By Nick Buglione
For almost a decade Shapiro has dedicated much of his time and energy to helping people with vision and hearing challenges realize their full potential, creating the Foundation for Sight and Sound in March 2004.
He¹s just donated new equipment and software to the East Meadow Public Library for its visually-impaired patrons, and has agreed to tell his heart-wrenching and empowering story at the library Friday, July 15 at 12:30 p.m.
Shapiro suffers from Usher syndrome, a degenerative genetic disease that robs people of both their hearing and vision. At 52, the Smithtown resident¹s sight has been reduced to little more than a pinhole of vision, while his hearing continues to deteriorate. He now has a cochlear implant to help him hear.
Still, he¹s never let it keep him down. ³I¹m going deaf and I¹m going blind and I¹m a very corny person,² said Shapiro, who often speaks lightly of his condition.
It wasn¹t easy growing up with a disability, however, and Shapiro had a tough time laughing off the taunts of his peers. ³I felt like I was put in a society of outcasts because I was different on the outside and no different on the inside,² he said.
Diagnosed with hearing loss when he was 8 years old, Shapiro had to wear a hearing aid and was relentlessly teased as a result. While being ridiculed once in the sixth grade, Shapiro threw his hearing aid against the wall because he could no longer stand the torment. ³Kids in general make fun because kids don¹t know any better,² he said.
It wasn¹t until he was 24 that doctors realized he was losing his sight as well, confirming that he indeed suffered from Usher syndrome.
At the time Shapiro was living in Georgia and had been in some 15 car accidents thanks to his fading sight, though he didn¹t want to accept it. Finally, after riding his car off the road Shapiro had to swallow the truth‹after losing much of his hearing, he was also going blind. ³My way of dealing with it was functioning day to day,² Shapiro said. ³I kept a positive mental attitude.²
He returned to Long Island and started working in his family¹s restaurant catering business. After the family business was sold in 1994, Shapiro joined the Foundation for Fighting Blindness.
For over eight years he volunteered, speaking about the organization at schools and civic meetings. ³In the process, I learned that I had a different talent,² he said, ³and that was inspiring people.²
Motivational speaking proved to be Shapiro¹s forte, and he increasingly became a sought after lecturer.
³It¹s not about what you don¹t have, it¹s what you do have,² he said. ³You have to take what you do have and make it work for you.²
And that¹s exactly what he¹s done.
In March 2004, Shapiro created his own non-profit organization, the Foundation for Sight and Sound. ³My goal is to raise a lot of money and give away a lot of it,² he said.
Holding two major fund-raisers each year, Shapiro estimates the foundation, which boasts about 200 volunteers, has raised approximately $130,000 for the visually and hearing impaired. ³We¹re an organization focused on people helping people,² said Shapiro, who has a son, 19, and a daughter, 15.
The foundation is currently donating visual-aid equipment to libraries in Nassau and Suffolk counties, recently giving a closed-circuit television and zoom-text software to the East Meadow Public Library.
³The library is grateful for the generous grant,² said John Franzen, library director. ³This material greatly enhances the library¹s services to the sight and hearing impaired.²
Closed-circuit televisions are able to project any kind of reading material onto their screen, magnified 16 times. It can read CDs, books and other types of documents.
Zoom-text software, meanwhile, magnifies and clears the resolution of computer screens. ³There are some libraries that can¹t afford the equipment because the budget doesn¹t allow it,² Shapiro said.
Shapiro has also agreed to speak at the library in July. ³Just raising money for research wasn¹t enough for me,² he said. ³What¹s more important is finding ways to give back to the community.²
For more information about Shapiro or his foundation, visit www.mitchsdream.org.
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
