While agebuzz has never shied away from addressing the challenges you may confront as an aging adult, we have not, to date, sufficiently addressed the issue of disability and how it may affect your aging experience, either as a person with disabilities who is getting older or as an older adult who is confronted with a new disability along with aging more generally. Fortunately, we now have a disability expert and advocate for disabled people to help us navigate these issues. Dr. Katherine Schneider is a psychologist, blind from birth, who has had a rich career as a psychologist in college settings and now, in retirement, continues to write books and serve on the board of community organizations while advocating and educating about the rights and interests of people with disabilities. Dr. Schneider has graciously agreed to become our latest agebuzz guest blogger to help us all think about dealing with and adjusting to disabilities as we get older.

agebuzz Managing Editor Connie Zuckerman recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Schneider about her work and her insights.

CZ: First, tell us a bit about your upbringing: Where did you grow up? What was your family life and environment like? What led you to decide to become a psychologist?

KS: Blind from birth, I  grew up in Kalamazoo, MI in a family that valued education and made great efforts to be sure I was educated in the public schools long before there were laws mandating it. I did my undergraduate work at Michigan State University. Originally, I majored in physics but fell in love with psychology. Volunteering at crisis centers helped me realize my blindness and my background of growing up in a family with mental health issues could be assets in empathizing and helping others with emotional problems.

CZ: How was it navigating your academic training without vision? What did you need to learn to be independent and self-sufficient? What kind of help was available and especially valuable for you?

KS: I was blessed with many teachers who went out of their way to make sure I understood the class material. For example, my geometry teacher used a tracing wheel from his wife’s sewing kit to trace out diagrams. Imagine trying to explain perspective to someone who has never seen. Very few books were available in Braille or records, so books often had to be read aloud to me. All my readers were volunteers; I still keep in contact with a couple of them.

CZ: Can you talk about your academic career and your work as a psychologist? Did you specialize in a particular area of expertise?

KS: I worked at four universities teaching psych and counseling, running training programs, and directing college counseling centers. I loved the work because I got to watch people grow and no two hours were ever the same.

CZ: Let’s talk more broadly about navigating everyday life as someone who cannot see. You must have had challenges that you overcame and acquired wisdom that’s developed over the years. What have been the most difficult situations you’ve faced and how did you address those challenges?

KS: I did wrestle with challenges because of my blindness. I don’t prefer the word “overcome” because it implies I defeated the effects of blindness, which I didn’t. I may have found a way around it, often with the help of others, but I didn’t defeat it. Getting a job, even with a Ph.D. in hand, was extremely difficult. I put out 150 applications. Employers had not had a blind psychologist before, so were hesitant to take a chance. Unfortunately, people with significant disabilities are still often unemployed or underemployed. The wrestling with attitudes about disabilities and the actual effects of blindness has made me more persistent and flexible in figuring out solutions outside the box.

CZ: How has your life changed now that you have retired and are an older adult yourself? Has your lack of vision made it challenging to adjust to life as an older adult?

KS: In retirement, I’ve written four books, served on numerous local, state, and national boards, and done a lot of advocacy work on disability issues. My blindness has given me knowledge and empathy for seniors, half of whom will develop a disability; plus I’ve figured out a few tricks of the trade which I hope to share in blogs for agebuzz.

CZ: What do you think is most important to know about having no vision or perhaps losing the vision you previously had? Many older adults have to adjust to declining or deteriorating vision so your insights will be most valuable to agebuzz readers.

KS: The most important thing for people with new disabilities to understand is that they are “babies” in the world of living with a disability. They will have to learn new skills and of course, won’t do the things they want to as easily or as well (at least at first) as they did. They need to be patient with themselves, their caregivers, and their friends as they all learn to deal with the new realities. The good life is still possible, but it may look a little different than it used to.

CZ: In some ways, the issues you’ve had to confront as a person without vision are similar to issues that older adults may face more generally: Having to ask for assistance to accomplish what you want to; Having the energy and financial resources to conduct your life according to your interests and needs; Perhaps working hard to make sure your social connections are strong and intact. Can you comment on whether aging has made these factors more challenging for you and how you have dealt with them?

KS: Asking for help, living with the extra time, energy, and monetary costs of having a disability on board, and dealing with others’ attitudes, are the biggest problems I face every day. As my energy decreases with age, I’m challenged to get better at picking my battles while saving plenty of energy for the good things in life. It’s a work in progress!

CZ: As a writer, you have published many books, including your 2013 book, Occupying Aging: Delights, Disabilities, and Daily Life. What prompted you to write this book and what are the main takeaways from the book?

KS: I wrote Occupying Aging because I wanted seniors to know what it is like day to day to live with a disability. The main takeaway is that it adds a dimension to life that can be frustrating, beautiful, or just plain funny sometimes.

CZ: What do you think is the most important message you can send to individuals and their loved ones who are dealing with the onset of decline or disability in their later years? Are there sources of support or resources you want to make sure people are aware of?

KS: Other people, like support groups of people living with the disability in question, are a great source of knowledge and empathy. I really want to talk about what good can come from the disability experience, but that will take a whole blog.

CZ: What tips do you have for older individuals who have lost their vision and the family members who support them?

KS: The biggest tip is to be patient with each other. When frustrations arise, as they will, try to remember that it’s the effects of the disability, not the person with the disability, that is driving you crazy.

CZ: Any other insights or messages you want readers and their families to take away about dealing with vision loss, or disability more generally, as an older adult?

KS: Everyone reading this has dealt with many challenges in their lives so far, so please remember you have the skills and grit to apply to this new challenge. I’d love to make my column one that answers your questions, so please let the editor know what you want to hear about. Or email me directly at [email protected] with your suggestions for columns.

Katherine Schneider, Ph.D. (blind from birth)  is a retired clinical psychologist living in Eau Claire, WI with her tenth Seeing Eye dog. She has served on several boards, including the Eau Claire County Board, the Governor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities, and the Benetech/Bookshare Board. In addition to numerous professional papers and articles, Katherine has published a memoir To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities, a children’s book Your Treasure Hunt: Disabilities and Finding Your Gold, and two books for seniors, half of whom will develop disabilities, Occupying Aging: Delights, Disabilities and Daily Life, and Hope of the Crow: Tales of Occupying Aging. 

She originated the Schneider Family Book Awards for children’s books with disability content through the American Library Association and an award for superior journalism about disability issues through the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.

Locally, she started the Access Eau Claire fund through the Eau Claire Community Foundation to help non-profit organizations work toward full inclusion of people with disabilities. She’s a passionate advocate for access for all to the good things of life, like chocolate, puzzles, and thrillers.  Subscribe to her blog http://kathiecomments.wordpress.com for details.