Sunday, December 21, 2008
WOOSTER, Ohio (AP) — On any given Sunday, Amber Johnson can be found lying on the floor behind the pulpit in the sanctuary at Wooster United Methodist Church.
“She is a regular part of what goes on here,” said the Rev. David Wilcox, senior pastor of the church. “She is well loved but the congregation knows that we have to be careful not to give her too much attention. We have to basically ignore her so that we won’t interfere with her job.”
Amber, a 3-year-old golden retriever, is a Seeing Eye dog that assists the Rev. Diane K. Johnson, associate pastor at the church. Amber’s job is to guide Johnson, known as “Pastor Diane,” throughout each day as she performs her ministry.
Johnson, who was ordained a deacon in 2005, has a degenerative retina disorder that started in her youth and progressed into young adulthood. At 50, Johnson finds herself doing just about everything but driving a car.
“I adapted like people do. You either adapt or sit in a chair and do nothing,” Johnson said. “It’s really a matter of finding alternative ways of doing things and using the tools that are available. For me, a cane is a tool of mobility. My computer has enhancers. My phone speaks to me.”
Everything on and in her desk are always in place, so that Johnson knows exactly where to reach when she needs something. When people come to her office, she looks toward the door and greets them with a smile and a warm hello while extending her arm to shake hands.
When business cards are handed to her, she immediately pulls out a small slate and stylus from her desk and embosses them in Braille, making it possible for her to read the cards in her Rolodex.
She uses her hand-held labeler to make Braille labels for items in her office, like shelves and files. She also uses it at home for things like the jars on the carousel spice rack in her kitchen.
“When she asked for that spice rack for Christmas, I thought it was a great idea. She’s an excellent cook and when she got it, she cooked a wonderful meal,” said Wesley Johnson, her husband. “But I was stymied one day when I went into the kitchen to make chili. She had Brailled everything. Since I am not a Braille reader and don’t know my spices well enough to distinguish chili powder from cinnamon, we went straight into the hamburger phase of life.”
Wesley Johnson said that because his wife has adapted so well, sometimes he forgets to tell her when he has moved something. It is important to alert her when something is moved, at home or at church, because she locates things based on memory.
“I’m thankful that she is so tolerant of me and I have learned a lot from her,” Wesley Johnson said. “We buy powdered detergent because it’s a lot easier to measure. The canned vegetables in our house are not just one brand. The corn is Green Giant and the beans are Del Monte because they come in different sized cans.”
Diane Johnson said it is all part of a system that she has learned over the years. She attended the Sight Center in Columbus, where she learned to do things more efficiently.
“I wanted to be able to take care of myself, my home and work and do things like match clothes,” Johnson said. “Sight is something that varies from one person to the next. For me, I can tell when the lights are on or off and if people are standing in front of me, but I have difficulty recognizing them. I can tell people by movement because some people have a way of walking.”
Johnson’s duties as a pastor include writing the church newsletter, visiting people in the hospital, coordinating educational programs, preparing the church bulletins, saying devotions at community meals, teaching Bible study, preaching once a month and delivering the children’s sermon each Sunday.
Every Sunday, Johnson walks down the center aisle in the sanctuary to make her way to the chancel area. Although she knows the geography of the church and uses her toe to locate the riser to the first of three steps from the sanctuary floor into the chancel area, and the first of the two short steps into the pulpit, Amber is always at her side to assure that she arrives safely.
She follows the same routine when returning to the chancel area to meet the children for their special message during Sunday morning worship.
She prepares her sermons, the church bulletin and newsletter and curriculum for the United Methodist publishing house using a computer that is enhanced with a screen reader. The program, called JAWS, reads back each line or paragraph with punctuation.
Johnson edits her work as the computer program reads, using a Braille display. She also uses the display for her laptop when she needs her computer to be quiet, like in meetings.
During hospital visits, Johnson is told the room number of the patient she is visiting, the direction of the room from the nursing station and how many doors down from the nursing station. She proceeds down the hallway by counting the number of doorways, with Amber’s guidance.
2008, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.