| Page 3 of 4 < > |
Blindness Doesn't Deter Spriggs's Mat Vision
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
He didn't, however, give up on being a part of the sighted community. By the time he started ninth grade, Spriggs was splitting time between MSB and nearby Parkville High, gradually integrating with sighted students.
"He outgrew" MSB, his father said. "They couldn't teach him any more."
After his sophomore year, Spriggs felt confident enough to return home and go to his local school because, he said, "Sometimes you've got to step out of the box."
His family wasn't as certain.
"I was worried about the support he was going to get," said his mother, Marquet Craig. "How many blind kids have they ever taught?"
His father said: "He was fine with it. I was the one who was scared. I know how kids can be in high school -- playing jokes, tripping you, hiding his cane."
It was Spriggs, however, who did the teaching. With memories lingering of his elementary school classmates teasing him about his Coke-bottle glasses, Spriggs set out to prove that he was just like the rest of the student body, but with a special skill.
Spriggs's chatty persona and self-deprecating humor helped relieve any tension or uncertainty classmates felt about interacting with him.
"He's a total flirt," said junior Ashleigh Riggs, a team manager. "He'll be like: 'Can you help me downstairs? Can you help me to the guidance office?' We know he knows where he's going, but he knows we're going to fall for it."
Spriggs said, "I wasn't sure what the reaction would be, but once my teammates supported me, that's all that mattered."
Lessons Learned, Lessons Taught
The support and understanding was assured during a practice last season, when Coach Felder told the entire team to wrap T-shirts around their eyes. Then he shut off the lights in the wrestling room, and the team paired off and practiced without the ability to see.
"Nobody understood what it was like for [Spriggs] before we did that, but when we did, we couldn't believe it," Flowers senior Josh Akinsanya said. "We didn't know how he could do it."
