Another example of the expanding opportunities in the Chicago area for people with disabilities for experiencing the possibilities life holds,
CHICAGO (CBS2) June 8, 2016 — A group of visually impaired students from Chicago had a day to remember at U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday.
They sat in the dugout, ran the bases, met some of the players and chatted with White Sox broadcaster Jason Benetti, who lives with a disability himself. He has cerebral palsy.
White Sox spokeswoman Christine O’Reilly said it was part of what the organization called Sox Serve Week.
“What is so cool about it is we are standing here in the dugout with Jason Benetti talking to this group of students from Curie High School with visual impairments,” O’Reilly told WBBM’s Mike Krauser.
“The key message to these kids is whatever your disability, if you do something better the next day, even a really small victory, will pile up and make something bigger,” Benetti said.
The students also took turns at the plate hitting special baseballs that beeped.
One of the students, Javon Baker, told CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole, “To be honest, I really didn’t enjoy baseball early on because of the vision thing.”
But somehow baseball kept calling.
With the beeper balls and players as their guides, the students were coached in fielding and pitching–in a world the’d only heard about
“I am standing where all the greats have played,” Baker said. “This is real.”
For a 17-year-old blind student, this was really more than a day at the park.
“You get depressed sometimes. You worry you wont be able to achieve everything you want.”
Wednesday was a chance to see the possibilities.
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| A group of visually impaired students from Chicago at U. S Cellular Field. (Credit: Mike Krauser/WBBM) |
They sat in the dugout, ran the bases, met some of the players and chatted with White Sox broadcaster Jason Benetti, who lives with a disability himself. He has cerebral palsy.
White Sox spokeswoman Christine O’Reilly said it was part of what the organization called Sox Serve Week.
“What is so cool about it is we are standing here in the dugout with Jason Benetti talking to this group of students from Curie High School with visual impairments,” O’Reilly told WBBM’s Mike Krauser.
“The key message to these kids is whatever your disability, if you do something better the next day, even a really small victory, will pile up and make something bigger,” Benetti said.
The students also took turns at the plate hitting special baseballs that beeped.
One of the students, Javon Baker, told CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole, “To be honest, I really didn’t enjoy baseball early on because of the vision thing.”
But somehow baseball kept calling.
With the beeper balls and players as their guides, the students were coached in fielding and pitching–in a world the’d only heard about
“I am standing where all the greats have played,” Baker said. “This is real.”
For a 17-year-old blind student, this was really more than a day at the park.
“You get depressed sometimes. You worry you wont be able to achieve everything you want.”
Wednesday was a chance to see the possibilities.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/06/08/visually-impaired-students-hit-the-field-with-white-sox/
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