Stephen, Echoes of Light, look to break down barriers of misperception by raising awareness

Despite common misconceptions, it doesn’t take sight to be an independent student and make a difference in public schools. Junior Kymani Stephen, who created Homeroom Hullabaloo on October 14 as an educational opportunity, is also starting a new club. The homeroom activity of identifying sheerly by sound was designed to incorporate blind awareness with a challenge. 

“The hullabaloo was something mostly I stood behind in creating, with the help of a team,” he said. “It was to promote awareness about white cane safety. Basically to clarify what the white cane represents and how we use it. The event itself, having the classrooms participate, was an attempt to create an empathy link or an understanding of white cane users. It was based on detecting sounds and languages, getting a glimpse of the day-to-day life of a blind person.” 

Spreading social awareness about his disability is important to Stephen, which is why he started a club centered around educating other students. Although worried about his first meeting, the amount of student interest calmed his nerves. 

“This year, me and my other visually impaired friend at North wanted to launch a club focusing around the disability and disabilities in general,” he said. “It’s called Echoes of Light, and the advisor is Kristine Proud. We met on the 15th and 16th, and it didn’t go as I planned because I was kind of panicking, but it made do with the number of kids that actually showed up.”

Having recently started, Stephen is still working out the specific details for the new club. However, there are many main ideas he eventually wants to include.
“Since it only just started I’m not sure how it’s going to look,” he said. “I have plans for how I want it to look and ideas that I’m still working on, but it’s mainly to help West focus on the aspect of the disabled community, and foster a little connection or awareness to it.”

The first two meetings held various activities to hopefully help students understand a blind person's struggles and how to help. Stephen even invited one of his teachers from outside the Oshkosh Area School District. 

“On the 15th, I had them create their names in braille, they had a braille cheat sheet that gave the basis on it,” he said. “I had them try to guess other people’s names with the cheat sheet and they were able to get a hang on it. On the 16th I brought in my orientation and mobility instructor. She’s my teacher for independent orientation and mobility skills, so actually using my cane. We showed them what a sided guide is, which is a blind person hanging onto somebody’s shoulder. We had them blindfold each other and walk around the classroom.”

In the beginning of his high school career, Stephen felt West wasn’t very inclusive. As time went on and people started to learn about his disability, things got better. Stephen also recognizes the help he’s gotten from departments in the district who specifically work with students who have disabilities. 

“The vision department in the district has been extremely helpful and the special education department has been able to help me adjust,” he said. “I think as more staff learn about the disability, it starts to get better. Between my freshman year and now, I think it has improved a lot.”

Stephen speaks to the accommodations he needs as a visually impaired student.

“Academic-wise, if teachers are willing to connect and do their jobs to the fullest extent, that would be extremely helpful, that means giving me or my team a heads up of what’s coming in class, if they know for a fact it’s not accessible,” he said. “I also have braille notes, so it’s just a device that is compatible with braille so I can be efficient and do work on there.” 

These daily challenges haven’t always affected Stephen, as he only went blind five years ago. 

“I wasn't born blind. I lost my sight completely in sixth grade,” he said. “There are a lot of conditions for becoming blind, like inheritance, genetics, or accidents like mine.”

Frequent stereotypes about the blind community follow Stephen constantly in day to day life. He proves those stereotypes wrong by being more self-sufficient than others may realize. 

“People always expect us not to be as independent, but a lot of blind people actually are,” he said. “A lot of people ask me where the person that follows me is, but I know my way around the school and I don't need help.”

These stereotypes motivated Stephen to create Echoes of Light and bring attention to how others treat blind individuals. 

“My biggest struggle is probably the majority not being aware, that’s predominantly the reason I created the club to try to help clear some of that misconception,” he said. “A big challenge is that and just the way society is, that’s something me and a lot of other blind people agree on.” 

Many people are uneducated on disabled communities and how to treat disabled individuals; this could all be avoided by simply asking.

“People define a lot of us by our disabilities, some people are nervous of what to say and how to say it, but asking questions is the best way of doing it,” Stephen said. 

by Tenna Ruetten

Published November 4th, 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue II