“There is no better way to be grateful for your sight than by
giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.” —Helen Keller
WATERTOWN, Mass.—In one door and out the other.
That pretty much sums up the life of Susan Lind-Sinanian, the textile guru at the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) in Watertown who, for the past 25 years, has alternated her role with teaching the visually impaired.
Come September, she’ll be entering her fourth decade as a home and personal management instructor at the nearby Perkins School for the Blind, where she started in 1972.
Throw in motherhood and it’s been one hectic but rewarding life for Lind-Sinanian, who seems to be juggling her lifestyle with authority. Occasionally, a ball might fall, but the routine is impeccable. And there’s no intention to retire—at least not until 2014.
Should that occur, it only means more time for ALMA.
“It’s definitely been a balancing act,” she says. “When I mention this to my students, it surprises them that I’ve been able to hold down a job in two major areas. It requires patience, versatility, and understanding. People take their health for granted until they’re suddenly deprived of it. The people at ALMA don’t really know about my life at Perkins.”
Each night before retiring to bed, Lind-Sinanian will take a pad and pen, sit at a desk, and jot down five reasons to be thankful.
It could be anything from good health and a wonderful family to the birds chirping outside her home, the ability to cook, and the fact she belongs to such a wonderful heritage.
A typical scenario? A child she recently evaluated couldn’t wait to enroll. Lind-Sinanian had the boy make toast for his parents, and with some help he was able to deliver.
Because Lind-Sinanian sought the feeling of being sightless, she put a blindfold over her eyes to see what her students may encounter.
“It felt terrible…scary, not to see the world you live in and the people who inhabit it,” she visualized.
Suffice it to say she’s been a valuable resource to the Armenian community in cultivating the fine arts and bringing it to an arena of respect and understanding in both the Armenian and American mainstream.
She’s even taken the liberty to teach Armenian dance to the blind as a form of mobility. And they love it.
“The students have adjusted well to it,” said Lind-Sinanian. “I introduced it as a form of therapy but many love to hear music from all over the world—whether it’s a simple bar or a dance from Ezerum or kherpan. Translated, kherpan means a good thing.”
Over these four decades, she has taught daily living skills to multi-impaired students ranging in age from 13-22, taught them Latin as well, and created a better life for the handicapped. It translates out to seven classes a day with the idea of integrating them into an independent lifestyle. The school graduates about 10 students a year.
In what can become a quick burnout profession, Lind-Sinanian has weathered the storm. By teaching others less fortunate, she’s developed her own gratitude. Graduates have returned to the school just to report the good it’s done them, and wind up giving their beloved instructor a hug.
Her biggest satisfaction is sending a student off on their own into an apartment with a decent job in hand, knowing the skills she has introduced will pay dividends. Her tenure ranks among the longest at Perkins. As for ALMA, that’s been somewhat of a release valve for the woman, along with yoga, hiking, and the violin.
Lind-Sinanian continues teaching lace and embroidery classes at ALMA. On weekends, she’s apt to coordinate a family day at the museum. Also in her docket is training volunteers and dealing with donors. No doubt, ALMA would be missing a vital link were it not for her contributions these many years.
“The fact I can smile or frown, tie a lace, or put on a shoe gives me satisfaction,” she admitted. “In working with the visually impaired, what I teach them might take a year to learn, like using a microwave or pouring a glass of juice without spilling it. But at least it’s a destination.”
Often, Lind-Sinanian will bring her blind students to the museum for a hands-on education. Through touch and feel, they learn the value of Armenian hand-woven crafts. Her husband Gary, a long-time curator, will pass around old Armenian coins and explain the history of the grand kings.
They’ll try on costumes, handle musical instruments, and gain a better sense of appreciation for the Armenian identity. Her “outside” career was determined as a teenager.
“Ever since I was 17, I wanted to teach the handicapped,” admitted Lind-Sinanian, who grew up in nearby Dorchester. “I love my work. It’s not for money, but the love of education.”
It all stemmed from her undergraduate days at Boston’s Northeastern University. One of her co-operative jobs was working as a house parent at Perkins. After earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, off she went to Boston College for a master’s degree with a focus on visually impaired studies.
Over the years, she’s become a sort of “Mrs. Chips” at the campus, touching students from across the world. One was an Eskimo from Alaska who became so proficient, he was able to return home by dogsled and canoe.
As a leading authority on Armenian folk art and dance, she has honed her craft with unadulterated passion. She and Gary wed 34 years ago and decided to have an old-fashioned Armenian wedding on a farm in Franklin.
In the process of researching old Armenian dances to incorporate into their ceremony, they struck a mutual cord.
Lind-Sinanian has collected oral histories of Armenian culture, taught folk dancing at international camps and symposiums, and shown equal skill toward needlework. She has co-authored a house-keeping manual for the visually impaired as well as a curriculum for teaching Armenian dance to children.
In retrospect, she has turned ALMA’s textile collection into one of the more extensive throughout the diaspora while sending dozens of sightless individuals out into the mainstream.
And, with no pun intended, a lot of “vision” toward the future.
Tom Vartabedian
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