His father Mike would join Ryan in short right field and stand next to the tee during his son’s at-bats, providing ongoing radio-like commentary. Ryan could see the ballpark and the action around him through his father’s eyes.
Ryan, now 14, spent Monday morning at Aiken High, where he will enroll as a freshman next week.
He was accompanied by Sandy, who has brought him a new set of eyes. Ryan obtained the 2-year-old Labernese guide dog a few weeks ago. Sandy is a mix of Labrador retriever and Bernese mountain dog. He and Ryan play with each other at home, but when the harness is on, Sandy is all business.
It will take six months, Ryan said, for he and Sandy to become best friends. Yet they were well on their way to being pals Monday, amicably walking around the expansive Aiken High campus with itinerant vision teacher Denise Hyman.
“When I switch classes, he will guide me to the next class,” Ryan said. “The first time I took him around the school, he was memorizing the route. I am kind of concerned that he (Sandy) will forget where to go, but he’ll figure it out, probably within a month. Starting high school will be a little different, but I’m ready for this.”
By the way, Sandy isn’t the dog’s real name. It’s a kind of make-do name, because hearing his given name at school could distract Sandy from his real job, which is guiding Ryan.
Sandy is also a foreigner, a recent transplant from Montreal. Ryan’s instructions to him have to be in French, because that’s the language in which Sandy was trained.
Ryan always has been remarkably active, encouraged to embrace life by parents Mike and Keisha Uhle.
He has been involved in martial arts and has played the cello at Schofield for the past three years. The only reason Ryan hasn’t enrolled in Aiken High’s strings program is that he is taking six honors classes this year, including biology and German II. Ryan actually contends that his memory is not that great.
“He’s being modest,” said Keisha, shaking her head. “His memory is phenomenal.”
Hyman has worked with Ryan since he was in the fourth grade. He has long used a cane to get around but got tired of that and also of asking friends to escort him around Schofield Middle School.
Ryan has received services through the S.C. School for the Deaf and Blind’s outreach program and specialist Carolyn Cain.
“His specialist trains Ryan within the community on safety and mobility issues,” Hyman said. “Carolyn realized Ryan was mature enough and had the skills to have a dog.”
However, no organization within the United States would provide a dog for any teenager under 16. Keisha then discovered MIRA Canada in Montreal.
Ryan had always talked about a guide dog, but now he was hesitant. So he and his dad visited a MIRA USA site in Pinehurst, N.C., and Ryan got the opportunity to understand what it would be like to get a dog “and that was pretty cool,” he said.
He and his mom attended the summer session in Montreal but had to wait several days before Ryan and Sandy were introduced to each other. Finally, Ryan got to meet his new friend – as did eight other young people that day.
“It was an extremely emotional moment for us,” said Keisha. “I wanted to go up there and hug the dog.”
But she did not and never will.
Sandy is literally Ryan’s dog, and no one else will ever play with him or pet him or even talk to him.
That’s an adjustment for Ryan’s parents and younger siblings, Natalie and Jared.
However, the kids do have a family dog, Bo, 6, who stays outside in the backyard. Bo and Sandy have met and have agreed for now to keep their distance.
Aiken High Principal Garen Cofer is excited about this new opportunity.
“We’re just thrilled that we can meet Ryan’s needs,” Cofer said “We’re rolling out the red carpet for him and want to accommodate him in anyway we can.”
Aug.7-13 is International Assistance Dog Week, created to recognize all assistance dogs that work with people with disabilities. For more information, visit www.assistancedogweek.org.
Learning the routine: Ryan Uhle, an Aiken High freshman, and his new guide dog, Sandy, take a walk around the expansive campus to help each other learn where Ryan’s classes are. Blind since the age of 2, Ryan obtained Sandy in Canada this summer.
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