Can blind persons attend functions?

`Whenever someone asks me this question my immediate response is "and why not?"  This is a frequently asked question and you know what?  I always try to be polite in my responses.  There is still much for the sighted world to learn and discover when it comes to how blind persons live, work, and socialize.  We can definitely attend functions but there are slight differences in the way we interact with others at functions.

 

Because we are unable to see others, we need to use our ears to help us identify others at functions.  We need to depend on sighted assistance to help us navigate our way around at functions.  We need to depend on others to help us meet others.  We need others to help us navigate buffet tables, find our seats, and find our places at tables.  We need others to help us with visual cues.

 

This is the picture for a blind person when attending functions.  It may sound cumbersome to a sighted person but not really.  Once you get the hang of things then it's not too bad.  It can be a lot of fun. Can blind persons attend functions?

 

Whenever someone asks me this question my immediate response is "and why not?"  This is a frequently asked question and you know what?  I always try to be polite in my responses.  There is still much for the sighted world to learn and discover when it comes to how blind persons live, work, and socialize.  We can definitely attend functions but there are slight differences in the way we interact with others at functions.

 

Because we are unable to see others, we need to use our ears to help us identify others at functions.  We need to depend on sighted assistance to help us navigate our way around at functions.  We need to depend on others to help us meet others.  We need others to help us navigate buffet tables, find our seats, and find our places at tables.  We need others to help us with visual cues.

 

This is the picture for a blind person when attending functions.  It may sound cumbersome to a sighted person but not really.  Once you get the hang of things then it's not too bad.  It can be a lot of fun.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help educate the rest of the world as to how blind persons navigate their way when attending functions.  Visit www.acb.org to learn more.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help educate the rest of the world as to how blind persons navigate their way when attending functions.  Visit www.acb.org to learn more.

Blindness is not contagious

Maybe this is a touchy topic for many; but here goes.  When I was growing up, I found that many persons, both kids and adults alike were often afraid to approach me and other blind kids.  I often used to think that maybe and just maybe, they may have been feeling that if they came too close to me, they too would become blind.  Things have improved over the years but there is still that hesitance especially so on the part of adults.

 

I am finding more and more that younger persons are not afraid to approach blind people.  They are much less inhibited and not afraid to engage in conversations with us.  For anyone who is hesitant to become friends with a blind person:  Blindness is definitely not contagious.  You can certainly become friends with us.  You would be quite surprised to know and learn what great friends we can be.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and spread the word about how you can become friends with blind persons.

Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

Appliances are a challenge

There used to be a time when I as a blind person was able to navigate the buttons on the panels of my appliances without having to ask for sighted assistance.  Buttons and knobs on washers and dryers were big enough for me to feel and touch, you could set levels of water and temperatures by counting off the clicks, and you could do other things by simply memorizing how many clicks to the left or right, etc.

 

A few months ago, I had to replace my washer and dryer and thank goodness I was able to find a small appliance store that sold washers and dryers with manageable buttons.  Many of the appliances today are dominated by touch screens and digital displays and this makes life more difficult for someone who is unable to see.  Some appliances even have lights to indicate certain things and this too is not very good for a blind person.

 

In the good old days, I only had to ask for sighted assistance once when I was learning the position of the buttons but all this has changed.  I know, we are now in the digital age and that can't be helped but how I wish that someone can come along and develop a gadget for blind persons to use with digital displays and touch screens.  Thank goodness I have a talking microwave but my toaster oven is a challenge for me.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help educate the rest of the world about the challenges that blind persons face when it comes to appliances with digital displays and touch screens.  Visit www.maxiaids.com to learn more.

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Is Anyone in the Elevator?

Whenever I get into an elevator, I always like to know if someone is there.  When I had enough sight, it was never a problem for me but now it is because I am unable to see enough to tell. 

