The Power of Adaptive Sports with Meredith Tyree
In today's powerful conversation, we welcome Meredith Tyree, a remarkable advocate and athlete who was born with hearing loss and later diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa and Usher Syndrome. She shares her deeply personal journey of diagnosis, learning to let go of fear, and finding true liberation through adaptive sports. Meredith's story is a testament to the transformative power of connection and the unwavering belief that the only disabilities we have are the ones we make for ourselves. Join us as we explore how to step out of your comfort zone and into a truly rich life.
Shedding the Armor: How Adaptive Sports Teaches Us to Live Without Fear
As a psychotherapist specializing in disability adjustment, I often talk about the psychological weight of living with vision loss. It's a weight compounded not just by the physical reality of the loss itself, but by the emotional “armor” we feel compelled to wear every day. This armor is built from the microaggressions, the lowered expectations of others, the constant need to prove our capabilities, and the pervasive, internal fear of not being able to manage.
My recent conversation with Meredith Tyree, a remarkable advocate and athlete who lives with Usher Syndrome (a combination of hearing loss and Retinitis Pigmentosa), illuminated this concept of "armor" more clearly than ever. Meredith’s diagnostic journey, spanning from a childhood hearing loss diagnosis to a teenage discovery of RP, was fraught with frustration and the indignity of being categorized as "learning disabled" by a system that couldn't see her potential. Her family’s initial struggle to process her hearing loss, making it a "secret," only reinforced the idea that her disability was something to be ashamed of.
This environment of fear and low expectations is the forge where that heavy emotional armor is created. It’s a defense mechanism, a shield against anticipated judgment. But as Meredith learned through her powerful journey, this armor, while protective, is also exhausting and limiting.
The turning point in Meredith’s story, which resonated deeply with me both personally and professionally, came through human connection. First, with a simple, accepting reply from a teenage crush—"So what? So does my sister"—which helped her dismantle the mountain she had made of her hearing aids. This small interaction paved the way for a major shift in her self-perception. Later, her connection with Gordon Gunn, the President of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, provided a mentor who modeled a life without limits—a blind person traveling, skiing, and being a successful entrepreneur. These connections were gifts that changed her whole perspective, offering a new, hopeful lens through which to view her challenges.
The most powerful expression of Meredith’s liberation is her dedication to adaptive sports. As she put it, she had an athletic background that helped channel her frustration. But for years, she allowed her vision loss to sideline her from sports she loved, like tennis. The old Prince Pro Tennis racket, sitting on her shelf, became a symbol of both the great memories she cherished and the lost potential she feared reclaiming.
The push from her friend, another Meredith, to try adaptive tennis and, later, the inherently challenging sport of Goalball, forced her to face this fear head-on. Her candid admission—that she was "fussing at Meredith telling her, what the hell did you get me into?"—is the voice of every person standing at the edge of their comfort zone. It takes real courage, as I reflected during our interview, to take that step into the unknown.
What adaptive sports provide, and what is so crucial for people adjusting to disability, is a safe space to let the armor down. Meredith's experience with organizations like Sportable highlights this beautifully. She talks about the incredible volunteers who see "only your abilities" and not your limitations. This environment reverses the toxic dynamic of the outside world; instead of having to constantly prove yourself, you are surrounded by people who have higher expectations of you than you may have for yourself. They are there to guide you, not to demean you. They are extensions of your abilities, providing cues in Goalball or piloting a tandem bike, or making running a true team sport.
This concept of partnership is key. As Meredith pointed out, the relationship is a two-way street. She not only gained freedom and skills but also educated her volunteers—like the orthopedic surgeon she cycled with—on how to communicate and work effectively with a person living with a disability. This equality in the relationship is inherently empowering.
Meredith’s final message is the one that echoes my professional philosophy: "Don't stop trying and don't let fear be the reason you don't live". She encourages us to take the "thousand excuses," which are really the manifestation of fear, and face them with courage. Once you accomplish one thing that breaks through that fear—whether it's kayaking, taking a train ride alone, or playing an adaptive sport—it creates a "little domino effect" of confidence that translates into every other area of your life.
If you are listening and feel that familiar, heavy weight of the armor, I encourage you to seek out a supportive community. Start with Move United, or search for adaptive sports in your state. You deserve a space where you can breathe, feel liberated, and discover that your potential is, indeed, limitless. As Meredith's friend says—and as we all need to hear from time to time—"I got you". Find the people who will have your back, and have the courage to try.
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In this deeply moving and inspirational episode, host Matthew Reeves, a legally blind psychotherapist, sits down with Meredith Tyree, an incredible woman who embodies the spirit of resilience and adaptation. Meredith shares her experience navigating the complex, dual diagnosis of hearing loss from birth and later, Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), which led to a diagnosis of Usher Syndrome. Her story highlights the emotional difficulty of the diagnostic journey—feeling categorized and underestimated by the world—and the pivotal moment when she realized her only true limits were the ones she set for herself.
Meredith's passion lies in adaptive sports and recreation, which she credits as a channel for frustration and a source of profound freedom. She details her initial reluctance to try tennis again, despite loving it as a child, and how a challenge from a friend pushed her to find adaptive solutions, even for a hearing-impaired person playing Goalball, a sport that relies on a bell. She emphasizes that adaptive sports organizations like Move United and Sportable have incredible volunteers who provide the necessary structure and guidance, encouraging participants to simply show up and be willing to learn.
This conversation offers a powerful message for anyone feeling isolated or disheartened by vision loss: don't let fear be the reason you don't live. Meredith encourages listeners to take the "thousand excuses"—which she calls fear—and throw them out, giving life one shot. It's about finding a supportive community where you can shed the "armor" of constantly having to prove yourself and experience the liberation of being your authentic self. Meredith’s commitment to living life to the fullest, and her involvement with the Foundation Fighting Blindness, serves as a powerful reminder that every challenge is an opportunity to adapt, adjust, and soar.
