Summer 2005

The Deaf-Blind Retreat Through the Years: Lighthouse Employees Remember

The first Seattle Lighthouse Deaf-Blind retreat. Top row, second from the right: Lillian Meske; Middle row, fourth from the right: Ken Sting (click on image to view bigger image)	Ken Sting today	Lillian Meske today

It all started with a letter. Steven Ehrlich, a Deaf-Blind man who worked at the Lighthouse teaching other Deaf-Blind community members, sent a letter inviting friends and volunteers to a retreat specifically for Deaf-Blind adults. The retreat was held at the Red Barn Ranch in Auburn, Washington the summer of 1978.

Ken Sting, machine set up, remembers traveling to the retreat. “I got there in the evening because I had to fly from Michigan, I didn’t live in Seattle at the time.”

“There I was with my cane at the airport, not quite sure what was going to happen next. It was late, I wasn’t sure if someone was going to pick me up or what. Someone came up to me and I wrote a note...so that person guided me.” He continues, “I remember walking down that long terminal to get my bag. I’d never done this before, and lo and behold, someone came up to me and signed ‘Hello!’ It was [co-retreat organizer] Mike Hughes.”

Ken headed to Red Barn to join twelve other Deaf-Blind individuals and sixteen volunteers in the very first Seattle Lighthouse Deaf-Blind retreat. Once he arrived, he discovered an environment set up especially to be accessible for Deaf-Blind people.

“The next morning, I was wondering where the dining hall was. I’d never been there before --- I’m a blind person, I’m using a cane. And again, lo and behold, a volunteer appeared and guided me to the little dining hall,” Ken recalls. “Sometimes a volunteer would come help me with specific things like if there was an outing, if we were going somewhere. People who were fully blind had a volunteer with them everywhere all day long.”

Linda Williamson, interpreting services supervisor, attended some of the early Red Barn retreats as a volunteer. “There was just one volunteer per Deaf-Blind person,” she remembers. “I was matched with a Deaf-Blind person literally twenty-four hours a day. Later, we got better at adding rope-guides and providing orientation training so people could get around on their own.” She remembers, “Some people, this was their first outing since losing their vision. They weren’t used to going on vacation or doing some like this as someone who is Deaf-Blind.”

The first retreat offered a host of activities for the Deaf-Blind people attending including crafting, canoeing, and horseback riding. “I remember at the corral when we were horseback riding,” says Lillian Meske, production worker, who also attended the first retreat. “One time, the horse wasn’t moving and I tried to get it to go. Then it was a little bit fast. I was trying to pull on the reins to get it to slow down when my volunteer ran to catch up with the horse. The horse reared back while I was on it. The volunteer told me not to pull on the reins so hard or the horse would rear up. That was very surprising! But the volunteer let me know what was going on. That was something that was new for me!”

The retreat also offered valuable opportunities to meet other Deaf-Blind people. “A lot of it was about talking and chatting with other Deaf-Blind people,” remembers Lillian. “It was just a few people to talk with...one thing that is very important within the Deaf-Blind community is meeting other Deaf-Blind people, to talk about your shared experience of losing your vision or being blind.”

“Once [the retreat] happened, it was wildly successful because it gave Deaf-Blind people a chance to get together, network, and be in a totally accessible environment away from the daily struggle,” Linda explains. “People didn’t have to worry about how to make themselves understood or how to get from point A to point B. They could just be on vacation and take advantage of being around other people in a similar situation. People started forming an identity. They started talking about being [culturally] Deaf-Blind as this community formed.”

The Lighthouse was soon looking for new facilities to allow more Deaf-Blind individuals to attend. “[The retreat] is very sought after among Deaf-Blind people. A lot of people want to go,” says Lillian. As the retreat grew, the location changed: first to Pilgrim Firs near Port Orchard, then to the Seabeck Conference Center on Hood Canal. At the same time, more volunteer Support Service Providers (SSPs) began attending the retreats, providing support while gaining experience interpreting for Deaf-Blind individuals.

“Red Barn was small. There weren’t very many people who could go. It’s a small facility with a small camp,” Ken explains. “Pilgrim Firs was bigger. It had more cabins, it had more sleeping space so there could be more people there, but still some people would stay in tents. Seabeck is a very nice facility. It’s big and there are many buildings and houses. A lot of Deaf-Blind people can be there. A lot of SSPs can be there. You can really have this wonderful critical mass.”

“One thing I do notice year after year is that there are always improvements,” says Lillian. “For instance, one improvement is the SSP’s schedules. Now they have three different shifts: a morning shift, an afternoon shift, and an evening shift.”

“I’ve been a regular at Seabeck since ’98,” says Ken. “It’s been really great being there with a guide dog --- that’s been wonderful. I love that it’s so big. There’s so many people. And there’s so much to do!”

Lillian agrees, “I go because I like the activities. There are the tours, going out shopping, going out hiking. Seabeck is terrific for having opportunities to really get out and check things out. We’ll go into towns and experience different environments.”

For Ken and Lillian, the opportunity to connect with other Deaf-Blind people remains one of the most important parts of the retreat. “[It’s important to] meet Deaf-Blind people from different states to find out how they are coping and compare notes on how you are doing things. And it’s a whole lot of fun meeting different people and learning different communication techniques.”

Ken adds, “it’s not just people from around this country. We’ve had Deaf-Blind people come from England, from Canada, and from other countries as well. So that is a very exciting and wonderful experience.”

“I don’t know what else to say except that Seabeck is the best!” he concludes.

Interpretation Note: Ken and Lillian’s comments were translated from American Sign Language (ASL) to English by certified interpreters skilled in tactile ASL

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