For Ronnie U., the road back to independence begins through the Braille Institute kitchen. Ronnie first visited Braille Institute in April 2024 after suffering two strokes and a heart attack. The strokes left Ronnie, a former machinist and medical driver, with no right peripheral vision in either of his eyes. Brain damage dropped his reading ability to a pre-school level, so at the advice of a neuro-ophthalmologist, Ronnie and his wife visited Braille Institute so he could regain daily living skills and receive other help. Ronnie began working with several staff members, who have creatively adapted strategies along the way to support his progress.
Ronnie had many breakthroughs. In cooking classes, Ronnie struggled to use a voice-operated air fryer—it required reading a full sentence of four commands, but he could only manage two. Noticing this, his independent living skills instructor, Miguel Escobedo, wrote out the instructions vertically, with just one or two words on each line. Knowing Ronnie’s love of music and drumming, Miguel encouraged Ronnie to speak the words as if they each represented a drumbeat. It finally clicked. Ronnie was able to read the instructions out loud to operate the air fryer on his own.
Rather than stop there, Miguel challenged Ronnie to cook a full meal. In November 2024, Ronnie prepared eight steaks in the air fryer for several staff members and students at Braille Institute’s Riverside center. “He loves to cook, so we’re working with him on writing recipes and reading recipes,” says occupational therapist Andrew Cabal, who also works with Ronnie.
For Ronnie’s wife, Katrina, the change in Ronnie has been remarkable. Technology specialist Kelly Hill taught him how to better use his computer and phone, and a peer group “helped Ronnie understand his own feelings on vision loss, adaptation, and acceptance of sharing with others on new challenges,” she shares. While his stroke and vision loss had made him sullen and withdrawn at first, “He’s now more comfortable in rooms where there are several people, and can interact with confidence.” Tasks that he once found impossible, like operating a TV remote control, he has mastered thanks to bump dots. “He’s starting to recognize and read street signs too,” she says. “I’ve surrounded him with the expertise at Braille Institute.
“After his strokes, if someone asked Ronnie a question, he’d point to me and say, ‘Ask her.’ Now he’s taking control of his thoughts and actions,” Katrina says. “It’s nice to have Braille Institute put us on a track to have Ronnie learn new skills and learn how to apply them. We didn’t know where to turn, and Braille Institute opened its arms and made it easy.”