Topics Covered: Usher Syndrome, Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), navigating dual sensory loss, the diagnostic journey, low expectations from others, the power of mentorship, Foundation Fighting Blindness, adaptive sports and recreation, Goalball, tandem cycling, kayaking, overcoming fear and self-doubt, the importance of supportive community, Move United, Sportable.
Move United: moveunitedsport.org/
ABOUT THE PODCAST
inSight Out is your podcast home for living well with vision loss. Host Matthew Reeves (LPC CRC NCC) is a legally-blind psychotherapist and rehabilitation counselor specializing in helping people thrive while living with disability. Matthew is licensed in Georgia and is a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor.
Please be sure to subscribe to catch every episode. And remember to share the show with others in the blind and low-vision community!
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©Integral Mental Health Services, LLC
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The following transcript is AI generated and likely contains errors.
[00:00:00]
COLD OPEN
Meredith Tyree: the only disabilities that you can make are the ones you make for yourself. And if you wanna do something, do it.
Don't say, oh, my rp, my eyes, um, oh my ears, I can't hear. Um, what am I gonna do if I can't hear this? There, there's a thousand excuses. So take those a thousand excuses and, which is basically fear, and throw it out and just give it one shot, one shot. And if it's not for you, but don't stop trying and don't let fear be the reason you don't live.
INTRO
Matthew Reeves: You're listening to Insight Out a podcast about living well with low vision. [00:01:00] Maybe you're feeling confused, scared, isolated, or disheartened about a recent vision loss diagnosis, or maybe you've been managing your vision loss for a while and now you want to hear from others about how to continue growing and thriving. Insight Out is your supportive space to find healthy and impactful tools to build and maintain a truly rich and gratifying life with low or no vision.
I'm Matthew Reeves. I'm a legally blind psychotherapist and rehabilitation counselor. I specialize in helping people adjust to disability through my practice, integral Mental Health Services in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm really glad you're listening.
Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, and let others in the low vision community know about the podcast so the word can spread to those who might find it helpful. And now on with today's discussion.
TOPIC INTRO
Alex: this is placeholder for generic voiceover.
INTERVIEW
Matthew Reeves: Well, welcome to Inside Out [00:02:00] Meredith. Uh, thank you for being with us today. Uh, this is gonna be a conversation about something you're very familiar with, which is adaptive sports and recreation for people with disabilities and specifically vision impairment.
This is something that I understand you have a lot of experience with. I have zero experience with it, so I, I am an open book, a blank slate. I'm looking forward to learning about it. But, uh, before we do, I'd like to just invite you to tell then myself and this audience kind of your story of vision loss so we can have a bit of a context.
Meredith Tyree: Thank you, Matthew. I appreciate you having me do this. It's, you know, I'm very passionate about this, so if I get overly zealous, just, you know. Me back in. Okay. Um, but, um, I have, I was born with a hearing loss, um, diagnosed at six years old, and it was a big deal. My parents were over, had a hard time with it, [00:03:00] and that's all I thought I had was a hearing loss. And then I started doing, like every teenager, I started driving. At 16 and had one fender bender, then had another fender bender, and my parents thought I was just a little too with the radio and having too much fun. um, ended up at the eye doctor at Emory University diagnosed me with rp and I'm
Matthew Reeves: Pigmentosa.
Meredith Tyree: Yes, I thought I had clearly two separate diagnosis,
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Meredith Tyree: and it wasn't until I was a freshman in college and I started getting literature from the Foundation, body and Blindness, they had macular degeneration, they had stargardt, then they had this. Pamphlet that said Usher Syndrome, and it says people born with hearing loss.
Um, some deaf, some um, mild to moderate loss or moderate to severe. [00:04:00] with the rp, and I'm like, this is me. Why didn't anybody say this? I mean, why do I have to go to the audiologist for my hearing aids RP for my, you know, go to Emory Eye Clinic for my doctors, but nobody said, Hey, you have ushers. And I then went to my First Visions Conference for the Foundation Fighting Blindness in, what was it?
Probably. I don't wanna date myself. I'm just gonna say my junior year in college. And, um, and all of a sudden they had this whole group of people that were just nothing with Ushers syndrome and I, and, and many different forms. Then I learned there was an ushers one then. There was only Ushers one, ushers two, you know, and, and, and now it's like ushers. A, B, C, D, you know, it goes on and on the different, but then I realized what I had, and then I had the Ushers Syndrome two A and that they were together. And all that time I was like, why didn't just somebody tell me [00:05:00] this is what it was? But I found out that it was just that specific genetics. I didn't have two separate things.
Matthew Reeves: Gotcha. I imagine we could spend an hour talking about just that part of your story with, you know, uh, a hearing impairment from birth, and you mentioned how your family was responding to that, and then separately getting diagnosed with what, under ordinary circumstances would be a pretty catastrophic diagnosis for anybody, but it's on top of the hearing impairment.
So you're thinking there's a second. Profound sensory loss, uh, as a teenager. And then the whole story as with so many of us, our diagnostic journey is, is pretty fraught and pretty emotional and difficult and, and frustrating. Um, but it sounds like yours was just thing upon thing upon thing. And I, I don't, I don't wanna take up all our time talking about adaptive sports to talk about that, but I think I, that's such a, that's, that story sounds [00:06:00] really.
Profoundly difficult. Uh, and so I just, I feel like it would be making a mistake to not ask about like what that journey was like for you and how you and your family navigated that.
