Blind Childrens Center

4120 Marathon Street, Los Angeles, California 90029 (323)664-2153

A family-centered agency serving children with visual impairments

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A Mind of My Own
The Power of Emotional Independence

By Rick Plath
Blind Childrens Center Graduate Class of 1954

As I stepped foot into the Blind Childrens Center, after almost 50 years later, a rush of wonderful childhood memories began to fill my head. Walking through the hallways, I listened to the little students talking to their teachers and giggling with their peers just as I did so many years ago. What a glorious feeling it was to return to the Center and to know that now I was giving back to a place that gave so much to me.

I was born on January 10, 1949 in Burbank, California. Because I was born prematurely, I spent the first three months of my life in an incubator. Due to an over abundance of oxygen, a resulting eye condition occurred known at the time as Retrolental Fibroplasia (RLF), now known as Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). My parents decided I should go to New York for eye surgery. An eye specialist felt that if fibrous tissue behind the retina was removed that perhaps some visual acuity would be a possibility. The operation was not successful.

In spring of 1952, when I was 3 years old, I began to attend the Blind Childrens Center. Back in those days, the Center was called the Nursery School For the Visually Handicapped. Although in the beginning I attended class once a week, it was soon thought that I would do better if I was a resident during the week and went home on the weekends. At that time the Center was a residential facility where I lived until I graduated in the summer of 1954.

I had many positive experiences while living at the Center. I am especially pleased with how I developed an emotional independence early on in life. Some people can live a lifetime not having a mind of their own and always having to ask permission to do and feel whatever it is they feel. I on the other hand attained a certain feeling of autonomy in the sense that I had a mind of my own and that I could make my own decisions and didn’t need people validating my decisions. Somehow I was able to do that early in my lifetime and I attribute a lot of that to the experiences I had at the Blind Childrens Center.

By no means am I trying to minimize the importance of a good support system that one may get from their family, however, if a child can have exposure to the techniques of daily living early as well as to have feelings of self worth, the child has a better chance of being successful later in life.

I have often reflected on my experiences at the Center and am happy to now have the opportunity to help in any way I can. I was happy to participate in the Acura LA Bike Tour and was glad to have the opportunity to speak before a group of Blind Childrens Center parents where I sincerely hope I was able to help them with their feelings as well as to express to them what the Center has done for me.

The ultimate message I hope to send to parents of blind children and everyone is that although blindness is a part of who these children are, it doesn’t define the children. What defines the children is their behavior, ability to participate and live up to their potential and desire to become internally passionate about life.

Because I learned the importance of living up to my potential early on, I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from USC. I worked several years in personnel public relations for a small printing firm. Currently, I am the Board President of my Homeowner’s Association; President of the Glendale/Burbank Chapter of the California Council of the Blind; Advisory Council of Disabilities within the City of Burbank; Current Chairman of the Library Advisory Council at the Braille Institute; Member of the Board of Directors at Vista Nova Home For the Blind in Pasadena; and member of Burbank Noon Day Lions Club.

Despite my blindness, I’ve been able to accomplish many things in my life because I learned that in order to be successful one has to make a conscious decision to feel good about one’s self. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Blind Childrens Center was quite instrumental in helping me to do just that. The reality is that we can’t do it all and that we all as humans have our assets as well as our liabilities. The Center helped me learn to focus on what I have and not what I don’t have. Don’t wish for the things that can never be but rather strive for the goals that you can achieve and do it!

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