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Campaign gives deaf-blind a voice - Downers Grove, IL - Downers Grove Reporter
Oak Brook resident Faith Young thought her newborn son was perfectly healthy when she brought him home from the hospital.
Nine years later, Ronen, a fourth-grade student at Belle Aire Grade School in Downers Grove, will be featured in an awareness campaign along with four other deaf-blind Illinois residents.
Coinciding with Helen Keller Deaf Blind Awareness Week, which runs from Sunday to Saturday, June 24 to 30, the Illinois Advisory Board for the Deaf-Blind worked with Oak Brook marketing firm Engage Creative to improve the group’s communication and develop its identity.
“In the past, they’ve just done e-mails to legislators when bills were up,” said Engage partner Wally Pacheco. “Now one of the things we’re going to be doing is e-mails with stories that bring in the more human element. We’re putting a face on the campaign by getting individual deaf-blind people to tell their stories.”
Engage has been working with the board for seven months since Pacheco decided to use the firm’s pro-bono account to help his neighbor, Young, after his own sons became friends with Ronen. While Young initially suggested he help them with Helen Keller Week, Pacheco offered to help the board come together as whole with a unified agenda and refined goals.
Pacheco began attending board meetings and asked Young to write information about her son and the challenges that he had faced. She showed him some art Ronen had created before his vision deteriorated due to an unknown genetic disorder. Ronen’s writing included a poem called “I Am,” where he describes himself. “I am” became the inspiration for the e-mail campaign.
Ronen is the youngest of the five deaf-blind individuals, all of whom are connected with the IABDB. The oldest is 90-year-old Geraldine Lawhorn, an author and pianist, who has played in Carnegie Hall.
“They’re really unbelievable stories,” Pacheco said. “All the things they have to go through we take for granted. We thought that was an important to get that message out: Don’t feel sorry for us. Be my eyes, be my ears, be my voice.”
While Young said the organization’s awareness campaign is starting out small, they are currently working on developing a Web site with Engage that will include information on deaf-blindness and possibly forums for parents and caretakers to share their experiences.
“It’s been something with a lot of highs and lows, but definitely more highs than lows,” Young said. “We take every day at a time and we’re grateful for every single day."
Oak Brook resident Faith Young thought her newborn son was perfectly healthy when she brought him home from the hospital.
Nine years later, Ronen, a fourth-grade student at Belle Aire Grade School in Downers Grove, will be featured in an awareness campaign along with four other deaf-blind Illinois residents.
Coinciding with Helen Keller Deaf Blind Awareness Week, which runs from Sunday to Saturday, June 24 to 30, the Illinois Advisory Board for the Deaf-Blind worked with Oak Brook marketing firm Engage Creative to improve the group’s communication and develop its identity.
“In the past, they’ve just done e-mails to legislators when bills were up,” said Engage partner Wally Pacheco. “Now one of the things we’re going to be doing is e-mails with stories that bring in the more human element. We’re putting a face on the campaign by getting individual deaf-blind people to tell their stories.”
Engage has been working with the board for seven months since Pacheco decided to use the firm’s pro-bono account to help his neighbor, Young, after his own sons became friends with Ronen. While Young initially suggested he help them with Helen Keller Week, Pacheco offered to help the board come together as whole with a unified agenda and refined goals.
Pacheco began attending board meetings and asked Young to write information about her son and the challenges that he had faced. She showed him some art Ronen had created before his vision deteriorated due to an unknown genetic disorder. Ronen’s writing included a poem called “I Am,” where he describes himself. “I am” became the inspiration for the e-mail campaign.
Ronen is the youngest of the five deaf-blind individuals, all of whom are connected with the IABDB. The oldest is 90-year-old Geraldine Lawhorn, an author and pianist, who has played in Carnegie Hall.
“They’re really unbelievable stories,” Pacheco said. “All the things they have to go through we take for granted. We thought that was an important to get that message out: Don’t feel sorry for us. Be my eyes, be my ears, be my voice.”
While Young said the organization’s awareness campaign is starting out small, they are currently working on developing a Web site with Engage that will include information on deaf-blindness and possibly forums for parents and caretakers to share their experiences.
“It’s been something with a lot of highs and lows, but definitely more highs than lows,” Young said. “We take every day at a time and we’re grateful for every single day."