SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES USED BY THE BLINDOK, so we have told you that it is possible to learn other ways of dealing with the world as a blind person. And we have told you that you can be a competent, productive member of society. Well, what do you have to do to make this possible? How can you believe any of this is true if you can't even get to your front door yourself, or you don't even know what food is inside of those blasted metal cans in your cupboard that all feel alike. The process is one of learning skills, such as how to get around, and at the same time building confidence in your ability to be able to function. You have to believe that it is possible for a blind person to live a normal life, and then you need to learn how they do things. Then you have to believe that it is possible for YOU to learn the same kinds of things. We have found that the best way to do this is for newly blinded people to meet and interact with competent blind people in their community. There are self-help organizations of blind people in most major cities throughout the country, and there may very well be a blind person who lives and works right in your own neighborhood. If you need help finding organizations of the blind in your area, please write or call us. Blind people need to use their hands to get information. You should not be afraid to touch things you want to "look at." If a blind woman goes to a meeting of a women's club and hears everyone talking about Mabel's gorgeous new handbag, it will generally be considered reasonable and proper for the blind person to ask for a description of the handbag, to touch it or to examine it by touch. It is perfectly sensible for a blind person to pick up most merchandise in stores and examine it by touch. Obviously, some judgment must be used about this. Too often blind people do not touch things when it would be useful to do so because they are afraid of being conspicuous. It will probably be noticed, but so what? Any person who is at all different will be noticed. It is far better for you to be involved in what is going on and gain information about it, rather than stand silently by just because you don't want to be different. You have as much right to be involved as anyone else. If you feel OK about blindness and handle it in a matter-of-fact manner, others will take their cues from you. Our society reacts to blindness in such a way that we often assume 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. It is convenient to be able to see to read the newspaper, to look across a room or street, to identify people, et cetera. Not to be able to do these things with sight does not prevent an individual from doing them some other way. A blind person learns to make use of information supplied by sounds and touch such as listening to traffic, feeling Braille dots, identifying objects by touch, and so on. These methods will make use of the individual's experience, intelligence, skills, imagination, and ingenuity. The methods will not be 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
find new methods that do not require the use of sight to do the things
he or she wishes to do. In this section we hope to give you some ideas
about what you can reasonably expect to do without sight and some suggestions
about how to do these things. The ideas presented are only suggestions.
After you start thinking about using your other senses, you will come
up with some of your own methods that you might like better. It is important
for you to start thinking to yourself, "I know there is a way to
do this. All I have to do is figure out how." |