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al.com: Everything Alabama
Bobby Snead was one of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind students who helped the school's E.H. Gentry Facility celebrate Friday earning accreditation.
Two years ago, Snead, 35, was an Atlanta businessman working 18-hour days who owned a check-cashing service and a convenience store. He was about to branch into real estate when he lost his vision due to damage to his optic nerve.
He started over at the school's Gentry center, which specializes in giving blind, deaf and otherwise disabled students job training, continuing education classes and independent living skills training. Snead now plans on pursuing a marketing degree at Auburn University at Montgomery.
"There was a time in my life when I thought everything was just perfect, and then I lost my sight," Snead said. "I learned here there's no end to the things you can accomplish."
AIDB officials Friday announced the Gentry Facility's accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Services, an independent, nonprofit national organization. The accreditation, which is not required for federal or state guidelines, recognizes the center's work toward preparing its students for life in the working world. Gentry served about 650 students on and off campus during the past year.
"I'm excited about this recognition," said AIDB President Terry Graham. "Next year is AIDB's 150th anniversary. I think this upholds the notion that you can get better with age."
Gentry Executive Director John Mascia said accreditation involved a rigorous, two-year process in which the school was examined for how well it met the needs of its students, how well prepared they were for life outside the school, and how much students were able to satisfy their own needs through instruction.
Students such as Snead are able to get computer skills training in the center's lab, which connects with AIDB's other centers throughout the state. When students arrive, they are interviewed and a course of study is drawn up with their comments. Students average about nine months at the center, Mascia said.
"Technology is a great equalizer," he said.
Graham said getting accredited was one of the long-term goals the school identified four years ago.
It was accomplished, he said, largely through the work of Mascia, who came from New York's Helen Keller National Center.
"We are well on our way to having a national model," Graham said. "We want deaf and blind adults to be taxpayers, not tax consumer, because nothing is more empowering than having a job. That leads to independence and self-esteem."
In Snead's case, it means a new life and new possibilities, he said.
"I thought my life was over," Snead said. "I'm afraid of nothing now. This school has provided everything I need."
Bobby Snead was one of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind students who helped the school's E.H. Gentry Facility celebrate Friday earning accreditation.
Two years ago, Snead, 35, was an Atlanta businessman working 18-hour days who owned a check-cashing service and a convenience store. He was about to branch into real estate when he lost his vision due to damage to his optic nerve.
He started over at the school's Gentry center, which specializes in giving blind, deaf and otherwise disabled students job training, continuing education classes and independent living skills training. Snead now plans on pursuing a marketing degree at Auburn University at Montgomery.
"There was a time in my life when I thought everything was just perfect, and then I lost my sight," Snead said. "I learned here there's no end to the things you can accomplish."
AIDB officials Friday announced the Gentry Facility's accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Services, an independent, nonprofit national organization. The accreditation, which is not required for federal or state guidelines, recognizes the center's work toward preparing its students for life in the working world. Gentry served about 650 students on and off campus during the past year.
"I'm excited about this recognition," said AIDB President Terry Graham. "Next year is AIDB's 150th anniversary. I think this upholds the notion that you can get better with age."
Gentry Executive Director John Mascia said accreditation involved a rigorous, two-year process in which the school was examined for how well it met the needs of its students, how well prepared they were for life outside the school, and how much students were able to satisfy their own needs through instruction.
Students such as Snead are able to get computer skills training in the center's lab, which connects with AIDB's other centers throughout the state. When students arrive, they are interviewed and a course of study is drawn up with their comments. Students average about nine months at the center, Mascia said.
"Technology is a great equalizer," he said.
Graham said getting accredited was one of the long-term goals the school identified four years ago.
It was accomplished, he said, largely through the work of Mascia, who came from New York's Helen Keller National Center.
"We are well on our way to having a national model," Graham said. "We want deaf and blind adults to be taxpayers, not tax consumer, because nothing is more empowering than having a job. That leads to independence and self-esteem."
In Snead's case, it means a new life and new possibilities, he said.
"I thought my life was over," Snead said. "I'm afraid of nothing now. This school has provided everything I need."