[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: In this small town where Lourdes grew up, she was considered slow and accident-prone. As a young adult, she finally learned the truth. 

LOURDES CABRAL: So then I went to see an optometrist, and he told me that I had retinitis pigmentosa. And he told me that all those things that happened to me, the accidents, were due to retinitis pigmentosa. And in a way, I was happy to know that I had that because until before, I thought I was dumb. I was like a child, even though I was an adult and I had kids already, I felt that I was like a child. 

OLA STEENHAGEN: She came in one day to our office area. And she looked like as though she were going to cry. And I said, "what's wrong, Lourdes?" She said Greg Cusick, her workability counselor, who worked with her extensively-- he really was the most important factor in her being able to succeed-- had told her that if she were going to really be able to be confident and have the life-- the full life that she wanted for herself and her family, she would need to use a cane and begin taking public transportation. 

She really was afraid. But she set off the next day to take the bus. And within a week, she came in and she said, you know, it was terrible the first day. But now it's OK. 

JIM VINCENT: And so I think our job as people who work directly with people with various challenges is to just be open to them as people. I mean, they've got a soul. They've got a heart and mind. They want to learn. They want to be successful just like all the rest of us. And our job is to help them find that and develop it. 

LOURDES CABRAL: I don't know how to explain this, but something inside started to change. 

JIM VINCENT: The first thing that we got her using was CCTV. It's a closed cable TV that runs from a camera that the student manipulates to a TV screen right in front of the student so that they can actually see the paper in an enlarged version on the TV screen. Another thing that we have is what's called zoom text, which is an in-the-computer program that basically blows up the screen. And then the third thing that we used was a screen-reader technology at the time we were using Window-Eyes. And what that does is it basically, by way of a computer program, and then the student wears headphones, and it reads verbally the text that's on the screen. 

COMPUTER: will arrive at the airport on September 22 at 8- 0- 0 AM. 

JIM VINCENT: Her just opening up and blossoming and her enthusiasm once she found that these resources were accessible to her. And then second just to watch her growth over time as she went through the program with Ola. And it was just-- it's very rewarding to see a difference that transforms people's lives like that. And that's why I'm in this business. 

LOURDES CABRAL: And then I remember that this teacher at the end of a semester she said, write an essay and tell me how would you see yourself in five years. And so I wrote that I saw myself working in an office with computer, making money, helping my family. 

OLA STEENHAGEN: We have a speaker series where people come from the business organizations or the community to talk to the students about successful workplace behaviors and preparing for finding employment, resume writing, job interviewing skills. And in fact, Lourdes was one of our motivational speakers. She came from her organization with her supervisor. And they talked to the class about how she was successful in her education and in her career search. 

LOURDES CABRAL: Many times I read stories about other people doing things. And I thought it was lies, that they were just making up those stories. And when they say that the people-- the community college could help, I thought it was lies, that it was just published. But I know that it's true. 

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