Meredith Tyree: For me, um, finding out that I was, I. Remember, it was a taboo. You couldn't talk about it. And I remember coming home with my first pair of hearing aids. Now mind you, my parents knew I needed two and it was hard for them to process that, so they only got me one. And so I went from years old to 16. And nobody was to know. It had to be our secret. And you know, I never wore ponytails. I never wore anything. 'cause this was like the big thing. And um, and I remember I got to high school. I, I dealt with the things where the school system treated you [00:07:00] differently and they tried to say that you needed special accommodations, and back then it was archaic how they did it.
Okay.
Matthew Reeves: Because this was before the Americans with Disabilities Act, so and bef.
Meredith Tyree: They thought that, they thought if you had a hearing loss, then you were in the, automatically put in to the learning disabled group uh, categorized. In a vast spectrum of all of them, and it was more that you were not intelligent, not smart, and it was just that part of it was very demeaning. To me, because they don't potentialize you. They, they try to say, well, they don't, they have very little expectations of you. So, um, and, and to tell you, the only thing that I really got and, and couldn't have survived had I not had an athletic background, I did sports. So that channeled my frustration. And, um, and then at six, then at 16, I remember. You know, we all [00:08:00] do this. I remember having a crush on this guy. I thought he was so hot. And I remember not having the nut and guts to be, you know, friendly with him, or, you know, and he was being sweet to me. And I, I was like, ugh. I had that whole hearing aid thing, you know, I was like, do I tell him? Not tell 'em?
I don't tell people. And I just remember it was so pivotal to me. I said to him, I go, I wear hearing aids. I just need to let you know this. And I knew this was gonna be a game changer. I mean, I had thought this through he says, so what? So does my sister. And that changed. I'm feeling, I stressed about this. And it ended up, his dad was an audiologist and he got me my second pair of hearing aids and
Matthew Reeves: Wow.
Meredith Tyree: 17 years old I'm in Atlanta. And I, I went to the shop my, by myself, his dad fit me with hearing aids. He put 'em on me. I had my first set of two. I remember going home thinking, oh my Lord, my car [00:09:00] is so loud. And you know, I, for about a month, I was like, Ugh. Everything's just so loud. It's this clock is clicking in the kitchen. Mom, doesn't this drive you nuts? She's just been there your whole life. I'm just like, ah. So I realized I had missed a lot um, but also what I had missed was the fact that I had felt it was something bad. And when he says to me, so what he says is my sister. I thought I had made such a mountain of, out of something that didn't need to be, and so, and that's when RP came into the picture.
Matthew Reeves: It is almost like the timing, like the universe sets you up to have a fresh lens for viewing it. Right, right at the moment when you needed that the most.
Meredith Tyree: Mm-hmm.
Matthew Reeves: for taking on a, what it, what it turned out to be a fresh or a, an additional, uh, challenge, an additional [00:10:00] need to adapt and adjust and, and get used to a new thing.
Uh, do you see it that way? Like, like you were, the timing, uh, that, that I find the timing interesting.
Meredith Tyree: Oh, it was, it, it changed everything. I mean, I'm so glad I, I had those experiences. I don't think that they were not, they were, they were wonderful blessings, I believe because they gave me a real kick and told me to, even, even when I found out I had rp. That world opened its door to me, and then school was even harder.
They said, oh, college, it'll take you six years because of your RP and your hearing loss and those things together. And oh my goodness, you're gonna go blind with both. You're gonna go blind and you're gonna go deaf. The world. And everybody in the south will say, bless your heart, honey. We just feel so bad for you. And then they tried to put you in the prayer chair and all this kind of silly stuff, but I was fortunate enough to meet people [00:11:00] like the first boyfriend the later on I met a man named Gordon Gunn, who if I hadn't had him show me that blind people can do whatever they wanna do. And they can be the entrepreneurs, they can be travel the world, they can ski, they can sculpt, they can do anything.
And he opened that world of people. To me, that made changed my whole perspective. So these are gifts that change the direction for me.
Matthew Reeves: So it was your interaction with people who had different experiences. One person who it sounds like was more of a mentor, um. Who had li, who had some lived experience, but then also this boyfriend who just grew up in a, in a different context with a different, different set of family members who had different experiences and that informed a different lens through which to view a hearing [00:12:00] impairment.
And he shared that with you. And it was so through both of these people, uh, it made a profound difference for you and how you view yourself.
Meredith Tyree: Yes. Oh. It changed everything. It changed everything and, and nowadays, I, I work with a group of people and I always say there's some people. I wish they had, had the exposures that I had of the people. And, and, and I'm thankful for the, I'm not trying to promote this a hundred percent, but I'm, that's the best benefit I've had from being involved with the foundation of bottom blindness the people that I met influenced me on how I thought I could live a better life. So all these things came along with a purpose. If I had lived by how my family had wanted me to. I, I would not have lived so
Matthew Reeves: Can you tell me more? 'cause I know, uh, you're, you're very, very connected to the foundation, um, and, and some other [00:13:00] organizations and, and you do some advocacy work in that area. And before we get into the adaptive sports topic, uh, for the remainder of the conversation, can you tell me about the work you're doing with the foundation and other organizations?
Meredith Tyree: well, remember I told you I got the pamphlet. That said Usher syndrome. And
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Meredith Tyree: father and I said, in college, I said, I want to go to this conference. They, they have this conference. I wanna go. And you go, you could just see this. Ugh. You know, so we're having to face this reality, this diagnosis, you know, the whole thing. we ended up in Orlando and um, I'm just like so excited. First time I never met people with the same thing I had. the first day they had this meeting and it's this big conference room and this beautiful hotel on Disneyland. I run into the conference and I'm groomed because I have a hearing loss to be on the front row.
