A Low Vision Family To Inspire Us All

November 13, 2006

Many of us know what it’s like to raise a son. Some of us have even had the experience of raising more than one. But Shelley Bower of Quincy, California is busy raising four. That may not seem like a big deal, since there are lots of parents with four kids in their home. So what makes Shelley different? Well, for starters she has low vision. But what really caught our attention is that Shelley Bower is a low vision mom who with her husband is raising four low vision sons.

Shelley and her four sons all suffer from Optic Nerve Atrophy, a congenital and often hereditary eye disease. By the time Shelley realized the condition was being passed to her children, all four of the boys were already affected. Shelley’s oldest son Matt, who recently left for college, was diagnosed when he was nine years old, just as his twin brothers Austin and Bryce were coming into the world. By the time the twins were diagnosed at age four, little brother Nate had joined the family. Nate’s diagnosis came sooner at around the age of 3, “probably because we were all watching for him to have vision trouble”, says Shelley. 

Until a few years ago, when Shelley and the boys would walk to the store for milk and bread, “and I mean lots of milk and bread” says Shelley, they relied on little Nate to tell them when to cross the street, because he was the only one of the five who could see the crosswalk signal. Then one day they discovered that Nate could no longer see the lighted signals on the opposite corner. This was a big disappointment to the whole family and put limitations on what Shelley and the kids could do without the assistance of her husband or a friend.

Not one to take bad news sitting down, Shelley petitioned the county to install audio crosswalk signals. It took some time and persistence, but finally the California Department of Transportation came through. Now the Bower’s can walk around their community without the fear of stepping into traffic.

At home, Shelley and the boys take turns working and playing on the old Windows 98 laptop, which they use with the aid of ZoomText. After installing the ZoomText 9.0 upgrade, Shelley called to tell us how much clearer the text was on her laptop, making it easier for her and the boys to read everything that appears on the screen. 

“There are other accessibility options available for low vision computer users, but none of them are as flexible as ZoomText.” says Shelley. “ZoomText 9.0 works with everything my sons and I need, even Microsoft Publisher.”

Shelley’s three younger boys, who are all in elementary school, each have a computer in their class room for their exclusive use. Without ZoomText on these systems, the boys must increase the size of the font to see and read what they are typing. In addition, the printer churns out multiple pages that are difficult to read unless you have a really big desk! Fortunately, the boys are able to create and print normal size documents on their home computer.

In addition to caring for the boys and dealing with her own low vision issues, Shelley also takes time to share her story with others dealing with vision loss in their family. She always has a few ZoomText trials on hand to share with friends and neighbors. Recently, she passed a ZoomText trial to a friend’s mother who didn’t even know such a tool existed. The woman was thrilled and told Shelley, “My gosh! I can look at pictures. I can read my email. Sign me up! I want to buy this program.”

Shelley also points out the cross-over benefits of ZoomText Magnifier/Reader. She supplied a ZoomText trial to an older gentleman in her community who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. The man cannot hold his eyes still making it difficult to read.  With ZoomText’s AppReader, he can close his eyes and let ZoomText read to him, allowing him to easily access his email and the Internet. Thanks Shelley for spreading the word about ZoomText. 

We wish Shelley and the boys all the best as they continue navigating the streets of their town, pursuing their educations, and helping each other deal with the day to day challenges that are unique to those with low vision.