Blind people are all different. They are a cross section of the population with as many interests, abilities, opinions and experiences as any other cross section of the population would have. Blind people are rich and poor; highly educated and uneducated; blind people live in every section of the country and come from all races and ethnic groups; blind people are large and small, beautiful and unattractive, intelligent and stupid. None of these characteristics is unique among blind people. When a person loses his or her sight, other characteristics remain the same.
Since blindness is a very emotional thing for most of us, it is not generally regarded as simply another characteristic. Certainly, no one would expect an individual who is losing sight to say to himself or herself, "Well, one of my characteristics has changed. Blindness is a new and different characteristic for me." It simply is not possible for us to be unemotional about blindness, especially when it affects us personally or a close friend or relative.
Nevertheless, blindness is merely one characteristic among hundreds. It affects how a person does certain activities. It need not do more than that. If a person can come to understand that blindness is only one characteristic, the adjustment will be immensely easier for that person than it generally is.
Our society reacts to blindness in such a way that we often assume (without really thinking about it) that blind people have lost much ability. To put it another way, our society is so emotional about blindness that we often do not think at all. When we do stop to think, it is obvious that the loss of eyesight need not affect our ability to do most things or our ability to obtain information through our other four senses. When viewed in this way, the lack of eyesight is understood to be a nuisance. It is convenient to be able to see: to read the newspaper, to drive a car, to look across a room or the street to observe what is on the other side, to identify people visually, etcetera. Not to be able to do these things with sight does not prevent an individual from doing them some other way.
It has been said that other senses, such as hearing and touch, become more sensitive for blind people. Such is not the case. However, something else does happen. A blind person learns to make use of information supplied by sounds and touch: listening to traffic, feeling Braille dots, identifying objects by touch, and so on. A sighted individual could rely on this information, but does not, since that person gets the same information visually. The blind person learns to make use of hearing, touch, smell, and taste when a sighted person might ignore information supplied by those senses.
These methods will make use of the individual's experience, intelligence, skills, imagination, and ingenuity. The methods will not the same for all blind people, but certain skills will be valuable to most.
As a blind individual gains experience with blindness, he or she will d new methods that do not require the use of sight to do the things or she wishes to do. In this chapter it would be impossible to describe all methods used by blind people. Rather, it is our purpose to give a newly blinded individual ideas about what he or she can reasonably expect to do without sight and some suggestions about how to do those things. The ideas presented are only suggestions. Try them and see how they work. Try your own ideas, too.
You know a great deal about your own home--your house or apartment. You probably do not need any special tool or guide to get around there. You know the arrangement of the furniture, the shape and size of the rooms, the location of stairs. If blindness occurs suddenly, you may move about slowly and cautiously at first. Do not let family members help you get around your own home, for you can do it yourself, and it will help you learn to have confidence in yourself as a blind person. If you bump your shoulder on the edge of a doorway, you have done no damage to yourself or the doorway. If you bump your head on an open cupboard door, it smarts some, but that is not serious either. The family pet will learn to get out of way, but don't expect other people in the household to pick up everything just for your benefit. Some blind people are well organized, just as some sighted people are, while many blind people are fairly flexible (or even sloppy) about where things are. We have to learn to live with other people the way they are, whether they leave the foot stool in the middle of the floor and the ashtrays exactly where they ought to be or not. Of course, it would not be safe in any situation to leave some things, such as an open can of paint or roller skates, in the middle of the floor. However, a blind person who is aware that such things are being used can generally deal with them and the usual kinds of changes in a home quite adequately.
It is too often assumed that a blind person cannot go anywhere by himself or herself. No one walks with his or her eyes. It just doesn't make sense to think that the lack of eyesight prevents a person from moving around. It does make sense to find a method to get the information needed for safety some other way if an individual cannot see. This can be done.
There are several schools that trains dogs to serve as guide dogs for the blind and train blind individuals to use these dogs. Guide dogs are trained to walk rapidly and it is recommended that those blind persons who use guide dogs use them regularly. Some senior citizens who are blind have been successfully working with guide dogs; many prefer the white cane.
