at Adventure Camp, they’ll know what it feels like to run fast, play on a team, feel the rush of success, and build confidence as they throw a hatchet, climb a wall, fly down a zipline, or swim alongside others just like them.

It’s just being a kid. But it’s so much more.