Mobility Matters: Stepping Out
in Faith
By Amy Bovaird
Publisher: Amy Bovaird
Published: Oct. 3, 2014
ASIN: B00O5P9MGY
Amazon Synopsis:
Adventurous international
teacher, Amy Bovaird, is diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary eye
disease that will blind her. In spite of that, she manages to continue teaching overseas.
Then her father’s final illness brings her back home for good. There, friends
and acquaintances begin to notice that she doesn’t always recognize them and sometimes
stumbles…as if drunk! Insensitive students ridicule her in the classroom.
Unwilling to accept that she is truly losing her eyesight, Amy resists when the
Bureau of Blindness schedules a mobility specialist to begin training her to
use a white cane. How
can she, an independent world traveler, use something that screams 'I am a
blind person'? Will her faith prove
strong enough to allow her to move forward and accept herself as she is?
Available for $0.99 from June 27 - June 30 on Amazon
Book Links
Amy’s memoirs of a
time during her life as her vision worsens and she needs to come to grips with
the necessity to admit her blindness and the requirement of the use of a white
cane for her safety lead to a deepening of her faith.
At first unable to
accept that her vision is severely limited, she refuses to tell anyone and
prefers instead to trip and stumble in front of her students, sometimes even
walking into walls. Amy felt such a terrible stigma associated to the word “blind”.
As a mobility
specialist myself, I found this book of great interest to me for its subject
matter. I was quite amazed that Amy could get around on her own with her
genetic condition, particularly at night, since individuals with Retinitis Pigmentosa
(RP) tend to lose their night vision and are using a cane at night much sooner
than Amy was using any assistive device (even a bright light).
Another thing that
intrigued me was that her mobility specialist was blind also. I was unaware
that there were mobility specialists who are blind. As Amy stated, there are
very few that are blind. Perhaps the difference is that I live in Canada and
Amy lives in the USA.
Amy was inspiring in
that she never got angry at God for her condition. She could have, but she didn’t.
Instead she maintained her positive attitude, her faith and her sense of humour.
If only we all could do that in times of crisis!
I was encouraged by
the confidence and the change in attitude that overcame Amy as she completed
her mobility training. She no longer looked at the word “blind” as having a
negative meaning, but just accepted as part of who she is. I think her title
says it all “Mobility Matters: Stepping Out in Faith” that God will lead her
whether she can see or not.
I enjoyed reading
this inspiring memoir. I rated it 4 stars out of 5.
Thank you to the
author who provided a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest
review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
About the Author:
Although Amy suffers from a dual disability—progressive
vision and hearing loss—she continues to enjoy running, hiking and traveling.
Amy blogs about the challenges she faces and the lessons God reveals to her
through her difficulties. You can read about her experiences at www.amybovaird.com.
Author Links
Thank you so much for reviewing my book, Kathryn!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome Amy!
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