The white cane used by the blind as a tool to obtain information for travel purposes is a long white stick made of fiberglass or metal with a metal tip at the bottom and a straight handle at the top. If an individual needs a cane for support, he or she will not use this type of cane.
Either a long white cane or a guide dog can be used moving in front of a blind individual to find out all one needs to know about sidewalks, streets, steps, obstacles, etcetera, in the path of a pedestrian. The blind person can get information about traffic movement by listening. A newly blinded person must practice in order to learn to use the information obtained in this way as effectively as he or she used the information provided by eyesight in the past. It is a matter of developing a new skill—mo more, no less.
If you wish to take lessons in cane travel, contact the Rehabilitation Agency for the Blind in your state. You should be able to get a rehabilitation teacher to come to your home and give you at least a few lessons in cane travel. (See Chapter 8) You must use the cane regularly in order to make it effective for you and to gain confidence in yourself as you use it. It is not unusual for a newly blinded person to be very frightened at the idea of walking alone on the street with a white cane. With experience and practice, this fear will diminish and you will enjoy your new accomplishment. If you are walking with a friend or relative, you may wish to take the cane along also, so that you do not need to depend on the other person all the time you are away from home.
he cane should be long enough that the tip rests on the ground a step and a half or two steps in front of the individual using it when the top is held slightly above the waist close to the body. The handle of the cane should remain centered in front of the blind person held with the palm of the hand under it, fingers upward grasping it. The tip of the cane is swung back and forth from one side of the body to the other, using wrist motion to move it. The arm should not move back and forth. This will enable the blind traveler to protect himself or herself from obstacles in front and on both sides of him or her. It also gives him or her information about steps and obstacles in time to make use of it.
Generally, it is desirable for the blind traveler to tap the cane each time he or she takes a step. When a step is taken with the right foot, the cane is tapped in front of the left shoulder. As the left foot moves forward, the cane moves to the right side of the body. This motion becomes automatic, and with practice, the individual reacts instantly and easily to information discovered with the cane.
The technique of using the white cane in travel is simple and can be learned in a few minutes. However, this technique is a very flexible one. The cane should be used differently in different situations. For example, in a crowd you will want to keep the cane close to your body to avoid tripping people ahead of you. This may mean that you will wish to take the arm of someone beside you or slow your speed since you will have less time to react when you detect various objects with your cane. When climbing steps, you will probably want to grasp your cane in the middle, hold it in a straight-up-and-down position in front of you and let the tip bump the step ahead of you as you move up the stairs. When the cane does not bump a step, you will know you have reached the top. Similarly, you will probably wish to let the tip of the cane touch each step ahead of you as you descend a flight of steps. You will find other situations in which you may wish to use the cane somewhat differently. The cane is meant to be a tool, and you are the best person to know how to use it to get the information you need. It may take weeks or months of using the technique for you truly to feel confidence in the skill.
A white cane can vary in length from less than 50" to more than 60", depending on the height of the individual using it and the speed at which he or she walks. You should be able to obtain a white cane from your rehabilitation agency or you can order one from any of several suppliers. Although some white canes can be folded in fourths or even smaller, the rigid, fiber glass cane is most durable and is probably preferred by most blind people who travel independently.
As the blind person practices, he or she will become aware of a great many other ways to get information while traveling. Of course, it is possible to get information about street signs and store fronts from other pedestrians. The odor of a bakery or a shoe store may be a good landmark. Blind people may take note of different types of landmarks from those commonly thought of by sighted people, but landmarks are helpful to all. A pole or a bench may indicate the location of a bus stop just as accurately as reading the sign. The sound of an escalator or a revolving door in a department store may be an excellent landmark.
Some people who lose their sight after retirement age do not feel the need to travel a great deal by themselves. Some wish only to travel around their own neighborhoods. If friends or family members are willing and available to help with transportation, it is efficient and pleasant to go places with them. Most people like to go some places with others, but find it convenient to be able to travel alone as well. If public transportation (city buses, trains, or senior citizens' vans) are available, blind people can often make use of this transportation.
