Since being born at 25 weeks gestation and diagnosed with many challenges due to their prematurity, Nikki and Kendal Lyssy have built full and enriched lives. Their many accomplishments as adults underscore the importance of early intervention, education and enrichment.
“They were tiny, 1.5 pounds and 1 pound, and we were so scared,” remembers Stacy Lyssy, the twins’ mother. “The amazing services, structure and guidance at Beyond Blindness gave us the hope and direction we needed to help them succeed.”
Nikki and Kendal spent their preschool years in a reverse mainstream classroom, where both the girls and their parents learned so much. Seeing the classroom organization and independence given to the children there empowered them to create the same accessible environment at home, which they brought into their school districts and eventually their college dorm rooms.
“The independent living skills; occupational, physical and speech therapies; Braille reading and writing; and formal lunch were the stepping stones to their success,” adds Stacy. “They went on to be accomplished students and young adults. We could not be more proud.”
Now, as graduate students and teaching assistants, Nikki and Kendal use the same systems they learned as children to achieve success at being independent.
Kendal is graduating this year from the University of North Texas and applying for her doctorate program in communications, ultimately hoping to become a professor of communications. Nikki is at the University of South Florida and is a teacher of English and creative writing. Both have published articles and spoken at conferences in their chosen fields.
Kendal is also writing her master’s thesis on the importance of family messaging to children with disabilities. “In our family, our parents told us a positive, uplifting narrative that our blindness is to be embraced, that it is a characteristic of who we are, and that we can do anything we set our minds to,” she says. “Because of this narrative, I am now influenced to continue to find out how narratives parents tell their children influence the sense-making processes of the children.”
“Had it not been for Beyond Blindness, I don’t think we would’ve known what to do,” adds Mike, the twins’ father. “I feel like Beyond Blindness is the beginning of giving these kids confidence, and confidence is what carries them through to the end.”