'cause I don't wanna miss anything. Because I
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: [00:14:00] read and um. And all of a sudden, you know, I looked over and this place is packed and I'm looking over there. Huh? There's a seat on the front row. Whew. I have made it I went to these people and I said, can I sit right here? I said, okay. If I sit right here. Then I, they said, sure, sit down. And I'm sitting down and I'm kind of trying to get my bearings. 'cause you know we have that night blindness thing going and you're trying, looking for reflection of light, seeing if anybody's sitting to my right. And I go, wow, how did I look up? There's nobody to the right of me. There's just these two people right here. And so then the conference starts and I'm so excited and the light comes up and it says, and our guest and CEO, president of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Gordon Gunn. next to me, I was sitting on his seat rope. I had made that mistake I said, I said to him after he did his speech and all this stuff, I said, I am so sorry.
I just so sorry. I did not [00:15:00] know that this was Reserv for you. He goes, no, it wasn't. said, and then he invited us to lunch and the rest was history.
Matthew Reeves: So you, you, you dropped his name a little while ago, but you, you left out. Who Gordon Gun is and was at that point in time for you. So is it
Meredith Tyree: finding
Matthew Reeves: He started the foundation fighting plan.
Meredith Tyree: moment of trying to be on the front row and I'm, we still, we still talk once a month, once every three months. And he, he still, to me, I, I've always thanked him for being the mentor. Then I need it because I was, you know, trying to figure out my career. college was telling me, mm, you're not gonna be able to do much. You know, you, were not giving me encouragement,
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: but then I was seeing what he was doing. Then he introduced me to a lot of other people in this group [00:16:00] who let no be an answer, and that was. Um, I guess the theme I, they always taught me is, the only disability you make is the one you make for yourself. And if
Matthew Reeves: Hmm,
Meredith Tyree: something, you just have to figure out another way to do it. And
Matthew Reeves: what a tremendous, what a tremendous shift from. A world filled with people who had probably had your best interest at heart, but their message was set, your expectations low and you won't be disappointed.
Meredith Tyree: Oh.
Matthew Reeves: And then you found a new group that said, don't you dare. Right Soar fly. Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: no. And, and,
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: a lifetime of amazing experiences with them. Who would say, um, it just. Unbelievable experiences where they would say, let's just, uh, we're going, we're going to, will you take notes for me? Take notes for me. And I'm like, me for this, [00:17:00] these Ford Gun and his wife. I mean, I went into a cold sweat.
I was just, I mean, I didn't, and I was just right outta college, working my first job. So I did. And I, and I. I got these little notes and I was so excited to give him a dinner hoping they were suffice to this, you know, great people here. And um, and they were just like, well, I said, I hope you had a great day.
He says, yeah, we were over at the Camden Yards taking a tour.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: I said, that was, must have been nice. He goes, we're gonna build one in Cleveland.
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Meredith Tyree: So it made me, you know, they were over there and I was able to go to a basketball game and where somebody who couldn't see the court,
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: would've stayed home. Why would I go? Because I can't see, but. In every game he was sitting in every game. Yes, he's sitting in his box, but in every game he has earbuds in, [00:18:00] he knows every play, every minute of everything that's going on in the game. So you don't have to say, because I can't be there in sight. He was physically there
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: moment of that game.
Matthew Reeves: He wasn't there in sight, but he was there in every other way
Meredith Tyree: Yes.
Matthew Reeves: and he modeled that for you, and you learned that that was a poss possibility for yourself.
Meredith Tyree: Yes.
Matthew Reeves: That's amazing.
Meredith Tyree: was, that's all, that was the best thing ever. That, that, that taught me his example taught me more than any words could have.
Matthew Reeves: Wow. Wow. And that it sounds like led to a very long relationship with the foundation. I.
Meredith Tyree: Yes, did. And, um, for that I'm thankful. Um, it, it helped my parents channel into having this hard time struggling. With this, um, that they were, were able to channel and do their own. my dad started a golf tournament [00:19:00] and it just celebrated. Its 37th year.
Matthew Reeves: This is a, uh, I assume a fundraising golf tournament.
Meredith Tyree: Yes.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: a long, I'm just saying it was a long,
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: when I look at it, that was their coping way. So I that I'm, I'm thankful for, and that was the way he could say in his own words and with his heart, I support you.
Matthew Reeves: So it went from a family that wasn't sure how to support, and they learned too. They adapted, they adjusted
Meredith Tyree: a cure,
Matthew Reeves: right.
Meredith Tyree: but Les, I can do this.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. And, and that's the whole mission of the foundation is to work towards something. Yeah. And so as long as we don't have cures, that's the reason for its existence.
Meredith Tyree: But if, if, if a, and I also know that if a cure, I always knew that if a cure wasn't in sight and for me, but I was, I would gear for the next generation. [00:20:00] So I
Matthew Reeves: I.
Meredith Tyree: people gonna get really upset. They don't have anything for me, they don't have, but actuality, if you sit back and you say, um hmm, I remember when I was diagnosed and they said, just go home and learn braille. I'm so thankful that young children today diagnosed at 12, 13. They have, they have promise, a lot more research going on. They've identified the genes. They didn't know what gene the genes were. Then I said in the spectrum, there's been a lot accomplished.
Matthew Reeves: Right and. The message to young people who receive a diagnosis. Now, uh, there is more promise for a cure, but there's also, I think, broadly, uh, greater messages that. Even if you, even if there is no cure, you're, that does not mean your life is a waste. It doesn't mean you sit on your couch for the rest of your life.
And that seems to be largely the message that you have, uh, for the people that, that, [00:21:00] that turn to you for advice. It's about living life and, and kind of sucking the marrow out of life and enjoying it to its fullest. Uh, that seems like what the kind of energy you've put, uh, into your time.
Meredith Tyree: That I, I've, it's like where I work right now. I've, I've been shifted jobs I'm now around a lot more visually impaired people than I've been ever been in my life. I've, and I've seen people that are younger than me and they don't, they have been prisoners to what I exposed a little bit. Okay.
