Dale was born in Ohio, but moved to Oklahoma at a young age and attended the Oklahoma School For the Blind. There, he learned the bulk of his orientation and mobility (O&M) skills. Now back in Ohio, Cleveland Sight Center (CSC) is here to help him achieve his latest goals.

Dale connected with CSC after a referral from the Summit County Board of Developmental Disabilities (Summit DD). From this referral, he was signed up for an O&M refresher to get a new white cane and resources to pursue learning geography, a personal goal of his.

“It's stuff that I learned when I was younger,” he explained. “But naturally, if you don't use it, you lose it, right?”

Julia, an Occupational Therapist for CSC, visited Dale and worked with him using tactile and braille materials to expand his knowledge of US and world geography. Together they used a tactile US map from CSC until he could identify each state by touch. He also memorized all 50 state capitals, although he already knew most of them before beginning this activity. These exercises supported his personal goal of learning more about the world, without any visual barriers.

Dale also received a tactile and braille globe and world map through Summit DD, which Julia also trained him how to use.

The “braille globe” has a variety of textures for countries and continents, so just by running your fingers along the globe, users can feel the difference between marked territories and continents.

“Dale’s ability to use tactile markers to locate places he cannot see on the globe is impressive, but his ability to memorize numerous capitals is remarkable!” Julia said.

Now that Dale mastered the map of the United States, he’s moving on to the continents of the world map book. He hopes to one day pass along what he’s learned to his friends and peers by teaching a class about geography.

It can be intimidating to begin a personal project, but Dale recommends finding a topic you’re truly interested in to find the motivation to continue and not give up.

“You might as well get into something that interests you.” He said. “Whatever you're interested in should outweigh the intimidation.”

Beyond geography, Dale is also passionate about blindness etiquette. He wants to teach a “Blind Do's and Don'ts” class, similar to the “Blindness Basics” presentations CSC’s outreach team provides for the community. The first lesson he’d teach?

“You do not grab a man’s cane!” he emphasized.

This, of course, also extends to anyone’s guide dog.

Until Dale’s class is in session, Cleveland Sight Center remains committed to educating Northeast Ohioans about blindness and providing resources and support to help individuals achieve their goals.