Dinner in the Dark teaches guests about living with impaired vision (with video)

Jeff Forman/JForman@News-Herald.com

Kayla Malehorn, 16, struggles with her cutlery as she eats her meal blindfolded Wednesday during the Dinner in the Dark program at Mentor High School. Kayla is in the 11th grade.

Jeff Forman/JForman@News-Herald.com

Gabriella Drago sings her song "I'm Not" during the Dinner in the Dark program Wednesday at Mentor High School. Gabriella, 17, is in the 11th grade at the school.

Your pasta is at four o'clock, your chicken is at 2 o'clock and your pizza is at 10 o'clock. Your water is up and to the left.

That information is necessary when you are eating with a blindfold over your eyes, a situation diners experienced at the Dinner in the Dark Wednesday evening.

Guests took literal stabs at their plates, unsure of what was even in the salads before them or what kind of pizza was being served.

But for individuals with a visual impairment, there is no chance to lift up the fabric to check what is happening on their plate or how much chicken they did or did not manage to cut.

Gabriella Drago and Miriam Derai, Mentor students at the center of the program do mostly everything sighted youths do.

"Almost anything you do as a sighted person you can do as a visually impaired person, just a different way," said Lisa Cellura of the Cleveland Sight Center.

"Except for driving, we haven't figured that one out yet," she said laughing.

Miriam said most people don't understand that she can go camping, and a camp set up for visually impaired youths allows her to swim, learn how to use a straight iron and to "just have fun."

She plays the cello using the Suzuki Method, based mostly on listening, and Gabriella plays the piano and guitar.

Both girls' musical talents were represented at the event including a rap performed by Gabriella that brought laughs from the audience, and a video of a cello performance by Miriam that brought that same audience to tears.

At the event Gabriella sang and played the guitar for a song she wrote. "I'm not just some helpless girl who needs help to survive the world and i'm not just some empty soul who can't do anything on her own."

She has several videos of her singing on YouTube including this song, entitled "I'm not."

Although about 15 large tables were scattered with diners, Miriam's mother, Cheryl, said she hoped the event broke even monetarily.

"That wasn't really the point. The point was education," she said.

The event was aimed at bringing awareness to not only blindness but to the efforts of the 106-year-old Cleveland Center for the Blind.

"We serve people who have lost vision or the parents of babies who have lost vision with things like skill building, early intervention classes," Cellura said.

Through childhood prevention programs and employment assistance, Cellura said the center serves educates or otherwise reaches more than 25,000 people every year.

The mothers of both girls said being the parent of a blind child comes with challenges, but ultimately is the same as being a parent to any other child.

"People react differently. I got very technical and said I need to learn everything I can about this," said Cheryl Derai of when she found out Miriam would struggle with her sight for the rest of her life. "We tell Miriam everything why she is different, but why that doesn't make her better or worse, just her -- unique and individually her."

"When you see someone with a visual impairment, don't get anxiety because you see the cane," said Jaclyn Drago, Gabriella's mother. "Gabriella is just like any other teenager. She has a mouth like any other teenager. She has a phone and a Facebook and a Twitter, but just happens to have a vision impairment."

Join the Conversation