Summer 2004

Cliff Johnson examines a refreshable Braille display while Mark Landreneau describes the Technology Training Center through Kathryn Cutler, American Sign Language interpreter.

“My brother, who is five years older than I am, is Deaf-Blind,” says Cliff Johnson, Clear Channel Outdoor account executive. “Growing up in Idaho we learned early on of a place in Seattle, the Lighthouse for the Blind, which was the best in the region in providing services for people who are Deaf-Blind. When I actually visited the Lighthouse I was so impressed with the environment that gives blind and Deaf-Blind people opportunities to live independently and be self-sufficient.”

Learning of Lighthouse efforts to raise community awareness and financial support for programs and services, Cliff made a commitment to help spread the word about the Lighthouse mission and activities. “Fortunately I was able to draw on assistance from the very generous corporate giving program that Clear Channel offers,” he continues. “Our Community Partners program is a two year program which provides nonprofits with donated billboard space and graphic design work. I knew we were coming to the end of a cycle and that employees in Seattle would be voting to select new partners. I took advantage of an opportunity to speak to a group at a company function about all the good things that happen inside the walls of the Lighthouse and how this information needs to be out there on the street.”

The billboards, now appearing throughout the Puget Sound region, bear the tag line “Redefining Vision” in both print and a Braille translation; value of the donated billboard space in the Seattle and Bellingham areas exceeds $700,000.

The Seattle Lighthouse is the nation’s leading employer of people who are Deaf-Blind. The primary cause of deaf-blindness is a genetic condition called Usher’s syndrome. Cliff’s brother was born with this condition. People with Usher’s syndrome are typically born deaf and with a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Those living with RP generally experience night blindness in their teen years, followed by a continual narrowing of their tunnel of central vision.

A majority of individuals with Usher’s syndrome grow up as part of the Deaf community, using American Sign Language. As RP progresses most people with Usher’s syndrome must acquire blindness skills such as cane travel, reading Braille, and communicating using tactile sign language; all are skills Deaf-Blind people can acquire at the Seattle Lighthouse.

Cliff applauds Lighthouse efforts to educate the public about the capabilities of blind and Deaf-Blind people. “They are just as intelligent and think just as big as anyone else,” he says. “But it’s the little things, the small day to day tasks that can trip them up and keep their ambitions from happening. The Lighthouse takes those barriers away. The assistance the Lighthouse provides, I’m sure at great cost, gives people an opportunity to take pride in themselves and in what they do. Giving that pride back is what I really came away with after my first tour of the facility.”

Cliff goes on to point out that technology creates unprecedented opportunities for independence. “Deaf-Blind people are living in the very best possible time right now because of technology enhancements that have bridged the gap in communication and information. Things like the Braille displays used at the Lighthouse give Deaf-Blind people a chance to use the Internet and email. I feel very fortunate that I could act as a conduit to Clear Channel’s Community Partners program, to help the Lighthouse spread the word and gather the resources necessary to make these services and this great technology available.”  

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