Pauline Ulrey - Sight-Saving Classroom Experience
“I lost my vision at-- I was 26 months old. I was struck by lightning.” When it was time to go to school, Pauline Ulrey’s ophthalmologist did not want her to go to the Indiana School for the Blind. “I don’t know his line of reasoning, but that was his decision.” Pauline’s first elementary school did…
Title
Pauline Ulrey - Sight-Saving Classroom Experience
Subject
Education
Visual Disability
Description
“I lost my vision at-- I was 26 months old. I was struck by lightning.” When it was time to go to school, Pauline Ulrey’s ophthalmologist did not want her to go to the Indiana School for the Blind. “I don’t know his line of reasoning, but that was his decision.” Pauline’s first elementary school did not provide accommodations for her blindness. Although Pauline was blind, she transferred to a sight-saving classroom at the end of second grade. Sight-saving classrooms targeted children with partial vision. During this time, some people believed vision could worsen if a child over-used what sight they had. The purpose of the classroom was to reduce eye strain.
After the eighth grade, Pauline went to a high school with a sight-saving classroom. When vocational rehabilitation told Pauline she wasn’t college-material, her sight-saving teacher, Anna Parker, told Pauline she could go to college and paid four semesters of her college education. Pauline went on to get her bachelors and master’s degree in social work. When she was interviewed in 2015, Pauline was a field representative for Leader Dogs for the Blind.
After the eighth grade, Pauline went to a high school with a sight-saving classroom. When vocational rehabilitation told Pauline she wasn’t college-material, her sight-saving teacher, Anna Parker, told Pauline she could go to college and paid four semesters of her college education. Pauline went on to get her bachelors and master’s degree in social work. When she was interviewed in 2015, Pauline was a field representative for Leader Dogs for the Blind.
Creator
Indiana Disability History Project
Publisher
Center for Health Equity at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities
Contributor
Pauline Ulrey - interviewee
Jane Harlan-Simmons - interviewer
Rights
Copyright © 2019 The Trustees of Indiana University
Format
video/mp4
Language
English
Type
Moving Image
Identifier
041-mi-01
Access Rights
Open to all users
Bibliographic Citation
"Pauline Ulrey - Sight-Saving Classroom Experience" YouTube video, 00:04:32, interview excerpt 031-mi-01 by the Indiana Disability History Project, posted by "Indiana Disability History" on August 2, 2019, https://youtu.be/72vCGnpd_6c
Spatial Coverage
Indiana, Marion County, Indianapolis
Temporal Coverage
1940s - 1950s
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