A blind woman has implored Bermudians to wake up to the abilities of visually impaired people.

Valerie Wade, 46, graduated from the Bermuda College amid her classmates' enthusiastic cheers on June 4.

She earned her certificate for child care assistants with distinction after achieving straight As.

Although she has only limited peripheral vision and cannot read Braille, Ms Wade was determined to become an educated, self-sufficient individual.

She has worked with children for the past 32 years and decided to become fully certified in her field.

After receiving her high school diploma with honours in Pennsylvania, Ms Wade enrolled in a child care programme in Lancaster where she became certified to work in the US.

She returned to Bermuda to earn local certification through Bermuda College's programme.

Ms Wade studied for her classes by having her books read aloud by classmate Angela Frith, who she called a "real blessing'', and recorded onto audio tapes. The Lions Club, the Kardias Club and Exel Insurance donated money for Ms Wade to purchase a $5,500 machine called "The Reading Edge'', which scans printed material and reads it aloud.

Through her success at the college, she said she may have opened a door for the physically challenged.

But Ms Wade, who is now seeking employment, criticised the lack of options available to visually impaired people living on the Island, saying that not all blind people wanted to go the Bermuda Society of the Blind's headquarters at Beacon House, where occupational therapy and other services are offered.

"Beacon House makes you more dependent than independent,'' she said. "The younger people are being trained in the fields they choose. They don't want to be making baskets all their lives. Come on, Bermuda, wake up.'' Ms Wade is convinced that finding employers willing to hire blind workers is a big step toward achieving self-sufficiency.

"In order to claim disability (assistance), I would have to state that I am incapable of working for the rest of my life -- and it ain't about that,'' she stressed. Ms Wade is a member of National Federation of the Blind and the National American Counsel of the Blind.

She said she was inspired by the fact that the organisations' lawyers, executives, and doctors were all blind or visually impaired.

Ms Wade is now the treasurer of a newly formed, as-yet-unnamed local organisation geared toward helping the visually impaired become self-sufficient.

In addition to directing the children's choir and teaching Sunday school lessons, Ms Wade is a faithful member of the Allen Temple AME church's congregation.

AMAZING GRACE -- Valerie Wade, a visually impaired child care giver, is pictured using "The Reading Edge'', a machine that scans printed material and reads aloud.