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July 23-July 29, 2021
Flushing teen launches empowerment group
for fellow blind and vision-impaired students
BY JENNA BAGCAL
It was a week before
Arturo Soto’s birthday in
early January 2020 when he
noticed something obstructing
his vision.
“I started noticing this
white cloud in the middle of my
vision, only in my left eye. It
started very little and I didn’t
put much mind to it,” Soto said.
The recent Benjamin Cardozo
High School graduate and
Flushing resident recalled visiting
his optometrist, who told
him his eye was “healthy and
normal.” But his doctor sent
him to an ophthalmologist to
get a second opinion and then
to his neurologist on what Soto
called a “doctor scavenger
hunt.”
His final stop was to the office
of neuro-ophthalmologist
Dr. Robert Rothstein, who
conducted months worth of
tests and ultimately diagnosed
Soto in July 2020 with Leber
Hereditary Optic Neuropathy
(LHON), an inherited mitochondrial
disorder that typically
affects young males between
ages 10 and 30.
“No one in my family had
ever had it before or experienced
it as far as I know. I
spoke to my grandparents and
my great aunts and we were
just very surprised,” Soto said.
But Soto said that he’s
come a long way since his diagnosis
a year ago and that
modern technology is always
advancing to help the visionimpaired.
Guiding eyes for the blind
For much of Soto’s journey
with vision loss, he had been
using a cane but was seeking
other options to help him navigate
the “sighted world.” After
speaking with family, friends
and his teacher for the visually
impaired (TVI), he started
thinking about getting a guide
dog.
“Unlike the cane which is
designed to detect obstacles, a
guide dog is designed to avoid
them, guide you and navigate
you through them,” Soto said.
“Personally, I was getting sick
of using my white cane and always
bumping into people or
hitting people’s feet.”
So in the midst of the COVID
19 pandemic, Soto decided
to enroll in the Guiding Eyes
for the Blind program, which
pairs legally blind individuals
who are at least 16 years old
with their own guide dog.
In two weeks, Soto learned
the ins and outs of living with
and caring for his guide dog
Vangie, a 2-year-old yellow
Labrador retriever.
Soto said that he noticed
positive changes in his mobility
and and social life since being
paired with Vangie.
Arturo Soto and Vangie. Courtesy of Guiding Eyes for the Blind
“More people come up to
me to ask me and talk to me
about her. She’s really a social
magnet,” he said.
Advocacy and empowerment
While training at Guiding
Eyes for the Blind, Soto had an
idea to form a group to teach
fellow young people experiencing
vision the skill of self advocacy.
But an encounter where a
store’s employee said that he
could not enter with Vangie,
required him to stand up for
his rights. He explained Vangie’s
role as a guide dog and
said she was allowed wherever
he went under the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
He spoke with his TVI and
eventually connected with the
director of educational vision
services at the New York City
Department of Education, to
form what is now known as
the EVS Blind and Low Vision
Empowerment Group. The
organization works on “uniting
the blind community and
empowering blind and lowvision
students in the NYC
Department of Education.”
Soto led the group’s inaugural
event on June 5 and received
positive feedback from
dozens of parents and students
who participated.
Students from Queens
and Brooklyn attended the
first event in Sunnyside but
Soto has plans to expand the
group’s reach to all parts of
the city. He also said that although
the group is currently
only open to high school and
college students, there are
also plans to include middle
school students.
The EVS Blind and Low
Vision Empowerment Group
is having another meeting
next month and those who
are interested can learn more
by reaching out to Soto at 917-
595-6029 or Diane Pena at 917-
698-3771.
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260-2583.
Vol. 30 No. 30 28 total pages
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