BiOptic Driving Network - Susan Baillely receives award

Susan Baillely [right] receives the Feinknopf Award, presented by Nan Klempnauer [left] of Vision Center of Central Ohio.

A Night to Celebrate! “While 75 years is a long time, it is really only a beginning.” This was the tenor of the introduction to the Vision Center Annual Meeting that Rebecca Noack, Executive Director announced. The 100 guests who gathered at DaVinci Ristorante on Thursday, April 24th 2003 were former and current clients, staff and volunteers.

“Celebrating 75 years provides great satisfaction in all the good that has been accomplished by providing outstanding services to people with vision impairment. But it should also inspire us to even greater effort and successes.” she added.

The Award presentations created the highlights of the evening. Susan Baillely received the Feinknopf Award that is presented by the Vision Center annually to a person with a visual impairement who has received services from the Vision Center and had a positive impact on the job and in the community.

Left: Susan Baillely [right] receives the Feinknopf Award, presented by Nan Klempnauer [left] of Vision Center of Central Ohio.

Susan and her husband, Gerard, lived in Newcastle, England with their two young sons, Jean-Louis and Jean-Pierre until 2000. Susan and Gerard worked as chemists, and were given the chance to come to the United States to work in Cincinnati. Susan worked in consumer research, and came to the U.S. to become a trained “perfumer.” She said the job involves both chemistry and art to create fragrances. Susan knew from the start that she was going to need certain visual enhancing equipment to do the job. She received help she needed at the Cincinnati Association for the Blind, and now uses a CCTV and Zoomtext on her computer.

One day she blurted out to her supervisor and trainer, Jerry Janszen, “But who’s going to drive me?” Born with macular dystrophy and developing glaucoma at age 30, Susan was told she would never drive in England. Imagine her surprise when someone at the Cincinnati Association for the Blind told her she was an ideal candidate for the BiOptic-driving program! She was first seen by the BiOptic driving staff of the Vision Center in April 2001. After being fitted with a BiOptic telescope and receiving driver training, passed the extensive driver’s exam given by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and got her license in November. Susan now drives around in a yellow Volkswagen Beetle with “BUG LUV” on her vanity plate. She enjoys volunteering at her son’s school and shopping. “It’s a different life now than walking to and from the grocery store in the U.K. in the rain with two little children and groceries in tow!” she says. The freedom and quality of life that BiOptic driving provided Susan was such a great gift to her that she has now made it her mission to share it with others. Susan studied all she could find about BiOptic driving. She learned that there are around 15,000 BiOptic drivers in the U.S. She mused that there must be at least 15,000 potential BiOptic drivers in Europe, let alone Australia, Taiwan and South Korea, many of whom have already expressed an interest. But currently, they are excluded from having driving privileges.

Susan learned through her research about Simon Phillips, a management consultant in England who like Susan, was as interested in this project. He heard about BiOptics while he lived in central Kentucky. When he returned to England, he met an American woman who was a BiOptic driver in the U.S., but could not drive in the U.K. Together they decided to start a process to change this situation. Susan and Simon founded the not-for-profit BiOptic Driving Network. They organized the International Driving Conference, June 2004 in London. About 100 delegates attended from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, U.K. and the U.S. Susan successfully solicited executives to donate their flight miles to bring in key speakers. Thanks to Susan's persuasiveness, a Cincinnati based marketing company sponsored the designs for the BDN/conference logo.

Dr Jeff Yoest, [left] Susan Baillely, [center] and Dr Sarah Yoest [right] at the award ceremony. Dr Sarah Yoest is Treasurer of BiOptic Driving Network.

Above: Dr Jeff Yoest, [left] Susan Baillely, [center] and Dr Sarah Yoest [right] at the award ceremony. Dr Sarah Yoest is Treasurer of BiOptic Driving Network.

Simon Phillips frankly admits, “No way could we have done this without Susan-without her steadfast dedication.” Sarah Yoest, O.D., who worked with Susan at the Vision Center, said, “Susan is an accomplished, articulate woman that is taking her positive experience in the Ohio driving program and envisioning making this privilege possible in Europe and throughout the world. It takes exceptional organization and motivation, as well as tremendous contributions of personal time and effort to undertake such an ambitious project. Susan is truly an impressive lady.” Susan said, “America is good at helping people with disabilities, good at finding solutions.” It is no coincidence that this is precisely what she is doing.

Vision Center of Central Ohio awards BDN Trustee Susan Baillely