Alva Review-Courier -

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — As a young woman, Sharon Zenger traded in her driver's license for a seeing eye dog.

Zenger started life with almost normal vision, but as a toddler was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa. Growing up in Pendleton, the girl spent years preparing for blindness, practicing with a white cane and learning to read Braille. When her sight dimmed, she was ready.

Zenger, now 37, trains visually impaired children in six Oregon counties as an employee of the InterMountain Education Service District. Tod Zenger chauffeurs his daughter and her guide...