When I think of Hadley, I used to think of young people. It’s encouraging to now see someone with grey hair like me.
Stephanie Van credits her mother for instilling confidence and fighting for the resources she needed. “My mother was ahead of her time. She knew how to ask the ophthalmologist the right questions and she made a commitment to allow me to try things on my own.”
Van reminisced about her childhood and how each night as her mother washed up the dinner dishes, Stephanie was expected to practice dribbling a ball on the kitchen floor. “I was horrible at it and hated her for it at the time, but that was one of the most loving things she ever did.”
Stephanie remarked that trying things on her own and persevering in the face of challenges has been key to her personal success in living with low vision.
Sixty-six-year-old Van has dedicated her career to helping individuals with visual impairments. As a Vision Rehabilitation Therapist working in Pittsburgh, she carries on her mother’s commitment, showing her clients how to compensate for vision loss while continuing to live their lives.
Two tasks her clients most often ask for help with are telling time and using the phone. Hadley’s website has been an important resource for functions like this. “I refer them to the Hadley website and it shows them, you can do this. You can still live independently,” she said.
Van’s career and personal connection to vision loss uniquely qualified her to be a part of Hadley’s usability testing team. She reviewed prototypes of the website and gave us feedback on how to improve prior to the July 2020 launch.
Van expressed excitement when she opened up the new home page. “Wow, it’s nice to see a mature adult. You know, when I think of Hadley, I used to think of young people. It’s encouraging to now see someone with grey hair like me. Like maybe there is something here for me.”