When Ohio University junior Matthew Burger found out he was legally blind at 7 years old, his reaction might surprise you.
I don't think I cared
said the Chillicothe native. I've always been a guy that rolls with the punches pretty well.
Burger, 21, has a type of glaucoma called Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG). With POAG, fluid builds up and causes pressure on the optic nerve, slowly crushing it and affecting vision. When Burger was 16, he had a tube placed in his left eye to alleviate the fluid build-up.
Nearly 2.2 million people age 40 and older have glaucoma nationwide, but the exact number of people diagnosed with POAG is hard to measure, said Jessica Exelbert, director of Research and Development for The Glaucoma Foundation. According to Children's Glaucoma Foundation, about 1 in 10,000 children develop glaucoma.
There are no symptoms or no pain and, over time, peripheral vision diminishes and patients develop tunnel vision. As a result, Burger can see only one inch away.
I think because it was so gradual that it allowed me time to adapt he said. It wasn't 'Oh my gosh! I went blind!'Although the effects are gradual, Burger hauntingly remembers one weekend in the first grade ' he left school and could read large print. The following Monday, he couldn't.
I remember being pretty confused he said.College life
After studying at OU's Chillicothe campus for two years, Burger transferred to Athens to pursue his meteorology major. Burger, who lives in Gamertsfelder Hall with his guide dog, Freddy, chose OU because it's one of the few schools nationwide to offer meteorology as a degree, he said.
Burger participates in clubs and hobbies such as Bible study, but his favorite activity is singing karaoke at the Smiling Skull Saloon on Wednesday nights.
Burger, who likes to sing anything but rap, usually brings his own CD to the Skull or picks a song from the karaoke book to memorize for the next week.
I can't read off the screen
so I have to know them
he said.
Although adjusting to college can be difficult, Burger said he didn't have any problems.
My problem is I'm a bit too independent; I'm a bit headstrong
he said. I try to put everything on myself and not share my problems.
While he tries to stay independent, Burger receives assistance from OU's Office of Disability Services. The office assists 645 registered students and of those, about 13 are visually impaired, said Jesse Raney, interim director of Disability Services for the Office for Institutional Equity.
We offer any service to a student in order to provide them the type of auxiliary aid or academic adjustment that will allow that student equal access to the educational materials in his/her course work
Raney wrote in an e-mail.
The office scans his books so they are easier to read on a computer screen and provides Burger tutoring and a person to takes notes for him.
Burger also receives financial assistance from the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired, part of the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission. The state-funded program provides visually impaired people with individualized plans to help them find employment.
In addition to help from OU and the state, Burger uses computer software called JAWS (Job Access with Speech), which repeats what he types on his Braille keyboard and reads his scanned books.
It doesn't read captions
it doesn't read pictures
but with the exception of that
it reads what I tell it to read
he said.
It's helpful. It makes it go quick and it reads it quickly.Man's best friend
Helping Burger navigate OU's hilly terrain is his four-year-old Labrador retriever guide dog, Freddy.
Burger received Freddy from California-based Guide Dogs for the Blind. After applying to the nonprofit organization about two years ago, he was one of 12 people selected from a pool of more than 50 to receive a guide dog.
After a representative of the organization visited Burger at home to assess his living conditions and maturity, the organization flew Burger to its campus outside San Francisco, where he met and trained with Freddy.
Before Burger met Freddy, the dog lived with a family where he learned obedience, behavior skills and how to behave in busy environments such as malls.
Burger said he and Freddy were matched by the organization after studying his mannerisms and matching a dog with a similar personality.
We started off by training obedience
