By Telesha Ramnarine
MARK Vickram Ramnauth, now 54, was born with a visual impairment that worsened over time, resulting in him dropping out midway of secondary school. He migrated to the United States, however, and completed his education as he was ever determined to do. Ramnauth grew up in Ruimveldt Scheme and Alexander Village, and left Guyana in 1985, having attended St. Pius Primary and Charlestown Secondary. His goal is to eventually be able to do philanthropic work in Guyana.
After obtaining his Masters from the New York University in the area of Rehabilitation Science, Ramnauth is now a vocational consultant, disability advocate and hotel owner. He worked for many years in the area of rehabilitation, assisting people with disabilities, and he presently has a consultant company that provides services to various state boards and other companies as it relates to disabilities.
Ramnauth’s impairment is genetic as he has two other siblings with the gene. It is sometimes called Juvenile Macular Degeneration or Stargardt’s Disease. “Since the retina is severely damaged, glasses cannot correct the visual loss and the result is 20/3000 vision or worse. Fortunately, the progression is slow and I have decent mobility. I cannot read normal print, recognize faces in a room and there is difficulty with contrast as well as some forms of light. But I am able to dance and enjoy a lot of ballroom and tango dancing.”
Even so, Ramauth’s life is not without its challenges. “Even with technology, technical reading is tedious. I can’t drive. I would love to be able to read musical scores, but that is a challenge. The most limiting is social. I enjoy being public and social events, but I usually don’t recognize faces. It is common to meet the same person twice but not make the connection visually.”
The challenges seemed easier to cope with when Ramnauth migrated to the US. “Moving to the U.S exponentially improved my functional capacity. The people there were opened minded, I was provided with lots of accommodation such as increased time for exams, assistive technologies, readers, and endless books on tapes.”
The key technology was a machine known as a Close Circuit TV and screen magnification and screen reader software called Zoomtext. Currently, he uses an iphone for all kinds of computing that has a built in accessibility reader called VoiceOver.
Ramnauth’s advice to those who are visually impaired or blind is simple: “Belief in the possibilities is key. You have to leave your comfort zone to grow. Learn typing and keyboard. Network with others and encourage the society to overcome their limits on you. There are lots of free resources on the Internet.”
Ramnauth has a 14 year old son, Paul.