Andy Stender: Tenacious and independent

Andy Stender is both brave and tenacious. He works on the manufacturing line at the VisionCorps Lancaster office and his journey to get to this full-time job is full of highs and some lows.

Andy, who was born with profound deafness, has Usher syndrome. His symptoms began at age 7 and resulted in him becoming blind at age 37. He is now DeafBlind with combined hearing and vison loss.

Learning to live with changing symptoms has been a constant for him. He communicates with people by several methods:  finger spelling in hands where he draws the letters on hands (Andy is very fast at doing this!), tactile American Sign Language, using a Perkins braille typewriter, and using a tactile braille display that connects to an iPhone or iPad through Bluetooth.

Andy grew up in the Collegeville area. His grandfather owned a farmette and nursery, and he learned to help out — cleaning up cow manure, feeding animals and baling hay. The nursery sold rare trees and wreaths around the holidays, and he learned early about plants and care of trees.

He loved sports, especially swimming and baseball. He wanted to learn to drive but his eyesight was worsening and he didn’t have the peripheral vision to pass the test. As a teen he worked in small jobs like making pizza boxes and helping his Mom shelf paperback books in her business.

Andy studied horticulture at Temple University’s Ambler campus. He began working in plant pathology but he stopped when he realized his eyesight was getting worse and he couldn’t read the chemicals.

While he still loves plants, he is careful about gardening, especially cleaning up areas, because he knows the bacteria and virus that could be there.

Andy has worked in a variety of jobs – often placed in positions by state and local agencies for the blind in different locations where he was living. He’s had some iffy jobs and some good jobs – and he appreciates his current position with VisionCorps. He began working here at 2006 and started full-time in 2012.

“I enjoy my job at VisionCorps,” said Andy. “I like working fast which is the result of my many years of experience. I like working on the helmet pad line because it’s important to help the military and I appreciate the defense mission of the military.”

His supervisors note that Andy takes great pride in his work and is one of the company’s fastest and most productive workers.

He lives alone and travels independently using public transit to travel from his home to work. Andy uses a white cane to travel. He’s learned, with help from VisionCorps’ rehabilitation staff, to get around in his work and home environments. He lives alone and can do many errands like pick up his mail and drop off trash and recycling in the common area in his complex, without help. He gets some independent living assistance from friends and DeafBlind interpreters and volunteers.

Andy said he appreciates that his work gives him the ability to be independent, live on his own, and choose his activities. When he is not working, he likes to explore.

“Social DeafBlind people travel to different places such as attending the Fulton Theater with accommodations for the deaf, historical and Amish sites, farms, and the Renaissance Faire,” said Andy. He still enjoys gardening and especially going back to visit at Longwood Gardens but doesn’t get there as often as he would like.

“There are good places around Lancaster and York,” said Andy. “I’m comfortable living here.”

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