It may be frightening and frustrating at first to confront the hubbub and commotion in order to travel on city buses or subways, but thousands of blind people are doing this daily. Many elderly blind individuals have learned to deal with buses and subways. Of course, it helps to have the moral support of a friend or rehabilitation teacher who encourages you to take on independent travel as a blind person. The first few trips are the hardest. Whether to attempt it or not is up to the individual—your motivation, your needs, and whether you want some adventure. Truly learning to travel independently as a blind person is an adventure or a series of adventures. If you are not looking for this kind of experience, you may be able to avoid it. The purpose of this section is to encourage newly blind, elderly people who are in good health to consider independent travel as a possibility. Whether you choose to undertake travel with the long white cane is up to you. You should know that it is a possibility.
MYTH: Blind people cannot get around by themselves.
FACT: With proper training in the use of a guide dog or white cane, blind individuals can travel anywhere in the world they wish to go independently.
EXAMPLE: Evelyn is 85 and has been blind for 2 years. Before losing her vision, she enjoyed traveling around the country and around the world. She assumed she could not do this without vision and that she would not enjoy it. She joined a group of blind seniors and heard some of them telling about trips they had made. She bought a white cane and found that she could use it to find curbs and steps. She could also use the edge of a carpet or a planter in front of a building as a landmark. She learned about a tour to Australia and signed up to go. She arranged ahead of time to talk to the guide to be sure that she was not making a mistake. She made the trip and had a wonderful time. She said that she made more friends, both Australian and fellow travelers in the tour, than she had when she traveled as a sighted person. She told her friends in the support group that she was looking forward to many more trips. She said, "I hope I live to be 100 so I can see as much of this world as I can afford to." She has planned that her next tour will be in Japan.
Blind individuals will need to do some things differently from the way they did when they could see. For one thing, you can no longer afford the luxury of stuffing bills into your wallet all in a wad. Most blind individuals find it necessary to sort their bills as they put them into their wallets or pockets. You may wish to fold bills of different value differently, so that you can distinguish one from the other. You may wish to put some denominations of paper money in a different compartment from others. For instance, you may keep 1's flat, fold 10's lengthwise, fold 5's in half end-to-end, and fold 20's in fourths.
MYTH: No one would cheat a blind person.
FACT: People who are dishonest do not stop to think about or care who is hurt. Blind people get cheated about as often as others do.
EXAMPLE: Mr. Arnold has been blind for only a month. Mrs. Arnold is sighted and works full-time, so Mr. Arnold was the only one home when the paperboy came to collect. Mr. Arnold owed the paperboy $12.65. Since Mr. Arnold had not been blind very long, he had not formed the habit of sorting his money carefully. He took the money to the paperboy and said: "I believe this is a $10 bill and two ones aren't they?" The paperboy took the bills and the change Mr. Arnold handed him, stuffed it into his pocket and said: "Thank you, sir." Maybe he didn't even look at the money. Later Mr. Arnold learned that he had given the paper boy a ten, two fives, and 65 cents change.
You can identify coins by the size and by the feel of the edges. Dimes and pennies are approximately the same size, but a penny has a smooth edge and a dime has a rough edge. A nickel is slightly larger with a smooth edge. A quarter is still larger with a rough edge.
Blind people can afford to trust others in money matters no more and no less than sighted people can. It is not wise to depend entirely on others to sort your money. It is reasonable to expect clerks in stores, restaurants, or banks to tell you which bill is a one and which is a five when they give you change for the cash you use to pay for your merchandise.
You will need to choose someone you trust to assist with your mail. In reading bills and filling out checks, you must be very careful that the person who does the reading and writing does what you tell them to do. For instance, you must tell people the exact amount to write on checks and exactly who they should be made out to. You may wish to keep some financial information on a tape of in Braille (See Chapter 9) so that you do not have to depend on your memory or other people for all of it.
If you have a spouse or son or daughter who is competent to handle some of your paperwork and willing to do so, of course, if makes sense to accept their help thankfully. Many blind individuals do not have a family member who can conveniently help them in this way. Then it becomes desirable to find a volunteer or hire someone to do this. Of course, different situations will take a different kind of management. A blind individual can learn to handle print material—bills and otherwise—very effectively, relying on others to do the reading and writing. While the sighted assistant does the reading, the blind person still has the responsibility for making decisions and knowing what mail was received and what money was paid out.
