At Eye Can See Clearly, The Blind Have Help

Richard Reagen has been visually impaired for more than two decades and says sight is the worst thing for people to lose.

"They're mad, and it's mind over matter," Reagen said.

Reagen, owner and proprietor of Eye Can See Clearly, sells devices to aid the visually impaired. He once operated two shops but recently consolidated his business at 8340 Gross Point Road in April.

"This is a niche situation; it's not something I would open up in a mall," said Reagen. "I did my research and there was nothing on the North Shore like Eye Can See Clearly."

Reagen sells a variety of products, ranging from enlarged keyboards and talking clocks to canes and hand magnifiers. He was inspired by the challenges he faced with his failing vision and finding the proper aids to help him.

Sitting in his store with a nametag pinned to his vest, Reagen is confident he helps others avoid the struggles he endured when he began to lose his vision.

People travel from around the Midwest, not just Chicagoland, to visit Reagen for the compassionate one-on-one advice that he offers from his experience.

Reagen suffers from macular degeneration, a condition that has rendered him intensely near-sighted and legally blind for more than 20 years. His website doesn't list all the items he has in stock in order to encourage people to visit and try the visual aids before buying.

"I opened this place for people to come in and try what's best for them. I'm here and you can come in and try everything," said Reagen as he shows off the small camera rig he uses to read, write and handle the numbers side of his business.

Kathy Austin, associate manager of rehabilitation services at Guild for the Blind, 180 N. Michigan Ave., said the visually impaired often need more than new tools to cope with changes to their everyday lives.

"[Reagen] is offering one-on-one service, and what we do here is a more comprehensive way for people to adjust to vision loss," Austin said.

Guild for the Blind, established in 1947, offers a wide variety of rehabilitation classes, personal counseling, career services and consumer products for the visually impaired.

Austin said finding support is important and a lot of people who become stressed and isolated as a result from losing their vision.

"The longer they languish in that situation, the harder it is to become rehabilitated, but there is so much they can do to lead a better life," she said.

As technology has advanced, so have options for helping people read and use computers with cameras and hand magnifiers.

"If you have a challenge of reading or telling time, simple things like that, anything in talking that you wouldn't even think of, I have. A lot of the older people are starting with computers but don't have the dexterity," Reagen said, pointing to a giant keyboard with thick yellow keys in his shop.

Reagen doesn't make much money from his store, but enjoys helping the visually challenged regain their mobility and self-confidence.

"I'm very passionate for what I do. There's no push, there's no shove. It's just the way I am," he said with a smile. "Good and bad, I've been there and done that. Whatever's happened to you has already happened to me. I try to have them not feel embarrassed."