Ruth Seibert finds joy in helping those with special needs

Feb. 22—While unsure what path she will take after graduating Athens State University, Ruth Seibert said she wants to complete her degree to have the option to teach those with special needs, and perhaps even those with blindness.

"My main goal in life is I want to help others in any way possible," Seibert said. "Whether that's through teaching, teaching in classrooms or teaching piano, or being a reading tutor. Any of that I would like to do."

In 2019, Seibert, 20, volunteered at a BELL (Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning) Academy summer camp in Madison for the visually impaired.

"I was with a girl who was probably about 10 or 11 (years old) and she was visually impaired, but she also had cognitive difficulties as well. So, I was her helper through most of the camp," Seibert said. "I just remember having a lot of joy from doing that, just being able to be there for her and help her. She was such a blessing. She was so happy all the time and I just loved being able to spend time with her," she said.

Seibert said she hopes she made an impact on the girl at the camp.

"I hope that I made the camp a little more fun for her and more relaxing by being able to help her throughout the day," she said. "Just kind of help her walk through everything and encourage her to do more activities as well."

Seibert's older brother lost his eyesight as an adult as the result of a car accident.

"I've seen all the things involved with learning Braille and assistive technology. It's been very interesting," Seibert said. "I actually learned how to read Braille by sight. I'm afraid I haven't kept up with it very well. I can still read slowly by sight, but I cannot do it by touch."

Seibert said she was inspired by both the girl at the camp and her brother to try to learn Braille.

"Even though she was visually impaired and had cognitive disability, she was able to remember all the different dots of the different letters. She completely impressed me with how amazing her memory was, and I remember thinking, you know, if she can do that, I'm sure I can," she said. "I was able to do a course for free ... . I had an online teacher, they sent me the course materials. She inspired me to do it, but I did it because my brother was blind, too."

Seibert moved with her family from Maryland to Ardmore in 2008. She graduated from Calhoun Community College in 2022 with an associate's degree in general studies with a concentration in elementary education. Seibert started attending Athens State in the fall of 2022 and is working on a bachelor's degree in elementary/collaborative education.

"Basically, I'm helping kids with special needs in elementary education," she said. "I wasn't completely decided from the beginning that I was going to do education, but as I did it, I realized I liked it, and I kept going since then."

Ashley Virgin, Athens State assistant professor of special education, taught Seibert last fall.

"She's the kind of student you dream of teaching. She really is an asset to our university," she said. "Specifically for me, her leadership, her contributions in the classroom, and her intelligence really just set the standard for excellence."

Seibert said she is only taking a few classes at a time but hopes to graduate around the fall of 2025.

"I'm not necessarily planning on going directly into the public schools right now. ... I'm taking it one step at a time," she said. "I want to get the degree so I'll have the ability to teach in whatever way that God places in front of me."

Virgin said Seibert has a heart and a passion for serving those with disabilities.

"She has a very humble approach to the way she takes on things. She's very intelligent, she retains all the information, she's just a sponge for information, and her desire to serve those with disabilities is just admirable to me," Virgin said. "I'm just so confident in my experiences with her that she's going to make an immense impact on students and parents and even her colleagues at her future school."

Seibert works part time at Athens State as an Athenian Ambassador where she signs up to assist at different events. She said her favorite event was helping with the Fiddlers Convention last fall.

"My main job then was to help get competitors registered, helping them get on stage, making sure that they had everything that they needed, and make sure everybody was in the right order," Seibert said. "It was kind of crazy, but it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing the backstage of everything."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.