They've been told that they can't, and some of them I always say, have drank the koit. And um, and I always, I feel like if you can show them that they can, so we're just doing something simple. We started doing a dinner club. I. And you would've thought this has turned in because they [00:22:00] never went out to dinner. They don't know to get online and look at the menu ahead of time. don't know to, you know, you, you can, how do you make, get your transportation. Go. Who cares? You don't need somebody to drive you. There's Uber, there's this, there's everything in the world. Don't let fear stop you from, you know, living.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: and, and so that's why, how adaptive sports people say, well, I don't know. I could hurt myself. How do you kayak? Oh my God, how do you kayak? It's the most freeing feeling to be out there doing something that you once did or, and maybe before or never have done. And so.
Matthew Reeves: What is your, what was your, what was the first time when you. Kind of accepted that challenge and said, I love sports. I've always loved sports, and people are telling me I can't do it anymore, but I'm going to [00:23:00] prove them wrong. When, when did that story of adaptation and adjustment begin?
Meredith Tyree: Well. I have always been athletics. I, I taught water aerobics for 20 years. I know, but I have wonderful mermaids that I call 'em my
Matthew Reeves: I.
Meredith Tyree: and they would, I say, now, listen, not talk bad about me because I can reach your lips even though my hearing aids are not on in the pool. Okay.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: all tell everybody.
But you've met my other friend. Um, there is another Meredith.
Matthew Reeves: Yes.
Meredith Tyree: uh, there's
Matthew Reeves: Yeah, she was, she was a guest on an earlier episode of this podcast, so if people wanna, if people wanna get
Meredith Tyree: she's a Y I'm an I,
Matthew Reeves: Right, right. A different spelling. Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: but um, she dared me to go do tennis. And I loved tennis as a kid, you know, but Georgia girl doesn't grow up on a tennis court, you know, and have to [00:24:00] take it as a kid. so I went out there with my, I'm embarrassed to tell you, they, they thought it was hilarious. My 1984 Prince Pro Tennis racket that. About three years ago at the people like, oh, we can't believe somebody still has that. And I go, was my day. I had not used that thing since because I thought I couldn't, 'cause I couldn't follow the ball. One day I just gave up and said, if I can't play the way I used to play, I wasn't gonna play. Well, Meredith and I got out there and we did it through Sportable and we had two of the most awesome instructors had it not been such a positive experience with them. They challenged us and they got us back on the court, and there was just something about being on that. You know, being out there with my racket and they taught me tools, how to play, how to listen, how to, um, we changed the color of the ball.
We did other [00:25:00] and it was just, I mean, it was just exhilarating. I said, oh, I,
Matthew Reeves: Can I ask you, before it was exhilarating, what was it like when you stepped onto that court before you met the instructor, before you had the, the, the tools? Was that intimidating or were you excited? What was, what were you feeling?
Meredith Tyree: I was fussing at Meredith telling her, what the hell did you get me into? I told I
Matthew Reeves: I.
Meredith Tyree: do this. I can't. Why do you wanna do this? This is not gonna be because she was making me face something that I had missed,
Matthew Reeves: Mm
Meredith Tyree: I was happy. She challenged me, you know, because like, oh, I've had that Prince Pro ragged on the top.
I never threw it away on the top of my shelf. It held such great memories
Matthew Reeves: hmm.
Meredith Tyree: and of great times, and I'm just like, okay, I gotta bring it down and blow it off and dust it off. Here we go again. I, I realized we can do it. [00:26:00] We, it was, it was amazing. It was awesome. And it made me then go, okay, what's next?
Matthew Reeves: So that racket sitting on the shelf represented this both sort of the, the history, the past of a good time is something you really loved and you didn't know it at the time, but it also represented the potential of bringing that back. But the bridge to getting there was facing the fear and facing the unknown.
Like, I don't know how this is gonna go. I don't know how I'm going to adapt. I don't know what tools are available. I don't know if this is possible, but I'm going to try. It took some That takes real courage.
Meredith Tyree: Uh, I, that's why you have to have a bestie that can poke you sometimes when you're willing to talk yourself out of it. Um, it really helped to connect with other people like yourself who can challenge you. And, I have a lot of other friends that are also, but the Meredith and I are both athletes and we love athletics, and we just decided from there. She would [00:27:00] push me into something like, she pushed me into gold ball. Not my sport, but she was being the captain of that. Because, you know, it, it's a little, I don't know if you ever played gold ball, but it's, it's a little ball with a bell in it. And I don't know if you know, but a person that wears hearing aids can't hear the bell,
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: and you have to lay on the floor with your hands. Out and they roll this ball as fast as they can to you, and then you have to grab it, pick it up, and then you gotta throw it back. It's like soccer, but everybody's blindfolded and everybody's on the same turf and as an Olympic sport. And I said, really? You're making me do this? You're making me do this.
I'm doing this for you, not for me, doing it for you. like, come on, you can do it. You can do it. And I go, remember the next sport's mind? I'm doing this for you. And
Matthew Reeves: you had agreed to alternate back and forth in terms of who's pushing who into what. Okay.
Meredith Tyree: She goes, oh, she hated kayaking and I loved it, [00:28:00] but
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Meredith Tyree: the best moments when she fell off the kayak. But that's okay. But, but no, um, we figured out that, um. time the ball would was coming to me, she would just tap my toe, my foot with her foot. 'cause she was standing behind me. And nothing like having two visually impaired people queuing each other, but it's how you support each other.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: the ball and I would know what's coming. I knew which way to throw it, um, I just couldn't, the only thing I couldn't get through was the, the bell. I couldn't hear it. And so we figured out a way around it.
Matthew Reeves: The whole sport is a sport of figuring it, figuring out a way around. The problem of athletics for, for the visually impaired. And then you come in and say, all right, well, let's take it to the next level. Let's figure out how to do it. If you're both, both visually and audibly in impaired. And you found a way.
