| Taking a Stand |
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Taking a stand... Sheila Marque is a teacher for services for the blind and vocational rehabilitation, Kansas Rehabilitation Services By NIKKI PATRICK Posted Feb 05, 2010 @ 11:41 PM
Photo by Sean Steffen PITTSBURG —
When she was growing up in Chanute, Sheila Marque had no one to stand up for her, including her own family.
“If there’s something good that came from out of that, it’s that it made me more independent and made me want to help other people,” she said. She does a lot of that in her position as a rehabilitation teacher for services for the blind and vocational rehabilitation, Kansas Rehabilitation Services Southeast Region. Based at the Pittsburg Social and Rehabilitation Services office in Pittsburg, Marque covers a 12-county area and spends a lot of time on the road. A driver must accompany her because Marque has a very personal insight into the problems of those with impaired vision. She herself is very nearly blind. “While she was pregnant with me, my mother picked up a germ that damaged my eyes,” she said. “I have no vision in my left eye and never did. From my birth until 26 years ago I had no central vision in my right eye, but I did have good peripheral vision.” She has lost most of that now. “I have what I call my little window in the corner of my right eye,” Marque said. “I can see one letter at a time, but they have to be five or six inches tall.” Her eye problems were ignored by her parents. “We didn’t talk about it, and I was not allowed to use a cane,” she said. “My mother did not come to my IEP meetings at school.” Nevertheless, Marque got a good education, starting with an associate degree in speech and communication. She came to Pittsburg 16 years ago and worked as service coordinator manager at Envision. “In 1996 they did away with my job, and I went to work for the State of Kansas in 1999,” Marque said. She meets with clients, coordinates Audio Reader volunteers at KRPS and speaks frequently for schools and organizations. “We have four Low Vision Support Groups in Pittsburg, Forty Scott, Yates Center and Independence, and we’re starting one in Iola in March,” Marque said. Her job will be changing a little soon. She’ll start working with vocational rehabilitation clients and doing assistive technology evaluations, among other things. Marque uses a cane, and also has the help of Ginger, a yellow Lab guide dog provided through Pilot Dogs of Columbus, Ohio. A former Girl Scout leader and 4-H leader, she became involved with Pilot Dogs when she had 4-H youngsters who raised puppies for the program. Her first guide dog, also a yellow Lab, was Abby, who became a beloved family member before her death at the age of 15. “Abby was in the delivery room for the births of five of my grandchildren,” Marque said. “Ginger has been in the delivery room for one grandchild.” But, she noted, those who have guide dogs often still have problems taking them in public places. “When I first started teaching in Parsons, we were thrown out of Pizza Hut three nights in a row,” Marque said. “I called Gene Bicknell, and things got straightened out right away.” But she and others still occasionally have problems. “It’s amazing how many people don’t know the law,” she said. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privately owned businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises in whatever areas customers are generally allowed. “No Pets Allowed” policies do not apply to service animals. “These animals are not pets,” Marque said. “They are working animals.” Guide dogs help the visually impaired to move safely and confidently around public places, streets, etc. Ginger does that, and much more. “She’s my ice breaker,” Marque said. “I can ask a client how he or she is doing, and they may say everything is fine. Then they start petting Ginger, and pretty soon they’re telling her all of their problems.” Her family also includes husband Frank, a driver for SEK-CAP, and their three children, Cathy Caylor of Buffalo, Jo Anna Iden, Chanute, and Travis Marque, Brighton, Colo., and nine grandchildren. Marque said that, when her vision deteriorated, her vocational rehabilitation counselor warned her that her husband might leave her. “Frank weighed the pros and cons,” she said. “We’ll soon celebrate our 39th anniversary.”
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