“That’s right, I watch TV,” Kenny Norton said, waiting for a laugh. “There’s a few shows I keep up with. Like Heroes.”
The 31-year-old keeps his bachelor pad in an apartment on Main Street in Temple. Living on his own is a new accomplishment, something he owes to 22-month-old Brighton, a Golden Labrador.
Norton received his guide dog on Dec. 16 after a four-week training program at Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc. in San Rafael, Calif.
“Hey - it was a neat way to get to travel,” Norton said, grinning. “You just had to be legally blind to do it.”
He giggled as Brighton’s head settled on his lap.
“Seriously, though, it was an awesome program,” Norton said. “It’s how Brighton and I learned to work together as a team.”
With Brighton at his side, Norton can now navigate through downtown Temple without relying on his sight-gifted friends. He can get to the post office, the bank, the bus stop and to Wal-Mart by himself.
The new independence has given him courage to apply for full-time work.
“I want to work in tech support,” Norton said. “I have all the background and education I need to do it.”
It was a Google search, after all, that introduced Norton to the program.
He uses a mouse and types at his keyboard as fast as any Telegram reporter.
“The typing’s from memory,” he said, pointing out that the keys on the keyboard are not coded in Braille. “I just know what’s what.”
A computer application called JAWS (Job Access with Speech) helps him understand written text from documents, Web sites and emails.
To the untrained ear, the JAWS sounds are high-pitched spurts of gibberish. But to Norton, it’s regular English spoken at a high space. The untrained ear starts to recognize familiar words and sentences once JAWS is set on low volume, low pace.
“It’s got to be fast, so we can read as fast as everybody else,” Norton said. “Otherwise blind people would never get any work done.”
He’s not got any job offers yet, but Norton has faith that he will.
“In the few months I’ve had Brighton, I’ve already done things I never could have done before, so it’ll happen. It’s just the beginning.”
--Email Tomie Lunsford at tlunsford@temple-telegram.com