Meredith Tyree: Mm-hmm. just figured out you have to, you don't [00:29:00] wanna say no because then you miss out on the experience because you don't know if you're not gonna like it, if you don't try. If.
Matthew Reeves: What else? What I'm curious, I, I imagine there are a lot of people listening to this that, uh. That at a practical level, they're like, okay, yeah. All right. You've told me about the tennis and I still don't know how you find a ball in the air flying really quickly with a racket. But she found a way. And then you've got gold ball with with you can't hear the bell and other people can't hear the bell and everybody's blindfold that like, all right, but what.
I imagine a lot of people are like, what are the practical solutions? How do you keep yourself safe skiing as a blind person? Like, there are some real practical questions that I think a lot of people wonder about before you even get to the, the emotional side of things or the, the joy of it. Um, what, what, what can you tell us about those practicalities?
Meredith Tyree: Um, adaptive sports. When somebody says, when you say, Hey, say, I [00:30:00] wanna sign up. I have a friend right now that won't sign up for, um, kayaking because of her fear. So what I'm trying to say is adaptive sports, don't underestimate them. I tell 'em, don't underestimate them. They, they have seen it done. It been there.
You are just in, you're, you're, they'll figure it out for you. You just need to show up. So when I go there, um. they have, I just finished doing advanced cycling and um, they had tandem cycles, you know, bicycles. All they had to do was show up, a helmet, a vest. I had some of the most incredible volunteers who were very advanced cyclists far more than me. I'm just a beach bicycle kind of girl that likes to look at the waves and smell the roses, you know, and this flower, all that stuff. But these were some intense. [00:31:00] Cyclist and they taught me more than I ever knew, and it was an ex. I'm thankful that I took the challenge because I thought feared doing this because I feared falling off the bike.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: And, um. Yes. And honestly we did fall off the bike once, but who, I fell off the bike with an orthopedic surgeon really, who could fall off a bike with any better person. And I didn't injure myself,
Matthew Reeves: Good. No need for roadside surgery.
Meredith Tyree: but he was like, oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'm like, I have an orthopedic surgeon with me. You know, I couldn't be any better, but he just happened to have s. an amazing cyclist in our community who has cycled across the United States.
Matthew Reeves: Wow.
Meredith Tyree: who would have this in Metropolis, Midlothian, Virginia. But I'm thankful that he educated me. And then I think in turn I [00:32:00] educated him because he would say. How can I do this differently or how can I, and I go, just, just tell me. And he goes, you're really strong at cycling. I go, I never didn't say I was weak. I just, I just, but you can challenge me. He goes and he'd say, are you ready to give up or Can you go anymore?
And I'm like, you just said the magic words you know, I'm not gonna tell you no.
Matthew Reeves: He was, he was like, I know how to make her say yes by, by framing it as giving up.
Meredith Tyree: You're not gonna say that to me.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: It's this too much for you. No.
Matthew Reeves: So I'm hearing you say that the, the way to, to look at the. Practical challenges and the fears that come with it. The fears of getting hurt, like a, a very real understandable fear of getting hurt. The way to frame that is that there are people who have been on this journey before. They know more than you do, and that's okay.
They're there [00:33:00] to help. All you have to do is show up and learn. Just be, have an open mind and be willing to learn, and, and they're good, kind, uh, people who just wanna be helpful. Yeah. And, and they will teach you what there is to know, and you can go from there.
Meredith Tyree: I don't know how supportable does it. Um, I'm so thankful for the incredible volunteers. even from swimming I've done most all of the sports. Greg at the kayaking. He was so patient with me. I decided to take the white water cap, um, kayaking he'd say, Meredith, paddle into the, into the rapids. I can't hear you.
Matthew Reeves: And you can't have your, uh, hearing aids in 'cause of the water.
Meredith Tyree: and you have to do those by yourself, you know,
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Meredith Tyree: you know, they teach you how to roll over with a kayak in case you get dumped over how to get out. And I go, remember, I'm not wearing my hearing aids on this one, so you better [00:34:00] tell me my direction now. But
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Meredith Tyree: like that, that worked with you and the language that you're comfortable with, um. know, we all have our cues being visually impaired, what we like and don't like, and, um, setting those boundaries up and setting up the way we like to be, communicate both visual and hearing, um, and having that connection and gives you a sense of ease and comfort to do the sport as well.
Matthew Reeves: I love. I'm so glad you said that because I think it really shines a light on how, and this is the case of any. Authentic, valuable relationship that it's a two-way street. This is not about, you know, we said earlier, all you have to do is show up and people who have been there before Will, will guide you.
But that doesn't put them in a place of being more important. They, they, what you need and what you want and what you're comfortable with still very much [00:35:00] matters. Uh, and so you're not giving up anything in that relationship. So it really takes a lot of courage, uh, to be, to connect in that way. It seems like a very genuine, real.
Two-way street kind of connection. And you even talked about how, um, that in addition to them giving you something, this orthopedic surgeon, you were also giving him something. You were also saying, let me teach you a little bit about how to work with a person who's differently abled. Uh, and so it, it really does seem like it's everybody's on equal footing in that regard.
Is that, is that your experience?
Meredith Tyree: Hundred percent. And that's what makes it so successful because we're not, um, I think it, it is a two way street and we're not, uh, out in the world. Sometimes the world can look at you as if. If they see the cane or they see the hearing aids or they see whatever interpreters, they may think that you're less able. [00:36:00] But when you're with this particular group, only see your abilities. They don't see you as anybody but your authentic self. And it's rare in our world, tend to have
Matthew Reeves: Yeah,
Meredith Tyree: to continuously prove that,
Matthew Reeves: right.
