Should you’re a sighted individual, you doubtless have misconceptions about blind people. That you would be able to shut your eyes and abruptly perceive what it is wish to be blind. {That a} blind individual you see about to cross the road wants your assist doing so. {That a} blind individual is aware of nothing however darkness.
Spoiler alert: Not one of the above are true for all individuals with blindness.
“Somewhat than making assumptions, have interaction with blind individuals such as you would anyone else,” says Mark Riccobono, president of the Nationwide Federation of the Blind. “Present curiosity about them. And if you need to know if there’s one thing they want, ask them and do not assume.”
Greater than 3.4 million Individuals 40 years and older are blind or visually impaired, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as 21 million individuals produce other imaginative and prescient issues and 80 million have ailments that might blind them, reminiscent of cataracts and glaucoma.
This is a take a look at what members of the blind neighborhood wish you knew.
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Mark Riccobono
Age: 45
Occupation: President of the Nationwide Federation of the Blind
Is saying ‘blind individuals’ OK? Or is ‘visually impaired’ higher? “A variety of blind individuals say, ‘Nicely, I am not impaired; I do not see myself as impaired’ though the time period visually impaired could also be in a technical sense, right. A part of utilizing the phrase blind is actually proudly owning what blind means, and that blind does not must have the adverse connotations that it does in society. Clearly, some individuals who do have some remaining imaginative and prescient, want to make use of different phrases to assist specific that. However what I’ve discovered is that a whole lot of blind individuals – most – have some remaining imaginative and prescient, even when it is simply gentle notion. By utilizing the phrase blind, it is their approach of proudly owning that. The quantity of imaginative and prescient they do or haven’t got will not be what defines them. It is simply one other attribute.”
What’s a giant false impression? “A lot of individuals assume ‘nicely, if I shut my eyes, there’s an entire bunch of issues I do not know how one can do, that should be actually arduous for blind individuals.’ However that is not how blind individuals reside. We have realized to reside with out imaginative and prescient, we have realized the strategies that blind individuals use to achieve success. The issues that individuals understand as being actually arduous, aren’t arduous, as a result of we’re doing them each day. We’re not newly blind individuals touring world wide.”
On accessibility efforts: “There’s actually not many diversifications that we’d like on the planet to achieve success and to totally take part. Folks have tried to invent particular textured flooring for blind individuals and textured partitions. If the medical web sites have been simply accessible or the companies we need to attend, that may be an enormous leap ahead. We do not want textured partitions, we use a protracted white cane, which is a quite simple piece of know-how, but it surely does what we’d like it to do. Folks attempt to make the world extra sophisticated than it must be.”
Preserve this in thoughts: “Blindness can impression anybody of any gender or nationality. Anyone can go blind. We frequently say in case you reside lengthy sufficient, you may be a blind individual.”
Do not assume something: “I encounter individuals in society on a regular basis, who simply because I am a blind individual, they assume I need assistance. If I am standing at a road nook, making an attempt to reply a name on my telephone, invariably, somebody’s gonna come up and attempt to drag me throughout the road. Despite the fact that I am not making an attempt to cross the road. I am making an attempt to reply the telephone. So I might say, be naturally inquisitive about blind individuals and really feel snug speaking to them about their blindness, the issues they might or might not want, however acknowledge that blind individuals are fascinating for a lot of different causes.”
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Jocelyn Hunter
Age: 42
Occupation: Senior Director of Communications at Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind
Location: Washington, DC
Familiarize your self with the terminology: “Low imaginative and prescient is a time period which means even with standard strategies, like contact lenses, or eyeglasses, LASIK surgical procedure, your eyesight’s not corrected to twenty/20. So for me, and for different individuals who have low imaginative and prescient, we would select to make use of totally different units that improve the remaining sight, reminiscent of a desktop magnifier or magnification software program that can enlarge info on the pc monitor, or maybe utilizing daring line paper or a everlasting marker to carry us a better shade distinction in order that info is shared effectively and accurately.”
What’s a giant false impression? “Not everyone who’s blind or visually impaired will use a protracted cane for mobility. Some individuals would possibly use (a) canine information, or they could select to not use a protracted cane or a canine information, perhaps they’re utilizing the help of a human information, or perhaps they’ve sufficient usable imaginative and prescient the place they don’t seem to be utilizing a mobility machine to journey.”
Not all blindness is identical: “It is very various. It is very assorted per particular person. It will depend on their genetics and the attention illness or the attention situation that they’ve, it would permit for them to see issues otherwise, it would require that their lodging be totally different than their subsequent door neighbor who can also be visually impaired.”
You do not have to look at all of your phrases rigorously: “Somebody who’s blind, you may nonetheless seek advice from, ‘Hey, did you watch that soccer recreation final evening?’ or, ‘Hey, you are going to watch the Washington Wizards recreation tomorrow evening or Thursday evening?’ Once more, even when that individual has restricted to no sight remaining, it is nonetheless socially acceptable and inspired that vision-oriented phrases are a part of that communication.”
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Erin Daley
Age: 34
Location: Denver
Blind individuals do not at all times have to be handle: “I labored at a program on the Colorado Middle for the Blind as a counselor for blind teenagers and I met a 16-year-old who had by no means been allowed to even contact the oven or range. As soon as I discovered this out, we spent the subsequent 10 minutes touching your complete equipment and, though she was a protracted methods away from cooking a gourmand meal, it took away a lot of the concern that had been constructed into her and didn’t must be.”
Blindness doesn’t outline you: “I want individuals knew that being blind will not be your entire life. No matter who I meet, it at all times appears to be the subject of dialog. I’m not my blindness. I work, get aggravated on the rising price of housing, journey to international nations, train, strive recipes I discovered on Pinterest, and a lot extra that has nothing to do with the truth that I’m blind.”
What brings you pleasure? “My favourite factor on the planet is to journey, and I’ve a aim to go to each nation. What holds me again is what holds most individuals again – my pockets. I’ve traveled solo to England, China and Turkey, and my subsequent journey is to the Baltics. It’s undoubtedly fascinating to go to totally different nations and expertise their views on blindness.
I additionally love operating, and ran the NYC Marathon in 2014. Apart from that, my on a regular basis pleasure comes from discovering new exhibits to stream and dealing on writing my novel – which I’ve been engaged on for a decade. Proof that I can procrastinate with one of the best of them.”
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