Disability Simulation

Disability Simulation

The Braille Monitor

April 1997

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Disability Simulation That Works

by John W. Smith

From the Editor: Dr. John Smith teaches

communication studies at the Ohio University in Athens. He is also a leader

in the NFB of Ohio. In the following article he offers proof that not all disability

simulations are damaging. This is what he says:

For the past three years I've had the pleasure of teaching

a very special class at Ohio University entitled, "Communicating with the

Physically Disabled." To my knowledge it is the only course of its kind

at the university level. That was one of the reasons I decided to develop it.

Another reason was that the field of communication has, I believe, been quite

reluctant to discuss communication and interaction between those with physical

disabilities and those without. In addition I developed the class because I

thought it could serve as an opportunity for me to dispel myths about blindness

specifically and physical disabilities in general.

The class has received a lot of media coverage. There have

been articles in the Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Chicago

Tribune, as well as an NBC television story, which was aired in Dallas, Cleveland,

Columbus, and Chicago. In addition to these national and regional stories, the

course has been covered by a number of small newspapers (The Athens Messenger,

The Athens News, and several radio stations).

I taught the class over a five-week period during the summer

quarter. The first week was devoted to laying out a theoretical framework. The

next three weeks focused on specific disabilities: week two, blindness and visual

impairments; week three, deafness and hearing impairments; and week four, mobility

impairments. The final week was devoted to class presentations of student-devised

workshops.

As you might expect, I used the blindness and visual impairment

week to unfold the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind--blindness

can be reduced to the level of a nuisance, and we are changing what it means

to be blind. One of the reasons the class received so much media attention was

the simulated exercises we used during the course. The media like the bells

and whistles and melodramatics of people rolling around in wheelchairs and using

sleep shades or ear plugs. I recognized that, when I implemented these simulated

exercises, people would tend to focus more on them than on the content of our

message, but after much discussion and thought, I decided I could devise a plan

to make these simulated exercises useful for both the students and the general

public.

Like many other thoughtful blind people, I have had mixed emotions

about simulated exercises because they are so often implemented by temporarily

able-bodied individuals (TABs) and are designed to be dramatic and entertaining

and to convey the wretchedness of a particular disability and the gratitude

TABs should feel because they don't have that disability. Factor in the pity

that inevitably results, and it's no wonder these exercises leave a bad taste

in our mouths. Even given all this, I figured that, in the blindness component

at least, I could show my students what an actual blind person's life was like.

Through carefully planned course discussions, rigorous journaling, and an exit

interview at the end of the course, I thought I could create an atmosphere in

which simulation exercises could do some good.

I asked the students to participate in one simulated exercise

lasting for one twenty-four-hour period. They chose to be blind for twenty-four

hours by wearing sleep shades or hearing-impaired by wearing ear plugs and remaining

mute or mobility-impaired by using one of our wheelchairs. For the purpose of

our discussion here, I've focused on the visual impairment. No matter which

exercise they chose to simulate, they had to submit a journal of their experience

as well as participate in an exit interview with me concerning the contents

of that journal.

It's easy to distinguish between falsified or dishonest journals

and the authentic ones. One in particular struck me as powerful and instructive.

I thought it would be interesting to share with our NFB family. Sarah McConnell

was a very quiet, reserved student in my 1996 course. She decided to choose

blindness as her simulated exercise. I might add here that, in addition to the

individual simulated exercises, during the appropriate week I implement collective

simulated exercises as well. For example, during the blindness week I pair a

student using a sleep shade and cane with a sighted guide and teach the use

of proper techniques. Then we go shopping. I send them on errands and we meet

back in the classroom to talk about the experience. The first day the discussion

focuses on the negative: how tough it was, how much they hated steps, how time-consuming

everything was. I leave it at that the first day. The next day I bring in one

or two blind friends from the NFB chapter, and we then go buy things and perform

the same errands I had asked the students to perform. The idea is to demonstrate

what a trained blind person can do using alternative skills.

Back to Sarah: She submitted her journal and I read it. I was

impressed by her honesty and creativity and by her willingness to take chances.

In my follow-up interview with her I found her genuinely interested in what

it would be like to be blind. In short, I left the interview feeling that, if

Sarah ever lost her sight, she would be all right. This class gives every indication

of continuing to be a success. We are now franchising it to other universities

and other organizations, and, though I still have some mixed emotions about

simulated exercises, I hope that, when you read Sarah's journal, like me you

will begin to see that in the proper context and with the proper implementation

and facilitator, these exercises can be useful. Here is Sarah's journal:

Disability Days: Visual

Impairment Journal

by Sarah McConnell

I decided to be visually impaired for my second disability day.

I have always wondered what it would be like to experience a day without using

sight. I think this disability was more authentic than the hearing impairment.

Once I put the blindfold on, I could not see anything. I went to bed with the

sleepshade on so that I would wake up not able to see. When I woke up, I realized

that I had somehow taken it off while I was sleeping, so I quickly shut my eyes

before I could really see anything and searched for the blindfold. When I finally

found it, I put it back on and went back to sleep.

