Whether or not a person who loses their sight can do learn to live like they used to depends on a lot of things, like the drive to succeed, self confidence and sometimes admitting you need a little help.

"The reason I came in is because I knocked down an elderly woman one day walking downtown,” said Todd Rasmussen. “I didn't see her."

Bu there are tools available for nearly every need people with varying visual impairments might have, like help reading.

"I do have a closed circuit television and I also have a magnifier I use for reading my mail and my bills and for making out checks and things like that,” said Sandra Volhard. "You're able to see the printed material more clearly."

"If my grandchildren come over and they got a book maybe I can read to them sometimes and have that and they're just amazed by it, you know,” Todd said. “That's what's helped a lot."

Some people may need help learning to walk with a cane. Some have high-tech canes with sensors, while others learn to use more traditional ones with the help of instructors.

"They took me outside, where I was more scared than almost anything I ever went through," Todd Rasmussen said. "But if I didn't have these tools, I'd be completely lost because you get sort of scared. Your legs don't work as well as they used to work when you don't see as well as you used to."

A lot of people with limited or no sight are learning they can do most things they used to, almost as well as they used to. That’s thanks in part to Northcentral Technical College’s Caroline S. Mark Center. When people come in asking ‘how can you do that without sight?’ the employees there say ‘let me show you.’

One way instructors there help the visually impaired live independently is by simulating their students’ home environments and showing them how simple changes, say in their kitchen, can get them back on their feet.

The center also offers students tools to do some things most of us don’t ever think twice about, like signing our name or pulling out cash to pay for something.

"I've got no clue whether I've got a one or a hundred. I hope I have a hundred but that's usually not the case,” said Jim Unger. "[There] is a method of audibly telling what I've got."

“Out of Sight” continues Tuesday night on NewsChannel 7 at 6 with some interesting insight for all of us who can see, and often feel like we should help those who can’t.