 

So, as has always been my habit, as soon as I enter an elevator, I say hi and if someone answers then that's my cue to tell that someone is there.  If no one answers, it does not necessarily mean that the elevator is empty.  Occasionally, the person in the elevator may not answer or may just nod their head or smile not knowing that I am unable to see.  On these occasions, I use my sense of smell to help me out.  Or, I can normally sense if someone is close by because of a sense of presence.  The one humorous thing for me is getting on to an elevator and hearing someone else speaking.  Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that they're speaking to me but truth be told, they are on their cell phone.  It happens to everyone; not just a blind person. 

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help educate others about how I along with other blind persons sense the presence of others on an elevator.

Doing the Laundry Carefully

When I do my laundry, it's really not that much different from what most sighted persons would do.  I use my color detector to help sort my colored clothes from my white clothes.  Next I wash the white ones separately from the colored ones.  All hand clothing is washed by hand and the rest go into the washer.

 

The trick for me is to be able to tell if a piece of clothing has run as they say; creating a disaster for other pieces of clothing.  So, I have to make sure that certain pieces of clothing can be washed together and those that can't I have to wash also by hand.  Not much different from what sighted persons would do. 

 

I am fairly comfortable doing my laundry.  Towels and sheets go together, jeans, sweat shirts, socks, and track clothes go together, miscellaneous go together, and all of my blouses and skirts and other delicate garments are washed separately and apart from each other.  The challenges for me are:  Making sure that stains have been removed, and realizing when something is a bit too worn to keep on using.  So, I use the tried and proven method of discarding anything that has become thin and thread bare.

 

Not much different from the sighted world but I have to depend on touch as well as sighted assistance to help me deal with stains and o yes!  When those darn socks drop from me when I remove them from the dryer.  When they drop without a sound and I have to go looking for them.

 

Dealing with buttons on washers and dryers is another story which I will cover in another blog.  For now, you can learn more about color detectors by visiting www.independentlivingaids.com. 

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and help educate the sighted world about how blind persons do their laundry.

Missing Out on Bargains

Missing out on bargains is one of the most difficult things that I have to deal with on a daily basis.  For the sighted

world, it is easy for them to read about bargains in flyers, the newspapers, and see it on TV or on the Internet.  For

me, I am unable to read newspapers or flyers, and although I may hear it on TV, many ads do not repeat phone

numbers at the end of their infomercial instead choosing to display it on screen.  In the case of the Internet, so many

websites are not user friendly to those with vision problems making it almost impossible for us to access. 

 

When I go grocery shopping, I am unable to read the flyers that are stacked on the counters.  These flyers gaily

display all of the bargains in the supermarket but I do not have a clue as to what they are.  The same applies for

when I enter a store or pharmacy and as a result I am shut out of being able to reduce my shopping bills. 

 

This is something that I'd like to see addressed by the sighted world; ways to make it possible for blind persons to

know about bargains.  One possible solution that comes to mind is this:  Maybe, the larger store and supermarket

chains could have a phone line whereby we could call in and hear the bargains on a weekly basis?  Food for thought.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out and help make it easier for blind persons to learn more about bargains. 

Curb Curve Cuts No Good for Me

Curve cuts have turned out to be a big blessing for many; for those in wheelchairs, moms with strollers, and delivery staff hurrying along with heavy parcels.  However, for blind persons, it is the opposite.

Why is this?  Because when we go tapping along with our canes we depend heavily on landmarks such as; ridges, bumps, and anything else that is raised or has a slight step down or sink to help us identify where we are.  Many of these curve cuts do not help us because the sidewalks slope down into the street and if we are not careful then we can easily find ourselves in the middle of the street before we know what is going on.  So often, I have heard others like myself complaining about this and I am not sure what the answer is.  Curve cuts benefit more persons than they do not and as blind persons are often in the minority, then we have to find ways to deal with this.

 

If you would like to learn more about some of the problems that we as blind persons face when it comes to curve cuts, then visit www.nfb.org.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day.