You have probably thought you needed to see the numbers on the telephone as long as you have been using. Blind people can use the telephone without ever looking at the numbers. If you still have a dial phone, just count holes in the dial before you use it.
Information or directory assistance is a service offered by telephone companies throughout the country so that callers can find phone numbers for people who are not listed in the telephone book. This service is also offered to blind individuals who cannot use the telephone book. Most people are charged for directory assistance. You (a blind person) are exempt for this charge. You will need to let the telephone company know that you cannot read the print in the telephone book. You will probably need to fill out a form to accomplish this. Then the company will see that there is no charge for directory assistance calls from the telephone in your home. If you wish to keep a record of phone number, you can do this on tape or in Braille.
Blind people use as many different techniques for shopping as sighted people do, and everyone will use a variety of different techniques for different occasions. The following is a list of methods available. None of these methods will always be satisfactory, but a combination of them will enable a blind person to get the things he or she needs and wants:
1. Walk to the store, ask a clerk for assistance in finding items. This generally works well when only a few items are needed. If the store is too far away from home to walk, a city bus or a taxi cab may be used. If you go to the same store regularly, you many not always need assistance in finding items.
2. Telephone the store with a list of items needed; then go to the store to pay for the items and bring them home. Grocery shopping can be done in this way, especially if you know some of the people at the grocery store and if you ask for this help when the store is not too busy.
3. Hire someone to drive you to the store and help you find the things you need when you get there. This method is especially desirable when you need to go to several places in succession: the bank, the dry cleaners, the post office, and the grocery store.
4. Shop with a friend or neighbor who is doing his or her own shopping at the same time.
5. Find a volunteer from church or a civic club who will set aside an hour or two occasionally to help you shop.
6. Ask a friend or neighbor to pick up a few items when he or she is out running errands.
7. Often large department stores have a shopping service which can be arranged for in advance. You can go to the store, meet the "Shopper" and find the items you need. This is generally used when you wish to purchase quite a few items at one store in one day.
8. Find a senior citizens program that sends a van or bus to a shopping center occasionally and make use of it.
9. Order items from a mail order catalog by telephone. If you have a charge card with Sears or J.C. Penney's etcetera, the items you order can be mailed to your home, or you can pick them up at the store. If you do not have a charge card, it may be simpler to pick up the items from the store, but you can still order from the catalog by telephone if you wish. Of course you will need a reader to read the catalog. A wide range of merchandise is now available for purchase via the Internet as well. Some blind individuals use a computer equipped with voice output and shop in this way. It is not as convenient to do this with voice output as it is to read the screen directly, but some companies have accessible sites. If you know someone who enjoy using the computer and would like to assist you, this is another way to shop by the Internet.
10. Many companies do business primarily at your home. Schawns Frozen Foods, Amway, Shacklee, Avon, Fuller Brush send salesmen door-to-door and deliver. If you like these products and are at home during the day, this is indeed a convenient way to shop. In most cities milk and other dairy products can still be delivered. Products such as Tupperware, Discover Toys, Pampered Chef, and Stanley are purchased at parties, but can be ordered through the sales representative as well.
11. TV Home Shopping: Many blind individuals use the TV home shopping networks. Most items are described fairly well by the hosts. If you have questions about a product that have not been answered, the order-takers on the phone should be able to answer some of them.
Many blind persons arrange to shop repeatedly with someone whose judgment they know and trust, especially for clothing, furniture, or decorative items. You will probably enjoy shopping of dislike it as much as you did before you lost your sight. Your shopping techniques will vary according to your health, travel methods, preferences, and the occasion.
