Alessia Trulli’s life changed at 22 when she woke up one day and couldn’t see. Diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy, Alessia was going to school and supply teaching as an Early Childhood Educator as she started to adjust to her sight loss.
After having trouble crossing at crosswalks, Alessia met with Laura Swan – an Orientation & Mobility Specialist with Vision Loss Rehabilitation Ontario. As they practiced routes, the two talked about adjusting to life with sight loss in a small town. Alessia was always an athlete, but people were now discouraging her from trying sports, worried that she would get injured. Alessia felt isolated without the usual ways to get out and socialize.
“Laura asked me if I had heard of CNIB Lake Joe,” Alessia recalls. “I hadn’t but was intrigued by a place that was ‘blind proof.’ That was super appealing to me.”
She signed up for an Adult Week in July and was blown away.
“It was so cool how the layout was. You could go in circles, but you couldn’t get lost,” Alessia jokes. “Half of the battle is asking for help. The staff at Lake Joe was so perceptive to my feelings that by the second day, I was much more adventurous.”
Alessia was interested in the new blind soccer program at camp. Growing up in an Italian family, she says it was a tradition to sit down, be quiet, and watch the soccer game. As her sight went, she could no longer see the ball, but Camp Counsellor Jade Ondrik explained blind soccer to her. Realizing that she could still play a sport that she loved to watch when she was sighted, it was important to learn the rules and how the game worked so she could continue to be able to enjoy it, just from a different perspective.
Alessia also loves being near water. She was initially cautious about the deeper water, but a water specialist with sight loss inspired her.
She remembers thinking, “I can do this…what’s my problem?” The first time she went sailing, her guide dog Bay came along in his very own life jacket. They went out right after that, again and again.
“My experience in my first adult week lit a spark…that maybe I could do this after all. It was so refreshing to be part of a community like this. All the struggles you deal with daily go away at CNIB Lake Joe. You feel a new person at Lake Joe.”