Meredith Tyree: and that drives me crazy because.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: just are always having to advocate and say, no, I, I, I got this.
I can do this. Even with whatever you, you think is, is my barrier.
Matthew Reeves: You know, I think. You're touching on something that's so important and is such a common part of the story of adapting to disability. And that is that when we are, when we're, when we're early in the process, it's so common to believe less in our own abilities. And then that gets reinforced because every so many people that we meet also believe.
Less in our own, in our [00:37:00] abilities. We that, that we get that message both internally from ourselves and from external sources. Uh, and you're saying that when you show up to these places where adaptive sports is the norm and people have a lot of experience with them, and if it's, if you are new, like I would be new, I've never done this before, but I would probably be surrounded by people who have higher expectations of me than I have for myself.
And it's a, it turns everything on its head to suddenly. Yeah. It turns the tables and says, wait a minute. No, no, no. We're, we're not only, uh, are we not gonna underestimate you, but we're not gonna let you underestimate yourself. You deserve more than that. I.
Meredith Tyree: I, I thought, uh, this last weekend, Richmond had their monument, uh, the race, the 21 mile race. and one of my fellow, our peers who, um, has a thousand, he's not a spring chicken, nor am I, but he said not a spring chicken. It [00:38:00] was, he could have said no a million times. He could have walked a million times. He had, he could have said, I didn't wanna do this.
But he and his volunteer now to, to finish and say you qualified, did the race you had to have be under, um, either seven or eight minutes, I mean eight hours, uh, seven or eight hours I think it was. Eight. And, um, he came in six minutes right before it would've been eight, but he did it,
Matthew Reeves: But he did it.
Meredith Tyree: his volunteer and them stuck with it. He ran it. He did it. He didn't give up. He didn't let rp, he didn't, even though he wasn't the fastest one. He didn't give up. even better yet is that his person that was running with him, that they were on a toggle together, that, [00:39:00] you know, connecting to guide him and he was wearing the vest that said visually impaired, um, was just as, as encouraging to him or, or just as equal part. How do I say this? He's more like an extension of him. That's what makes it magical. 'cause you're doing it, but you're doing it with the freedom. is if you did not have a visual impairment. this person is like your shadow and you don't even know it. And, and he got to get it six minutes under the the mark.
Matthew Reeves: It's, uh, it sounds like they've found a way to make running a team sport. You know, it, it really does seem like a partnership. Um, but yeah, that's gotta be a unique exper, a a, a very peculiar and unique experience to go, to go through that for the first time. And I can imagine. For a lot of folks, it might be the one of the few times in their, in their journey with, with a disability to [00:40:00] feel like, uh, that, that the, that the doors are open, right?
That it really feels like they're, the limitations have been lifted. Uh, and then I would, I'd love to hear from your perspective, if that's been your experience, the kind of that emotional, uh, sensation and what that was like for you.
Meredith Tyree: I think I, me it was, it was, total acceptance was fantastic. Um, I, I, I see that it goes both ways.
Matthew Reeves: How so?
Meredith Tyree: we as visually impaired people, hearing impaired, I see people that have paralysis, amputees. We have to let our barriers down we carry our own, um, armor.
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Meredith Tyree: And until we can let that armor down and say, okay, I am gonna open myself to something different, and
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: connect [00:41:00] and adaptive sports. Because we have all this stuff in our head that we can fuel and come up in, in a minute to, to, to re, to rebuild up that armor and say, Hmm, but if we let it down and let ourselves just be our authentic self, then we, you know, it makes the experience, but you can't make that experience until you are willing to let go. Because that, that's what you have to be able to do. And I always encourage people, yes, you had a bad experience, but don't let it live with you because that you're missing the point of it. The point
Matthew Reeves: from it.
Meredith Tyree: to,
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: learn from it, not let it hold you hostage
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: and that way so that you can live okay, I'm gonna take from this experience and I'm going to change. Make the next experience different. I don't care if you do it for the next person or change how you live your [00:42:00] life. It's just how, um, you choose to do it. It's your choice. But to be successful in sports or any anywhere in life, you just kind of have to let your biases down
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Meredith Tyree: and let your armor down because I know you've been hurt. Because we've all been there, we've all been judged. We're always having to fight who we are. We don't get that job because they, they didn't think we were capable, but we were more than capable. 'cause we tried really hard to show them. We were. And, you just keep, you have to keep going. You just have to realize that wasn't your door.
What?
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. When you say that, I think that's an important point that. When you talk about armor, I mean armor exists to protect us from threats, right? And I'm not hearing you say, Hey, the world has no threats. Like the world does have threats. We, there are biases, there are [00:43:00] injustices, there are physical dangers, there are people who think you know things that are tragic, uh, and, and that can have the potential to hurt us.
Uh. So you're not advocating that we don't have any armor. What you are advocating for is to find a safe space to let down specific armor in a context that is safe. So find people in environments and situations. Where it's take, where taking off that particular kind of armor is still safe and then you can expose yourself and breathe a little bit.
Um, and with a sense of liberation and, and where you're not under attack. So you don't need to be wearing that heavy armor all the time. 'cause there's a burden. Armor is heavy. Armor takes a lot of energy to be wearing all the time. And I, I kind of am starting to frame this as you, I hear you talk as. The joy you feel and the [00:44:00] freedom you feel is the ability to not have to wear that armor in that way at that moment.
Is that right?
Meredith Tyree: don't, it, it's, it back, you know, when you're young, you have that, that freedom, that feeling. You don't have all of the, the, the stuff that made the armor.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: and your, and your need. So, um, we, we come with a lot of stuff
Matthew Reeves: I.