Raised markings can be put on dials in a variety of ways and may be helpful to a blind individual. Dials on the oven, stove burners, washing machine and dryer, electric mixer, dishwasher, electric skillet, etcetera may be set more exactly if some special markings are used. It is possible to take a sharp scratch awl and make lines on a plastic or metal surface around the outside of the dial, so that the pointer on the dial can be turned toward these marks. Small daubs of fingernail polish or glue can also be used. Puffy paint and Hi marks are two other products which can be used. Notches or bumps of one kind or another can be used to mark almost any dial. It is not necessary to write words or numbers on the dials as is done in print. The blind person will decide what setting should be marked, so he or she will know what they mean. Furthermore, it is not necessary to have every possible dial setting marked. For example, it may be desirable to put Braille markings on an oven dial at 275 degrees, 350 degrees, 425 degrees, and broil. With these four settings marked, it is possible to set the oven dial between them for more accurate control.
Many dials may not need special markings. If the dial clicks as it turns, or if a series of buttons are used for settings (in the fashion that is common on many blenders), no additional markings will be needed. In addition, many dials can be set accurately by a blind person even though there are no special markings. An example of this would be the dial for a gas stove burner which can be turned a half or one quarter turn from off to high flame. As the dial is gradually turned, the flame gets higher or lower. Sometimes a blind person can feel printing on a dial. Even though you cannot read these letters by touch, the roughness of the print and the spacing between the letters or words may be an adequate guide for a blind person in setting the dial. Plastic tape may be used to mark a dial, but other kinds of tape are likely to pull off or wear out quickly.
Some appliances and other devices have been marked in Braille or adapted especially for the blind by the manufacturer. In most cases, however, you can use whatever you have on hand just as well as something that has been adapted for use by the blind. For example, a kitchen timer has been adapted for the blind with raised dots on it to show how many minutes it is set for. At most hardware stores, it is possible to purchase for less money kitchen timers that have raised numerals. These can be felt and the timer can be set very accurately. If you already have a kitchen timer with print numerals that are not raised, you can probably still set it accurately. On a 60 minute timer, when the pointer is straight down, it is set for 30 minutes; straight to the right is 15 minutes; halfway between 15 and straight up is 7-1/2 minutes. This timer can be marked with a scratch awl or fingernail polish as 15, 30, and 45 or in some other way. However, many blind people would be able to use it without any special markings. It is largely a matter of personal preference. Other examples similar to this could be given, but the kitchen timer shows why you may not need a special device for the blind, even if you hear it advertised.
As you know, some appliances such as microwaves and VCR's or DVD's are operated by means of a video screen. It is a good idea to give careful attention to the complexity of these screens before purchasing them. Microwave screens generally include two sections—one simply sets the time, while the other lists different kinds of food to be cooked. You may place tactile markings on either section, but you will probably not wish to mark all the foods. Many blind cooks use only the minute section. If you us scotch tape across one row of numbers, the pressure of your thumb or finger is effective right through the tape. My microwave is marked with a piece of tape across the grid above the 1, 2, and 3, across 4, 5, and 6 and on the zero. The Start button is in the lower right-hand corner and the clear is at the lower left. With these markings, I can operate the device satisfactorily. When I bought it, there were others in the store I was not sure could be marked for me.
VCR's and DVD's are even more complex because new displays come to the screens after certain commands are given. Use some creativity to figure out how to use these devices, but it may not be possible to use all of the features without seeing them. Most Talking Book Libraries lend to their borrowers video tapes of movies with audio descriptions of some of the film and many blind persons and their families enjoy them.
If a blind person knows some Braille and wishes to make markings with Braille letters this can be done by using Braille dymo tape. Braille dymo tape can be purchased from rehabilitation agencies for the bind and some other sources. Braille dymo tape can be used to mark records, canned goods, and other firm surfaces. Canned goods can also be sorted by location on the shelf, or packages of frozen food can be labeled in Braille, the label help against the package with a rubber band. Plastic Braille labels of this kind can be reused. Of course, it is adequate for many people simply to sort frozen items by arranging them in a certain order in the freezer.
