Barbara Woodford, 85, of Dubuque, has lived in many areas of the country, working for more than 40 years with some of the leading retinal specialists and top ophthalmology programs, including the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA and the University of Illinois, earning several PhDs along the way.
Despite her extensive knowledge of eye disease and vision disorders, nothing could have prepared Barbara for her own challenge with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), which she was diagnosed with following her retirement.
An avid reader and writer, Barbara has always taken interest in staying up-to-date on current events and news. As her vision began deteriorating, Barbara started experiencing depression. "I had to adapt, and do so quickly," said Woodford. "This was not how I imagined I would be spending my retirement years." The things Barbara enjoyed the most, like keeping up with her favorite sporting events, quickly became much harder.
To help her cope, Barbara began sharing her personal experiences with others about adjusting to vision loss by journaling under the pseudonym Mrs. Magoo Copes. "Writing as Mrs. Magoo gives me a voice and persona to share my experiences with vision loss from a different perspective, it's been very therapeutic for me," Barbara explained. "There are so many things that you take for granted when you have your full vision that you only realize when you don't."
For instance, on a recent trip to buy a greeting card, Barbara found out how difficult it was for someone with a visual impairment to select the right card for the right occasion, writing about her frustrations under her pen name of Mrs. Magoo. Since then, Barbara has written about the challenges of vision loss on everything from grocery shopping to driving, and even telling what time it is.
It was during a visit to the University of Iowa University Health Care where Barbara was introduced to Hadley. Barbara has taken dozens of workshops with Hadley, including tutorials and discussion groups providing practical and emotional help on adjusting to vision loss as well as tips for those with vision loss on how to use Zoom and access special low vision features on cell phones and smart devices. Her newfound skills have meant that Barbara has reconnected to news and current events. She also provides valuable feedback and suggestions on her experience with Hadley staff to improve the user experience for other learners.
One of Barbara’s suggestions was a workshop on how to follow sports on television better despite her low vision. Based on this suggestion, Hadley is planning to develop a series of workshops designed to help people with vision loss learn how to access audio description tools so that they can follow the action more closely.
For her commitment to learning, sharing, and her invaluable input, Barbara has been named a recipient of Hadley's HEROES Award, given to those who help further Hadley's mission to create personalized learning opportunities that empower those with vision loss or blindness to thrive at home, at work, and in their communities.
"Hadley covers so many bases, they are a wonderful, complete resource. I am delighted they were so open to my suggestions," said Woodford. "If I can help by sharing what I learned, hopefully, others like me will benefit."