DENVER (KDVR) — The Anchor Center for Blind Children celebrated its 40th birthday on Saturday.
You speak with people who’ve taught at the Anchor Center for Blind Children for a year, several years or nearly the entire time this campus has existed and they’ll tell you, the resources and strategies may have changed, but the inspiration for their work has always been there.
“This is like the best place on earth,” Mariah Nixon, a parent of a graduate at the Anchor Center for Blind Children, said.
Nixon’s daughter Mya, graduated last school year.
“She has septo-optic dysplasia, optic nerve hypoplasia, insomnia…a bone deficiency, growth hormone deficiency, she has autism, she’s on the spectrum for epilepsy,” Nixon said.
Since she graduated, Nixon has another list that defines her child.
“She learned how to say her name, she learned how to use a tablet, she learned to make friends, she learned how to use equipment,” Nixon said.
A number of educators dedicate their service to these children. Among them is Mindy Doyle-McCall who, in the last 40 years this school has existed, has been a physical therapist for 34 of them.
“We were in what was called a cottage, so it was a tiny little building,” Doyle-McCall said.
The Anchor Center for Blind Children, Doyle-McCall said, has come a long way since she started.
“The first class was just six children,” Doyle-McCall said.
Now, the Anchor Center for Blind Children has multiple classrooms and about two dozen students.
“Vision really was almost their only disability,” Doyle-McCall said.
Now, there are more students to educate at the Anchor Center for Blind Children.
“Kids who have multiple disabilities, in addition to their vision impairment, and that’s been a huge change,” Doyle-McCall said.
The impact on families is immeasurable.
Nixon said, for her family, it’s evident despite her disabilities that this school has taught Mya independence she feared she’d never have.
“Girlfriend, if you’re walking, you’re talking, you’re doing all these things, playing and hanging out, you’re going to be OK,” Nixon said. “I wish she could stay forever, I really do.”