Oy...

[conuly]

I made the mistake of explaining to Deniz about the Braille on signs and the bumps in front of subway platforms (and we so need those gate thingies inside the station!) and how they're for people who can't see.

And now she seems to see me as the expert on all things blind. "Connie? How do people who can't see get on the boat? How do they know where to sit?" Well, that's easy - I explain as much as I can about the logistics of using a cane, a dog, advice from others, or your memory to find a seat and leave it at that. "Connie? How do people who don't use their eyes get food? How do they cook?"

What? I don't know how blind people cook! I don't especially care how blind people cook, frankly, seeing as how I'm not blind.

We spend a lot of time with Deniz. I anticipate more questions of this nature in the future - and, heaven forbid, questions about deafness can't be far behind. Does anybody have any good resources so I can make an attempt at answering her questions? I promised her I'd ask around. She's probably forgotten by now, but I did promise.

I'd also like some simple books for five year olds on this sort of subject - she can read, and she's right into asking questions about everything, so it'd be very good for me to be able to toss her a book and say "Here, find out for yourself". Good for her parents, too.

In similar thoughts, it's occured to me lately that if we lived in a world without glasses, I'd be actually pretty disabled for that. My eyesight is perfect with my glasses on (well, pretty much - my glasses are now royally fucked up, with scratches and superglue all on the lenses, so it's perfect if I ignore that!), but without them on, it's pretty bad. I mean, really bad.

Which isn't so bad, I mean - I always wear my glasses, and it's hardly comprable to having eyesight that *isn't* correctable via the use of carefully chosen lenses hooked onto my nose. But... *shrugs* I hadn't thought of that before, even back when I lost my glasses all the time.

I need to get new glasses.

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

Well, I know stuff about blindness. :) And I know a fair bit about deafness, given that two of my housemates studied ASL until they maxed out the courses available in our area on them. (ASL, Deaf culture, etc.)

Cooking isn't as hard as most people think it is. First, it's trivial to add dots to a microwave to tell you where the buttons are. They make little plastic sticky bumps you can feel and stick on stuff. I have one on my washer to tell me where the dial is turned to. Stuff on the stove isn't that hard either, because lots of stuff is just boil for this long, then drain. There are plenty of timers that make sounds (and talking thermometers, scales, watches, etc.). If you want to make sure you know when something is boiling, you can buy a pot boiler, which is a ring of glass that will vibrate up and down when the water boils such that it bangs into the bottom of the pot audibly. Cutting, chopping, and mixing just aren't that hard to do by feel; it's just a matter of getting used to it.

For the not all blind (which is most blind people), there are high contrast everything (measuring cups, chopping boards (both light and dark so you can use whichever works better for what you're chopping). There are countless devices that most people aren't aware of that make blindness much easier. If you go to the memories for i_l_brl you can see some sites with various stuff for blind people. Seeing the tools gives you a fair idea of how stuff can be done.

If you have time with her, you can teach her to walk with a cane; it's not hard and with an adult watching should be safe. The trick is to really use the cane, not just try to walk around with no vision. The way to use a cane is to hold it ahead of you and down and tap the ground to the left or right of where you want to walk, swing it in a little arc to the other side, and tap it on the right or left (opposite of what you last did) of where you want to walk. This lets you determine depth and make sure that the space you intend to take up is clear. The only danger is low-hanging branches or other things that hang down from above. And you want a long stick. I'm 5'2" and use a 50" stick. But it doesn't need to be a fancy stick to try it out. Sure mine is an awesome folding 4-part aluminum cane with marshmallow tip (to do less damage to things I tap) that self-expands when I shake it out, and has a comfortable grip, while being light-weight. But any long stick will work. I am quite proud that given a stick, I can safely navigate with no vision.

Also, you tend to learn your routes and the places you go. You learn about that annoying bump on the way to the train station or whatnot. Being blind generally means a lot of route memorization. Although a lot of blind people are getting into GPSs. (I think that's the right acronym for those things that tell you where you are.)

[conuly]

I was thinking specifically of you when I told her I'd ask around, and I did make a point of telling her that most blind people can see a little bit, even if it's just light and dark.

Thank you for the information... actually, teaching her to navigate unsighted would probably be a really good idea. We all know that it's only fun and games until somebody loses an eye, so this way she can have fun even if that should happen!

[conuly]

And yes, GPS - Global Positioning System

[marveen.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that you prefer a folding cane; I work for a lady who's been blind since birth (glass eyes, too, so no high-contrast stuff) and she overwhelmingly prefers her full-length cane over a folding model--metal tip, too.

And you neglected to mention the part where you stick your forefinger down the side of the glass/cup to tell you when you've poured enough to fill it.

(She has a marvelous cookbook in Braille, "Cooking Without Looking", in several volumes.)

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

*g* I do that too if I get up in the middle of the night to pour myself a glass of water. My vision isn't good enough to see the distance to a cup sitting on the countertop.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the late reply. I've been having net connectivity problems.

I'm multiply disabled, so my cane has to compensate for more than just blindness. I use it also for support and balance. As such, I need something able to hold my weight, but light enough to be able to switch uses around easily. The folding aluminum cane works wonderfully for this. Plus, I have enough vision that often I really only need it to probe for depth and do a simple, am I missing anything right in front of me, which simply putting it down in front of me and using it for support lets me do. I'll probably eventually move to a wheelchair-cane combination.

My comment wasn't meant to cover everything, just give a bunch of basics. Plus, the web sites have liquid level indicators that people can use for drinks, if they want to. So, some info on that was available. I dunno if it'd mention putting your hand on the outside to feel the level for hot drinks. There are likely countless little details about being blind, but if you get a good smattering of them, I think it gives enough of the idea that there are ways and it's just a matter of learning them.