Generally, clothes do not need special markings. You can identify shirts, slacks, sweaters, jackets, skirts, dresses, etcetera, by the feel of the fabric, the style, buttons, and other features that vary from one garment to the next. Exceptions tot his may be t-shirts or socks. If t-shirts of different colors are otherwise identical, the simplest means of distinguishing one from the other is to tear out the tag on one, leaving it in the other. It would also be possible to sew a small piece of fabric at the back of the neck. You man even place a safety pin at the back of the neck of one item to distinguish it from a similar one of a different color. It is generally possible to order a set of metal tags with Braille letters on them to sew into your clothing. Contact a rehabilitation agency to find out who supplies these. Some blind people prefer to wear primarily one color of socks, all black, all white, all blue. In many dime stores it is possible to buy small rings to use when doing the laundry to keep socks mated together. This makes sorting several colors of socks simple, since they should not get mixed together. If you have a slip or undergarment that contrasts with several that are a different color or shade you may wish to mark it in the same way you would mark a t-shirt, so you don't inadvertently wear it under something light-colored or sheer.
Although it is possible to label almost anything in Braille or with raised markings, do not let yourself become a slave to such markings. You many find you really don't need very many.
Most blind cooks are good cooks. A cook who becomes blind still has a lifetime of experience and knowledge about food—a resource to be prized. This is no reason for a blind person to be frightened of hot stoves, electric mixers, sharp knives, or anything else in the kitchen. It is important to take the same good-sense precautions you always did: don't leave cloth potholders on the stove; don't stack glasses in the sink, etcetera. Accidents occur because of carelessness, whether a cook is blind or sighted.
First of all, it does not hurt food to touch it if your hands are clean. You can measure a cup or a half cup of milk by touch. When the liquid reaches the half cup line or the top of the cup, you can feel the milk there. The best way to be sure that all the lumps are out of a stiff cookie dough is to finish mixing it with your hands. A light quick touch with your finger will help you determine whether hamburger or steak or biscuits are brown. When brown they will be rougher and dryer than when raw. It is possible to tell by touch when pie crust or pizza dough is smooth and when all the holes have been removed. You can tell by touch if cake frosting covers the entire cake and is smooth or if brownie dough in the pan is level. You can tell by touch when a bowl is scraped clean. These things require that the blind cook wash his or her hands often, but they work and the food is good.
Often newly blinded individuals are concerned about skillets full of hot food. "How will I know if all of the hamburgers are turned over?" "What if I get tow pieces of chicken piled one on top of the other?" "If my eggs cook together, how will I separate them?" You get a lot of this information with the spatula. In addition, a simple technique in dealing with hot food is to touch it with a paper towel over your fingers. You can turn the heat down under a skillet when you are turning meat in order to prevent grease from popping. It is easy to find out exactly where each piece of meat is in a frying pan by touching it, and the paper towel will protect your hand from the heat.
If you really like pretty, round fried eggs, there is a special way to get them. Cut tops and bottoms out of 6 oz. tuna fish cans. Place these rings in the skillet after the fat or oil is heated. Break each egg into one of these rings. When you are ready to turn the eggs over or remove them from the skillet (in the case of sunny-side up eggs), you can locate the egg by touching the top of the metal ring with the paper towel in one hand and place the spatula or pancake turner under the egg. Remove the ring and pick up the egg. No one can make eggs look more appetizing than these.
It is possible to use a large cookie sheet on the counter under the mixing bowl to keep track of measuring cups, spoons, and other items when mixing up cake batter or cookie dough. The cookie sheet will collect any small spills and consolidate the work. Many blind cooks find this is helpful; others do not. If several individuals use the same kitchen, the blind cook cannot assume that everything will be as he or she left it. Before you turn on the oven, check quickly to see if the shelves are in place and level. Before you turn on the stove burner touch it quickly to be sure no one left something there. You can make life unpleasant for both yourself and your spouse if you expect him or her to think of your convenience constantly.
MYTH: Blind people cannot or should not handle certain appliances, sharp knives, etcetera. Since a blind person will break more dishes than sighted people, when a a person becomes blind, he or she should not use good china anymore.
FACT: Accidents are caused by carelessness. A blind individual is likely to have a few accidents—on the average about as many as a sighted person.
