Blind man graduates tonight, ready for ‘new challenge’

T. J. ROYAL
Staff Writer

May 09, 2008 11:31 am

— Ray Edge will receive his associate degree in human services tonight at Edgecombe Community College's graduation.
Edge, 51, completed his classes in December, and after three and half years of study, he will receive his diploma at the 6 p.m. ceremony.
He said his work is "not over once I receive my associate degree," though.
"There's a new level that I have to face up with, a new challenge in the work force."
That's because Edge is legally blind, a result of the eye disease glaucoma. He was first diagnosed with the disease in 1977 while he was in the Army Reserves.
His condition progressed slowly enough so that with corrective lenses, he was able to drive 10 years after the first diagnosis; he was ordered to turn in his license in 1987.
When he began classes at ECC's Rocky Mount campus in August 2003, Edge said his instructors were able to make enough accommodations to the extent that he did not need a note-taker.
"The first semester I was at Edgecombe ... I was taking classes like math and English. There wasn't a lot of material that was written on the board," he said, that he needed in order to keep up with the rest of the class.
The first time he needed a note-taker was when he took his first psychology class. Edge said it did not take the college much longer than two weeks to assign him a note-taker when he needed one.
Once his classmates got to know him, that he took his studies seriously, Edge said "a large percent of the students were really accommodating" to him in his studies.
Some of his college friends even gave him rides to and from classes.
"I developed a real and lasting relationship with a lot of the students, the younger and the older" ones, Edge said.
Outside of the friends he has made, Edge feels his success has increased awareness of blind students in ECC classrooms and elsewhere.
"I feel like that since going back to school, it opened doors for me, but also for people behind me," who will receive their education after him, Edge said.
When he is not job-hunting, Edge's hobbies include active involvement in various non-profit organizations, including the Nash and Edgecombe County chapter of the Federation of the Blind. He has also taught a men's class at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Rocky Mount for the last 13 years.
The Rev. Thomas Walker said he has known Edge personally for 35 years. Walker described the ECC graduate as an "amazing person" and a "great teacher" for the church.
"He has a great serving spirit. He just has a sound appreciation for others," Walker said.
He added that Edge "is determined not to allow his own disability ... to slow him down.
"I think that's what makes him such a great teacher also."
Walker also said that when Edge speaks to a group, "you can tell that his words are very refined." That's because the reverend has observed what he called an "intense commitment" from Edge in his academic and research pursuits.
"Ray is just an unusually productive person. He's constant.
"He just keeps working on it to the point that people notice it, that people benefit from it," Walker said.
Walker also said Ebenezer Baptist Church is willing to help Edge attend a seminary.
Because of his work teaching and counseling church members and elsewhere, Walker said the church "concluded that he is ready" to begin his own ministry if he wants to pursue it.
Aside from teaching the men's group, Edge performed 160 volunteer hours at the Wright's Center in Rocky Mount in 2007. He lead prayer devotion at the center once a week last year, but this year he is only doing it twice a month.
When he is not volunteering for his church or a non-profit organization, one of Edge's favorite hobbies is playing in a blind bowling league.
With almost a dozen trophies adorning his kitchen mantle, Edge has bowled regularly since 1995. He usually picks up a game with his friends on Fridays at Rocky Mount Lanes.
He has recorded several 200-plus games, he said, including a high score of 217 one time. But he admitted his scores dip below 130 occasionally.
When his league bowls, he said four handles are placed at the front end of the lane for the players to grasp with one hand. When the bowler has positioned themselves the way they want, they use the other hand to throw the ball. Edge said his league players do not use gutter guards when they bowl.
He told his league buddies that "once I get a job, I don't know how that will cut into my bowling" time.
Edge is also an avid photographer.
While he worked at the Rocky Mount Telegram in the 1980s, Edge said he was interested in pursuing a career in photography. While he did not approach a Telegram supervisor directly back then, he did take photography classes at Nash Community College.
Now he uses a digital camera for all his photos Federation of the Blind events or other activites. But at Nash, Edge said he learned dark room development techniques and stock room processing.
For one class project, he said he even hired a local model for a photo shoot.
"I actually developed those pictures for the classroom. I know a little about the dark room," Edge said.
"I would love to have a job as a photographer," Edge said. He said the only problem for him would be if the job required a driver's license.
Otherwise, he was confident that he could perform the job. "I feel that I could pretty much adjust to the other issues" of photography aside from driving, he said.
Patricia Tessnear has known Edge and worked with him as a rehabilitation counselor for more than two decades. She was born totally blind and has worked at the North Carolina Division of Services for the Blind, in Greenville, for more than 29 years.
The Division of Services for the Blind has helped Edge in several ways over the years.
When Edge decided to return to school in 2003, DSB installed a closed-circuit television and a computer with a software program, Zoom Text, which enlarges and says letters and numbers on the screen, in Edge's home. Financially, DSB has paid for Edge's ECC tuition, fees and books.
Tessnear said the "end-goal" of DSB's assistance and services for Edge is to help him gain employment.
Tessnear said she was confident that Edge could perform a human services job if proper equipment was provided for him in the workplace.
With his degree, Tessnear said Edge would be a suitable case worker assistant or eligibility specialist for a social services department. She also said it was possible for him to work in a group home, similar to his volunteer experience at Wright's Center.
"I think the fact that he's volunteered, that's something good to put on a resume" when looking for employment, Tessnear added.
But she cautioned that an employer's perceptions can weigh heavily in the hiring process for a blind person. It can get to the point where the employer believes they "might not be able to do the job."
The two greatest challenges for blind people in the workplace, Tessnear said, are the inability to read regular sized print and drive. She reiterated an employer's perception as another obstacle, saying that type of bias "may not be obvious" to the person being interviewed, but that it does exists.
"I certainly think that's true," Tessnear added.
Aside from his challenges to find work, Edge said it has been an "uphill battle" making adjustments to his lifestyle because of his blindness.
"(I've) had muster up a lot of patience, having to wait for public transportation" or waiting for somebody to take him somewhere, Edge said, instead of being able to drive himself.
With the assistance Edge has received and the services that have been available to him, he is confident that he and others like him can contribute and be productive.
"Regardless of disability ... everybody can fit in and make the package complete."

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