Features

• Braillovation: Mason City man creates useful tools using Braille
• Blind Perspective: Yard Work: Where there's a will, there's a way

Braillovation

Mason City man creates useful tools using Braille

By Shoshana Hebshi, Editor

In his Mason City home, Gene Kleinow sits at his kitchen table. He is stoic and formidable, as a former police chief would be. His wife, Pat, busies herself around the house, while her husband explains how Braille has been keeping him busy for the last two years.

“It’s very helpful,” the 70-year-old retiree says of Braille. “I’d recommend it to anyone. I was 68 when I learned it. Any old person can learn it. It’s just a matter of sitting down and learning it.”

Kleinow, who was diagnosed as legally blind four years ago, won’t admit to being fluent in Braille, but he knows enough to get by. And with his penchant to continually invent and create, he has constructed several useful tools to help him use his Braille to keep his life organized.

Kleinow holds a stack of yellow cards that look like Community Chest cards from Monopoly. One side is blank. The other reveals they are old tickets from a Masonic Lodge chicken dinner. They now serve as his appointment cards.

When he makes a dentist appointment or a lunch date, he jots the time and location in Braille on the card, then slips it into a plastic sleeve of a business-card holder, which has been labeled with Braille to correspond with a date in the month.

An appointment for April 17 will go in the slot that has a 17 Brailled into it. He also has months separated out, so if he makes an appointment for June, he will stick that card in the June section, then transfer it to the corresponding dated slot when June arrives. “I couldn’t find anything else I could use, so I just figured it out,” he said of the calendar.

His calendar book is not only extremely functional and easy to use, but it is popular. He has given away four of them, and will happily make a new one for anyone who asks.

“They are cheap,” he says. He can buy an empty business-card holder at K-Mart or Wal-Mart for a few dollars, and the books take just a few hours to make.

Kleinow has also found other creative ways to make his life easier with Braille. He made an address book out of recipe cards. Now when he wants to look up a phone number he can thumb through his loose-leaf book and read the Brailled alphabetized information. He uses the pinochle cards he Brailled to play cards with friends.

Now Gene is designing a special wallet to sort his currency.

“I like to come up with new things,” he says. “I like to work with my hands, always have.”

“I think it’s good for him,” says Pat. “It keeps his mind engaged, which he needs to do.”

Kleinow, who has been married to Pat for 50 years, started learning Braille two years ago. His teacher at the Department, Jennifer Hutson, introduced him to the reading and writing code, which he also uses to label items and take notes.

“It’s always thinking outside the box for Gene,” said Hutson.

Blind Perspective

Yard Work: Where there's a will, there's a way

By Linda Slayton

Spring is in the air! The days are getting warmer. The ground isn’t white. I’m even pondering opening the windows. There are so many good things that happen with the arrival of springtime. The birds chirp, flowers bloom, and the sun shines. Suddenly the world comes alive. Unfortunately, so does the lawnmower!

Ah, I hear some of your minds whirring too. That hum seems to say, “But blind people don’t do yard work.” The fact is some do and some don’t. Yard work for blind folks falls into the category of “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Most things for blind people fall into that category. It boils down to old-fashioned ingenuity. We have a code for those inspirations of wisdom. They’re called alternative techniques.

I find it interesting that I never mowed a lawn or even thought about it until I was blind. My first experience with mowing arrived when I rented a duplex and that chore came along with it. I really had no idea what I was going to do about the yard when I signed my lease. I ended up spending a great deal on an electric mower. It seemed like the perfect solution. I wouldn’t have to buy gas and I wouldn’t have to deal with the pull-start. It was as simple as pushing a button.

I prepared well for my first mowing experience. I bought a 100-foot extension cord that was suitable for outdoor use. I put on work clothes and sturdy shoes. Then I pushed the button and off I went feeling pretty plucky. What I neglected to consider was that I was on dialysis at the time and after one swipe down a row and back I had to rest. My pluckiness evaporated.

My next problem occurred half-way through that first yard. The mower started smoking and then quit. Of course everyone I knew asked, “Did you run over the cord?” No, that was the one thing I probably did right. So after a return to the store and money back for a defective mower, I bought a second one. (This one wasn’t on the clearance rack.)

I can honestly say my yard was mowed faithfully. Sometimes I missed a few small patches, but they were easy to get the next time around. I also thought they gave an artful look to my home. Since my husband, Kevin, and I were dating at that time, I sort of saved my mowing for the weekends. I knew he might visit and maybe I could convince him to “help.” The bottom line is the yard got mowed. After all, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Yes, there are plenty of blind people who do yard work. Some of you may be familiar with a blind man who was known to drive through his yard on a riding lawnmower wearing a hard helmet to avoid an over-hanging deck. My mother-in-law tells me to be sure that when picking up sticks in the yard to first make certain they don’t slither away.

One great thing about blind folks is that we all openly share our best tips on anything and everything. Even Kevin and I have improved our yard-care strategies over time. So, if you ever need good mowing advice just give us a call. We’ll gladly share the name of our lawn service.

Linda Slayton is a freelance writer living in Des Moines. She can be reached by e-mail at lcslayton@yahoo.com