EXAMPLE: Jane Reed is the wife of a college professor. She became blind at the age of 52. One of the things she and her husband enjoyed a great deal was entertaining friends and Mr. Reed's work associates. Mrs. Reed had accumulated some very beautiful china and crystal which she liked to use in entertaining. When she became blind, she felt that she could not prepare and serve a dinner adequately and she was afraid to use her expensive china and crystal. As Mrs. Reed became aquatinted with other blind individuals she began to understand that they were not concerned about using expensive china. She realized that a successful dinner party had nothing to do with whether or not she could see. Mrs. Reed decided to invite a few friends to dinner as an experiment. Although she was extremely concerned that something would go wrong, everyone agreed that the party was a success. Now Mrs. Reed and her husband laugh at themselves for worrying so much about blindness and especially for being afraid to use the china and crystal of which they were so proud.
The blind host or hostess may do some things differently when he or she serves food. For example, you may wish to fill coffee cups and/or water glasses in the kitchen and carry them to the table, placing a pitch of water on the table for people who want refills to help themselves. This enables you to fill glasses and cups to the proper level in the kitchen. If you wish to determine when the glass or cup is full with a clean tip of a forefinger, both you and your guests may feel more comfortable if they are not watching, and there is nothing unsanitary about it. You may also wish to dish up dessert in the kitchen and serve it or let people help themselves. Many sighted people do these things and some blind people do not. You can decide for yourself.
A newly blinded person will probably move slowly and cautiously and need to have more time in the kitchen at first. As you gain confidence, you will be more relaxed and move more quickly. Cooking is necessary, of course. It can also be very rewarding. Preparing food should be as routine at some times and as extraordinary at other times as it ever was.
A blind person can and should continue to do whatever kind of sewing he or she did as a sighted person. Many people sew very little today. Some even arrange to have the laundry or dry cleaner do mending for them. Others very much enjoy sewing and do a great deal of it. Whether you are blind or sighted need not affect your success in sewing or your preference to avoid it. Three or four tips about sewing will be useful to a newly blinded person.
A
needle threader consisting of a small piece of metal and wire loop which can
be put into the eye of a needle and used to draw the end of the thread through
the needle is very useful for threading needles, whether you are sewing by hand
or with a sewing machine. If you are tense, it will seem impossible to do this.
If you relax and practice, threading a needle in this way can become quick and
easy. Needle threaders can be ordered from most organizations or agencies that
have aids and appliances for the blind and can often be purchased in fabric
stores. Self-threading needles are also available. There is a tiny division
at the large end of the needle through which the thread can be pulled. If you
fingers are somewhat stiff or numb you may prefer these needles for sewing by
hand.
When sewing with a machine, you may use the presser foot or a seam guide to line up the material and keep your seams or top-stitching straight. Two types of machine guides are also available for sewing machines: a magnetic guide which adheres to the metal of the machine just to the right of the presser foot or a metal guide that can be screwed onto the machine table in the same place. If your machine has the hole or holes for the screw, this type of guide is much sturdier and more reliable than the magnet. Some people like to use adhesive tape to mark a 5/8 inch seam allowance in front of the presser foot. The most reliable guide is the presser foot itself and it is safe to let your finger touch the front of it. As long as your finger is not on top of the presser foot and does not reach in from the side, the needle cannot hurt you. After a seam is sewn, you can feel the stitching line to tell how straight it is. Blind sewers, like sighted sewers, will need to make use of the ripper occasionally.
If you like to make garments and other items, you will need to develop a new technique for cutting them out. You will probably want to get a friend to trim commercial patters on the cutting line before you lay them on the fabric. You may wish to make some special markings of darts or arrows with tape when you have them trimmed. You can feel the edge of the tissue paper against the fabric well enough to cut along it quite neatly. You should loop your hand over the top blade of the scissors so that your thumb is on one side and your fingers on the other just where the two blades of the scissors come together when you are cutting. The edge of the pattern should not cross over the bottom blade of the scissors. Therefore your fingers should be against the pattern and your thumb against the fabric and the scissors best if your hand is relaxed and you touch it lightly. Of course, you will hold the scissors in the same hand you always did, using the other to guide them as described above.
Sewing is like so many other activities for a blind person. The question is not whether it can be done. A newly blinded person needs to ask: How can I do it? not Can I do it? A few relatively simple techniques will make it possible for a blind person to do any kind of sewing he or she wishes to do. Practice will make these techniques simple and commonplace, although they may seem difficult or frustrating at first.
