Trisha Ebel never let on just how bad her vision was. She had her first cataract removed at age 8 and developed glaucoma. She couldn’t read the blackboard even with glasses. She took driver’s education in high school, as well as private lessons, but failed the road test not once, not twice, but three times. Friends only heard about the first attempt. Her vision continued to deteriorate, but she kept up the ruse. “I would never tell anyone, ever! I wanted to fit in,” she said.
Trisha earned a certificate in travel and tourism after high school and was hired by an agency, but the owner let her go because she did such a poor job sorting brochures she couldn’t read. Then she took a job at a child care center because it didn’t entail paperwork. After marrying, she got another office job, but again was fired.
Staying at home to raise her children, Andrew and Aimee, made it easier for Trisha to hide her vision loss from the world. But as they approached their teenage years and began spending more time with friends, she felt isolated.
“I was so afraid to go out by myself and do anything,” she said. Trisha realized she had to do something. In 2006, she began attending Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey (then called NJ Foundation for the Blind), learning Braille and computer technology and taking aerobics and mobility classes. She became a volunteer after two years, helping others with low vision learn to use computers.
“I became a different person. I learned to accept my vision loss and got the tools I needed to live an independent life,” the 52-year-old said. “I went from having a confidence level of one to well past 10!” The experience also launched her career. Trisha became an assisted technology instructor, and a few years later an independent living assistant at Heightened Independence and Progress in Bergen County, providing support to people who have lost their sight. “I want to shout about all Vision Loss Alliance has done for me!” she said.
Trisha and her husband, David, live in Secaucus and enjoy ice skating, biking, cooking and traveling. She also volunteers on Vision Loss Alliance’s program committee. “My life is just so perfect. I don’t care that I can’t see, and I don’t think I’d have become the person I am if I hadn’t lost my sight,” said Trisha, her 2-year-old guide dog, Shelby, sleeping at her feet.