Meredith Tyree: and thoughts that we begin to believe about ourselves that we don't need to, but there's thoughts that we've told ourselves that
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: And, and when we do that, then, then we say, oh, I wouldn't have gone on the tennis court if I had done that,
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Meredith Tyree: I would not have, I had, would not have done my a train ride by myself.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Meredith Tyree: Um, you know, it's things that we let let those things stop us and, you know, we can feel it 'cause you'll think, oh, you [00:45:00] know, then you just, once you do it and you try it, like sports or any, it can translate into other parts of your life.
Matthew Reeves: Right,
Meredith Tyree: And
Matthew Reeves: right,
Meredith Tyree: um. It's all, it all like a, a little, I call it a little domino effect.
Matthew Reeves: right.
Meredith Tyree: of gives you that confidence once you can accomplish these things to the next chapter.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. Yeah. Well, for those people who may want to, uh, heed your advice and, and pursue adaptive sports, what, what would you tell them? How do they go about it? What, uh, what do they need to know?
Meredith Tyree: So in your own community, well. It depends on where you live and in your own community, you're gonna have to start doing some research. I first would reach out to an organization called Move United, and they can tell you in each state, where is your adaptive sports [00:46:00] program.
Matthew Reeves: Oh, that's great.
Meredith Tyree: Uh, my friend Meredith, she goes to Brooks Rehab and they have a, an amazing program in Jacksonville, Florida. For me. I'm lucky I have support wolves. They're fantastic. I'm in Richmond, Virginia. Um. And don't let, um, another thing people will say, oh, it's expensive to get to and from there, transportation, lot of these places have grants for that will cover your travel to these, to the events and traveling. Um, Meredith, they have a van, don't, they're, you can, like I said, you can come up with a thousand excuses, but open that door and explore it. Um, I just know each place has a spot. I, I would start with Move United, or I would just let my fingers do the walking and on Google for your state and adaptive sports.
Matthew Reeves: Okay. That's great. And so that's the practical side of things, and I think [00:47:00] you've already spoken a, a, a degree to, to what you would say to somebody who is kind of on the fence about trying this. But I, I kind of want to frame that as a specific question. What if somebody is. Thinking about it and it's intimidating in some way.
Uh, what, what's your message?
Meredith Tyree: Like I, I, I know I say this a lot, but the only disabilities that you can make are the ones you make for yourself. And if you wanna do something, do it. Don't say, oh, my rp, my eyes, um, oh my ears, I can't hear. Um, what am I gonna do if I can't hear this? There, there's a thousand excuses. So take those a thousand excuses and which is basically fear, and throw it out and just give it one shot, one shot. And if it's not for you, [00:48:00] but don't stop trying and don't let fear be the reason you don't live. I mean, you, you could be a, you could decide you wanna take, go be a, do something that you've always wanted to do, don't let yourself say no because of RP or ushers or anything. Just, just try it. There's a way you can do it.
Matthew Reeves: What a great message. Thank you for sharing that. Um, is there, before we wrap up, I that what a great way to, to wrap up. I just with that, but before we wrap up, I just wanna make space if there's anything else you wanna tell this audience or could. Community, uh, about your experience with adaptive sports or, uh, with foundation fighting blindness or sportable or anything like that?
Any closing?
Meredith Tyree: Affordables. I am most thankful for, um, the Foundation Fighting Blindness, because it's just not taught me. It has given me a, a, a, a [00:49:00] wonderful group of friendships have been mentors for my whole life.
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Meredith Tyree: And I, I can always, when I go and I have a bad day, we all know there's bad days, there's bad vision days, there's bad hearing days, or you didn't get that job you wanted or you had a bad fall and stay, you broke your finger. And, um, sometimes that. Um, experience with people in your life that are, are doing and going like, like yourself, um, in the world, can encourage you to keep going. And I, I just say not so much as always. Yes, fundraising is great. Research is great. I tell everybody, get into a study if you can and if you qualify, most importantly, um, interact with other people that are. Positive influences your [00:50:00] diagnosis.
Matthew Reeves: You know, I think that is a theme that comes up in practically every episode of this podcast is the importance of connection, uh, and how. Just invaluable it is as we go through difficult things to go through it with somebody by our side who, where we really do feel seen and heard and understood, uh, in a really connected way.
Uh, there's, there's nothing more valuable than that. Uh, so.
Meredith Tyree: I always laugh, you know, the famous words we say with rp, we always say, oh, excuse me, sorry, excuse me. I always, I always laugh at my friend. I always tell her, I always tell Meredith, remember, you're with me. You don't have to do that.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. Yeah. Somebody who really understands and gets it.
Meredith Tyree: I gotcha.
Matthew Reeves: I got you. That, I, I love that expression. I got you. It's so, it's, there's so much packed into those three little casual words, uh, that they're so. So powerful. So [00:51:00] what a great place to, to wrap up. Thank you for sharing your experience and for the time and for contributing to myself and this audience.
So thanks so much.
Meredith Tyree: Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed it. Thank you.
Matthew Reeves: Me too.
RECAP
Alex: This is placeholder for generic voiceover.
OUTRO
Matthew Reeves: Thanks for joining us for this episode of Insight Out. You are the reason this podcast exists and we'd love to hear from you. You can leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/insightoutpod. That's speakpipe.com/insightoutpod. There, you can share your thoughts about today's conversation, suggest a topic for a future episode, or tell us about your experience living with vision loss. Again, that's speakpipe.com/insightoutpod.
Insight Out is produced by Integral Mental Health Services, my private [00:52:00] practice that offers psychotherapy for adults in Georgia and disability adjustment and chronic illness counseling nationwide. Visit us at integralmhs.com and you can visit insightoutpod.com to catch up on all the episodes and to find links for subscribing in all the major podcast apps. A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube. Search for the channel, using the handle @inSightOutPod. You can also find us on social media using that same handle. I hope you'll join us for the next episode of inSight Out. Subscribe now in your favorite podcast app to stay connected. Thanks again for listening.