Finding light in a dark world

Imagine a world full of darkness. There is no one to guide you but yourself. The lessons learned through life are learned the hard way – through trial and error, discrimination and social isolation.

This is the world in which Darrell Shandrow and many other disabled students live in.

Shandrow is the only blind student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He has been blind since birth and walks through the unknown daily.

“I was born with congenital glaucoma along with other medical conditions like deafness and a heart murmur,” Shandrow says. “Blindness was the only thing that remained.”

His journey has been a long one, and one that many other students with disabilities may relate to.

Throughout Shandrow’s life there have been stages in learning how to deal with blindness.

“When I was a child, I had my parents to look out for me. They encouraged me to learn and to try everything. But, at the same time, they were there to make sure the world accepted me. They helped to interpret the world for me in a non-visual way.”

While Shandrow’s childhood was full of hope and positive encouragement at home, that was not always the case outside his home.

“I got my first taste of discrimination when I wanted to go to public high school,” Shandrow says. “The Marana School District did not want me in their school. They said I should stay at the Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind. They didn’t think their school was appropriate for a blind student.”

Marana School District’s discrimination against Shandrow led to a legal battle that went to federal court. In 1987, a settlement was achieved and the Marana School District had to pay for Shandrow’s education.

However, even with the court ruling in his favor, Shandrow chose to stay at Palo Verde High School in the Tucson Unified School District.

“I didn’t want to go to a school where the principal actually wondered how I would go to the bathroom,” Shandrow says. “I wanted to stay at the school I started with and where I made friends and they actually wanted me.”

After Shandrow’s experience with the Marana School District, he knew his world would not be the same.

“It was the first time I realized the world wasn’t going to be perfect for me,” Shandrow says. ” As a blind person I was going to rub up against people’s preconceptions of me and they were going to emphasize my disability instead of me as an individual,” Shandrow says.

Out in the real world, Shandrow learned a few valuable lessons.

“If I was going to succeed it was up to me,” Shandrow says. “There’s no one necessarily provided to read to me. I have to find them or ask for them and make the necessary arrangements to compensate for my disability.”

“I think all students encounter obstacles and must learn to navigate successfully beyond them,” says Lance Harrop, assistant director of the disability center at ASU’s downtown campus. “Some of those obstacles may be physical barriers in that, quite literally, one must navigate in and around an inaccessible route. Other obstacles may be more subtle and harder to detect – for example, a lack of understanding by others regarding the impact a disability may have on a person.”
After two years in college, Shandrow moved to Denver to attend the Colorado Center for the Blind.

“I was going to go for a three month college training program and instead I stayed longer and got my daily living skills down,” Shandrow says. “I learned how to compensate for my blindness. I enhanced my braille reading skills, my orientation mobility skills and my computer technology skills.”

After his time in Denver, Shandrow got into the computer technology field, specifically in technology support. The networking side was easy for Shandrow but the technology wasn’t always accessible with Shandrow’s software.

“It feels like we take one step forward and two steps back. Some things have become more accessible while other things have become more graphically oriented,” Shandrow says.

Today, Shandrow continues to move forward with his technology skills as he works his way towards a degree in online journalism and an ultimate goal of becoming a technical writer.

“In dealing with my blindness,” Shandrow says. “I have succeeded in many ways, I’ve succeeded professionally and I can succeed academically. My mom has always told me I could do whatever I wanted to if I set my mind to it.”

“Shandrow is very talented and has a wealth of knowledge in a number of different disciplines,” Harrop says. “I think one of his greatest qualities, however, is his ability to positively look at how he can improve the world around him. He is such a great advocate for anyone, but especially people with disabilities. He is genuine and enthusiastic and he cares deeply.  He also has a terrific sense of humor and big heart.”

—    theresa.dillon@asu.edu

Visit ACBradio.org to listen to Darrell Shandrow’s radio broadcasts as well as many other talented individuals.

Tagged as: blind, disabilities, hope, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism