- Massachusetts Commission for the Blind
As a recently graduated 24-year-old, Sengil N. Inkiala, known by most as “Inky,” started his career as a rehabilitation teacher for the blind and visually impaired. One day, he began working with a lady who had recently lost her vision. Hesitantly, she asked him, “Young man, what are you going to teach me?” Inky responded, “I’m not here to show you how to cook. I’m here to teach you how to use your methods without burning down your house.” With newfound trust she said, “You won my heart. Now you can work with me.” Ever since, Inky has used an empathetic approach and his personal experience to guide many who are blind or visually impaired in their rehabilitation journeys.
Inky credits his ability to aid his consumers to the fact that he has overcome similar challenges himself. “I understand when somebody comes along with a problem, being myself one of them.” At the age of 14, Inky and his family came to the United States seeking medical treatment for his vision loss. After multiple surgeries for glaucoma, his retinas kept detaching and doctors could not do anything to prevent his vision loss. By the age of 16, Inky lost all of his sight.
Inky grew up with an Italian family in Newton, Massachusetts and learned English upon arriving in the U.S. After graduating high school, he went to Amherst College and studied politics with a desire to use his knowledge of the law to help others who are visually impaired. He completed his graduate studies at Boston College on a scholarship to study rehabilitation and administration.
Eager to enter the workplace, Inky spent the following five to six years working as a rehabilitation teacher in Buffalo, NY. He then accepted a position to work for the Congan government in the President’s Office for Disabled Persons. Six years later, Inky returned to the U.S. and joined Massachusetts Commission for the Blind as a Rehabilitation Teacher.
Upon meeting Inky, his current mentor, Thelma Williams, thought he was a “diamond in the rough,” someone who if able to embrace feedback and advice and let go of the past would “one day see his aspirations come to fruition.” Over the course of his 22 years at MCB, “Inky has grown to be an effective, competent, and valuable asset.” Williams sees Inky as a strong candidate for a managerial position in the next five years due to his “commitment to excellence, humble ‘you can’t stop me now attitude,’ esprit de corps, as well as his desire to self-empower by seeking a mentor.”
Inky is currently a Vocational Rehabilitation & Children’s Services Supervisor in Region 6, where he helps youth and adults prepare to receive post-secondary education and enter or return to the workforce. His current supervisor and MCB Regional Director, Ulyena McPherson, believes Inky excels in his role due to his “commitment to success” and “unwavering sense of responsibility for the consistent growth and development of his team.” One of his achievements as a supervisor was his involvement in Job Club, a group that assisted consumers in preparing for and applying to jobs. Inky was instrumental in planning, developing, and implementing regular meetings to help MCB consumers write resumes and cover letters, network, and receive career support. Inky “takes every opportunity to contribute to the Vocational Rehabilitation process in ways that he hopes will result in both personal and professional success.”
“As a leader, Inky remains dedicated to imparting valuable knowledge and understanding about the field, while offering support,” McPherson said. Inky has taught his team that it’s key to understand consumers are facing emotional challenges in addition to physical challenges. He emphasizes, “Anger is the first thing we have to deal with.” Many who lose their vision also lose a percentage of their sighted friends who become uncomfortable around them. Others are overwhelmed by the thought of burdening those around them and become self-conscious. Inky advises his team, “If you can’t see that this person is hurt, you’re not going to succeed. Know them first. Get them comfortable. Calm them down. Work with them. And try to find solutions.”
Inky feels his job is rewarding because he gets to help people of all kinds.
“It makes me very happy when I see someone who came to us and didn’t know where to begin and didn’t know if mobility was for them and then they say that we helped them,” Inky shares. “Being blind isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
To Inky, it’s not about what he does, but what he can do to help someone. When his consumers doubt the possibility of rehabilitation, he poses himself as an example. “I’m blind. I came to this country and couldn’t speak English. I’m working. Why can’t you do the same thing?” Inky strives to help his consumers think optimistically and understand that they have the potential to study or work.
“I’m going to do anything to assist them to understand you aren’t in the worst spot that you think,” says Inky.
Inky has found enjoyment in life by being active and learning new sports. He learned to fence at The Carroll Center for the Blind and learned to sail through their SailBlind program. Inky eventually sailed competitively and won the national Blind Sailing World Championship in 2008.
Along with colleagues at MCB and others, Inky formed a beep baseball team in 2002, the Boston Renegades. Teammate and MCB colleague Darren Black shared Inky’s trademark as a player was his “blinding speed,” claiming he seemed to get even faster with age. He carried the focus he developed from his years competing in sailing to beep ball, which helped the Renegades become a top team in the National Beep Ball Association. Inky’s “freewheeling spirit” manifest as a teammate. “In between pitches, Inky would often crack us up in the field. He would wake extra early at the tournaments, strolling the hotel hallway in his uniform, singing ‘God Bless America’ to make sure we were all were ready to go.” Inky has traveled to Japan, Australia, Italy, England, and around the U.S. to compete in beep ball tournaments and his team even went on to play in the World Series for beep baseball one year.
Although Inky retired from beep baseball three years ago, he continues to demonstrate focus and optimism in his work at MCB. “Inky still combines that strong sense of conviction with a sense of keeping things loose and bringing a smile to your face. He tries to be a positive force of empowerment for all of his consumers.”