Watches are made that can be read with the finger. The case of a Braille watch is designed so that the top can be raised. The blind individual carefully touches the hands of the watch to tell the time. The watch is made with dots on the face of each number. One common arrangement is to use three dots at twelve; two dots at three, six and nine; and one dot at each of the other numbers. Pocket watches and wrist watches are available in several styles for both men and women and from a variety of places. These watches are somewhat expensive and generally cannot be purchased from your local jeweler.
Braille clocks are also available and some of these are cheaper than Braille watches. Some standard clocks have raised numerals on their faces and the glass over the face can be removed. These clocks are easy for blind people to use. See the next chapter on Talking Watches and Clocks.
At the time of the writing of this book, a new talking clock was being produced by Sharp Corporation in Japan and distributed in this country. (See Chapter 6) In addition to keeping the time and announcing it when a button is pushed, the clock can be used as an alarm clock and a stop watch. It is easy to use and set and keeps time more accurately than most watches and clocks. It is small enough to be carried in a pocket or a handbag, and blind persons have been extremely enthusiastic about it.
It is not necessary or desirable to try to make a list of all the techniques blind people use that may be slightly different from the techniques of sighted people. Furthermore, blind people do not use all the same techniques. What is important is that blind individuals come to understand that there are ways—generally very simple ways—of doing the things they want and need to do. Repairs around the house, yard work, hobbies, and many other activities not mentioned in this book are being performed by blind individuals all the time and very well. Even though a person may think he or she depends upon eyesight to do an activity, if the eyesight is not available, the activity may be possible just the same. For example, most people believe they need to look at their work as the knit or crochet. Yet both knitting and crocheting can be done by touch and hundreds or thousands of blind individuals do this work and enjoy it. Many blind individuals enjoy woodworking or cabinet making and use whatever hand tools and power tools they have available to them for this work. Fishing, bowling, dancing, and all variety of sports are enjoyed by numerous blind individuals. If you never liked to fish before you lost your sight, that is not likely to change. On the other hand, if you thoroughly enjoyed fishing before you lost your sight, that is not likely to change either. You will, no doubt, want to find a friend who drives in order to get to the best fishing spots and to steer your boat (if you happen to have one) but the rest is up to you.
Sighted people often assume that blind people can only be successful because of special tools and devices that they use. Special tools can indeed be useful. However, without them, blind people generally find a means of doing the things they need to do. The next chapter describes some special appliances. You are encouraged to use simple techniques on your own whenever you can think of them. On the other hand, it is our intention to make information available to you so that you can make use of it as you wish.
MYTH: Individuals who become blind as seniors will be limited to doing things they learned to do before they became blind.
FACT: Some seniors who become blind wish to continue comfortably in familiar surroundings and do so. Others are eager to explore new opportunities and experiences and do so.
EXAMPLE: Lloyd lost his vision gradually in middle age, took training, and became competent as an independent traveler with the long white cane, and working in home repairs and construction. He built a sun porch on his house and made lots of useful items in his shop which was in his garage. He used Braille for keeping records.
Jim lost his vision in his early 70's and joined a senior support group where he met Lloyd. Jim's house needed a lot of repairs, and he wanted to tear it down and rebuild it. He had some experience with carpentry work, but had never taken on a job as big as a house. A Lloyd and Jim became better acquainted, they talked about Jim's house and looked it over thoroughly. They decided to take on the job that Jim wanted done. They knew it would be an adventure, something bigger than either had done before, but the challenge was attractive to them.
They found a sighted friend to draw the plans that must be submitted to the city for approval. Then they got to work. They had some mishaps and many successes. They got some volunteer help with the heaviest work from a local construction company. One of the local TV stations came to the site on several occasions to do stories on their progress. It took them several months to build the new house, but they completed the project and were very proud of it.
A few days before Thanksgiving Jim cooked Thanksgiving dinner in his new house and invited the senior group to join him. He continued to work on yard furniture and other special items for his new house in the garage. Both Lloyd and Jim loved to tell about their adventures in building this house, and their friends loved hearing about it.