| Freshman sheds light on blindness during Push America program BY MIKE UNGER
Photo by Jeff Watts
Freshman Paul Ruffner |
Paul Ruffner loves feeling the chill of Washington’s winter. After spending his first 18 years in sun-soaked Arizona, the AU freshman said he often draws the ire of his new friends and classmates by delighting in the snow and briskness he never knew out West. Ruffner is not superhuman. The tip of his nose and toes freeze just like anyone else’s, although his perspective differs in part because of the circumstances and environment in which he grew up. Ruffner is an Arizonian, and he is blind. That visually impaired people benefit from majestically enhanced senses was one of the myths he dispelled March 7 during a wide-ranging and frank talk he delivered at AU, “From Another View,” an event sponsored by Pi Kappa Phi as part of the fraternity’s Push America program. “As awesome as it would be, it’s not like in Daredevil where the guy had super hearing and it’s like, ‘I can smell this from 57 miles away,’” Ruffner said to the captivated crowd. “The other senses are enhanced only in that you have to use them more.” Throughout the evening Ruffner spoke unhesitatingly about the challenges he’s faced every day of his life. Born three months premature, his retinas were unattached to the rest of his eyes, rendering him completely blind. “There’s no procedure that can replicate the human retina,” he said. “That’s not important. It’s not as though I lost anything by being born blind. I never had sight and lost it. You inherit blindness in the same way you inherit other characteristics. You’re tall or short, you’re male or female. You’re born with whatever characteristics you have.” That’s typical of Ruffner: he deals with his blindness in a matter-of-fact way that puts people around him at ease. After giving a brief background of himself, he opened the floor to questions and fielded several from the curious yet comfortable audience. “It was a learning experience for everybody,” said Eddie Shimkus, Pi Kappa Phi’s Push America officer. The national program is designed to improve the lives of people with disabilities and enhance awareness and understanding of disabilities on college campuses. “It reinforced for me that it’s not about what people with disabilities can’t do, it’s about what they can do. He’s an incredible individual, and he has a great story to tell.” After attending a special preschool, Ruffner went exclusively to public schools in Prescott, Ariz. He credits his parents and teachers for instilling in him an unwavering positive attitude and enabling his smooth transition from high school to college. “When I was in junior high and high school I was made to take responsibility for my own stuff,” he said. “If I didn’t get something done, it was my mistake, so for me, I think I’m going through the transition rather successfully.” Like his fellow freshmen, Ruffner said one of his greatest challenges has been learning his way around campus. Before coming to AU he extensively studied a braille map of the university. He walks skillfully using a cane, but says learning his way around a new home “just takes a lot of practice.” Ruffner had nothing but praise for AU’s Disability Support Services and said that with a few exceptions, everyone he’s encountered at the university and in Washington has been exceedingly friendly. “Sometimes, fairly rarely, people want to be helpful, and they’re more helpful than necessary. They’ll maybe grab your arm and start leading you somewhere,” he said. “At that point, you have to be polite about it and say, ‘I know where I’m going, thanks for the offer. If I need any help, I’ll ask for it.’ “There are times when people are just jerks,” he said. “They seem not to like any minority group, an ethnic minority or people who are blind.” A student in the College of Arts and Sciences, Ruffner also is an accomplished classical pianist and jazz saxophonist. After college he’s considering giving the music profession a shot, but he also harbors great interest in constitutional law and human rights. Whatever path he chooses, Ruffner will travel it with the same confidence that led him thousands of miles from his home to a university he has come to love. “I’m lucky to be where I am,” he said. “Most people who were born blind, under 20 percent end up finishing high school. You have even less people going to college. I’m one of the lucky ones.” |
