PALS group visits North Country Career Center

PALS VISITS NCCC HEALTH CAREERS -- The Peers Assist Learning and Support (PALS) group recently visited North Country Career Center's Health Careers 1 and 2 classes. This visit supplemented their studies of the nervous system, particularly the special senses, in Human Biology and Medical Terminology. Harriet Hall, who is the group program facilitator and community integration coordinator for the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Charlie Tetreault, a PALS member, explained to students what adaptations they have had to make to remain independent as visually impaired persons. Hall discussed strategies to identify canned goods or money, demonstrated several devices such as a scanner/reader or a buzzer when filling cups with beverages, and encouraged participation in visually impaired activities such as walking with a white cane, filling out a check, or walking up and down stairs. Afterwards, Hall led students through a dissection of a cow's eye where they were able to see the structures of an eye that enable the visual process. Above, from left, Ashley Fauteux, Caitlyn Poirer and Harriet Hall participate in a visually impaired activity.