Hello, my name is Andrew Adolphson and yes, I am that child. When I was just a few months old, my parents took me to an eye specialist at Barnes who said that I would never be able to see. After this devastating news, Mom and Dad took me back to Cardinal Glennon where I stayed in the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) to grow and stabilize. When my parents and I were leaving to bring me home for good, a doctor told them about the Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments.

What is Delta Gamma?

              Delta Gamma, (DGC,) is a nonprofit organization that provides services to young children with visual impairments and their families.  A group of sorority sisters founded it in 1951. These include educational and support services to parents, vision services, orientation and mobility and therapies (physical, occupational and speech) services for children with visual impairments and other disabilities. The mission of the Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments is to help children who are blind or visually impaired reach their full potential through family-centered, specialized services and community support. Later, this organization expanded from just serving infants up to age 3 to include high school age children.

GRADS Programs

              Now that you know a little about Delta Gamma, you may be asking yourself, “What are some of the programs that had the biggest impact on my life?

              While I don’t have any memory of the services I received when I was young, my parents remember them because they were infant parent classes., The services I remember the most where the GRADS groups.

The GRADS (group recreation and developmental support) provide fun and community-based opportunities for school age kids to make friends, try a variety of activities, and gain independence. These groups meet once a month throughout the school year and take exciting summer challenge trips. I have participated in these groups and not only made an abundance of friends but I also became more independent!

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Challenge Trips

              I went on my first challenge trip at age 7! Imagine sending your 7-year-old twins on a train to Chicago. That’s what my parents did and they were pretty nervous about doing it. Knowing that DGC staff and volunteers would be attending made them feel better. I had so much fun on the trip. I had the opportunity to go sailing on lake Michigan, adaptive bike riding and many other things. After this first trip, I looked forward to the challenge trip every summer.

When I was older, another challenge trip I participated in was Park City Utah. While there, I had the opportunity to do things I thought I would never do. We stayed at a place called National Ability Center. The staff there had us doing a variety of adaptive activities like white water rafting and a ropes course. I remember doing the ropes course and after I got down, someone said, "Andrew, you climbed all the way to the top, weren’t you scared?" I replied back, "No I wasn’t because I couldn’t see how high I was!"

   My friends and I also had the opportunity to attend a concert in the park. The trips that I went on were designed to help me learn how to do things for myself like handling my own money, cooking meals or carrying my own luggage.

              Another favorite trip I enjoyed was Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center in Breckenridge Colorado. While there, my friends and I had the opportunity to do amazing things like climb an actual rockface, white water rafting, hiking, canoeing and another ropes course.  With all these adventures and the right adaptations, I could do almost anything.

              My favorite and final trip I went on was called No Barriers. This was in Copper Mountain Colorado. While there, my friends and I did activities like: adaptive skateboarding, swimming, tried out new technology and listened to extraordinary speakers with disabilities who have overcome the struggles of life. Upon hearing this, I realized I could change my own life around, become more independent and not let my blindness get in the way of doing things.

Theatre

              Imagine being up on stage and not being able to see anything. This is what it was like for me. My friends and I had a lot of fun learning basic acting skills. First, we learned how to do improv. The acting director asked us to split up into groups and perform little skits. After this, we came back and talked about our performances.

Our performances included You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, an original play called Ropes and music performances that included songs we had written. Doing these performances with this organization gave me the confidence to face life head on and no matter what comes my way, I am strong and I will succeed!

              Delta Gamma is a great group to be a part of. They don’t just care about the individual with the disability, they care about families as well. From family retreats, groups for siblings and parent supports, delta gamma has really helped us!