When I finally woke up, I had no idea what time it was. It

seemed as if it was still dark out. I had waked up a couple of times and then

fallen back asleep because I didn't know the time, and I didn't hear any noises

in the living room. I decided I would get up and see if anyone was in the living

room since I heard the TV. I walked out of my room, which goes directly into

the living room, and paused. I could hear the TV, but there were no other noises

in the room. I finally asked if anyone was there, and two people answered me.

One was my housemate Chad, and I still have no idea who the other person was.

I asked Chad what time it was. Not knowing what time it was really bothered

me. It ended up that I hadn't waked up until 2:00 p.m.

I made my way through the living room, which is hard because

it is so narrow that there is very little space between the couch on one side

of the room and the chair on the other. I bumped into the chair, and it was

no big deal, but I could hear Chad laughing at me. I went into the bathroom

and took my shower. I didn't have any problems to speak of. My shampoo and conditioner

are in a hanging shower rack in specific places separated by my shower gel,

so I knew which was which. I even shaved my legs without any major flesh wounds,

at least not that I know about. Brushing my teeth was no problem at all.

I made my way out of the bathroom and back into my room, where

I got dressed. I had laid my clothes out before I went to bed, but when I was

dressing, I decided I wanted to wear something different, so I searched in my

dresser and found what I was looking for. After I got dressed, I went back to

the kitchen to get something to eat. I made a salami sandwich, which was quite

simple, especially since all of the stuff I needed was in one drawer of the

refrigerator.

Chad was watching Miracle on 34th Street, so I sat down and

watched the end of it while I ate. I had never seen the movie before, so I didn't

really know what it was about. There were quite a few scenes in this movie that

were solely visual and really confusing to me. I asked Chad what was going on

in one of the confusing parts but just let the others go by. What was interesting

was that a few days later I saw the movie when I could see and realized that

all the visual cues I noticed changed the meaning of the things the characters

said. I had a totally different picture of what was meant when I couldn't see

the characters.

My roommate and another friend were supposed to spend the day

with me, but one had dance team practice all day, and the other one's parents

came into town. So after Chad left, I was all alone in the house. I called my

friend, and she was amazed that I could use the phone. That kind of surprised

me, because you can easily feel the separations of the numbers on the phone,

so it was simple. I had planned on going to Bob Evans's for dinner, but my roommate

ended up having extra practice, so yet again I was left alone. I got really

depressed when I realized that I was going to be alone until about 9:30 p.m.

I was tired of sitting in the house. I was tired of watching TV. I couldn't

read, so I was very bored.

There was a knock at my door, and the living room is on the

second floor, so I had to work my way down the stairs to answer the door. It

wasn't hard at all, but it was kind of scary to open the door and not be able

to see who was there.was just my neighbor, who needed me to move my car because

it was blocking him in. Needless to say, he had to do it for me. My driveway

is impossible to back out of when you can see; I didn't think it would be too

good an idea when I couldn't.

When my roommate came home during one of her breaks in practice,

I went down to her room, which is on the first floor, to talk to her. She had

gotten a huge duffel bag, her pom poms, a warmup jacket, and a couple of new

shirts for dance camp; and she tried to explain all these things to me. She

did an excellent job of describing. She had me feel the pom poms and bag, and

with the jacket and shirts she drew on me how the designs were on them. For

example, there was a circle with Ohio University on the front, so she drew a

circle on me where it would have been if I had been wearing the shirt.

When she left, I decided to make something to eat. I had opened

a can of nacho cheese the night before for nachos and decided that I wanted

to finish it. The trick was that I had to figure out where I had put it in the

refrigerator. I knew it was in a bowl close to the front with aluminum foil

on it. I had to taste it in order to find it. It took me two tries; the first

thing I tasted was refried beans. I was just glad that I didn't stumble on the

three-week-old tuna fish that I knew was in there somewhere. The hardest part

was using the microwave. Unlike the phone, the microwave's buttons were not

sectioned off. It was just a flat surface, and I couldn't feel where the numbers

were. Moreover, with our microwave you have to press the time set button, the

amount of time, and then the start button. I could find everything but the time

set button. I ended up getting it to heat long enough to make it lukewarm, so

I ate nachos and watched TV.

When my roommate finally came home, she brought two of the

girls that were on the dance team with her so that they could use our shower.

I had never met them before, so I had no idea what they looked like. I only

got to know them by their voices. They wanted me to go to practice the next

day to see if I could tell what they looked like just by having heard their

voices. I didn't go to practice the next day, but they did come back over, and

I got to see what they looked like. It was an interesting experience to meet

people and judge them by their voices and what they said instead of by their

looks. They did look different than I had pictured, but it wasn't too much different

than I thought.

My other friend had come over; and, when the dance team girls

left, we decided to go uptown. My roommate Sheila was my sighted guide. We walked

uptown from Mill Street. I really wish I could have seen the reactions we got,

but according to Sheila and Andrea (my other friend), we got a lot of stares.

They decided to take me down Court Street before we went into any bars. One

drunk boy reached out and touched my blindfold as we passed him on the street.

Quite a few people made dumb comments as they passed us. I realize just how

awful the sidewalks in Athens are; they were pretty scary in some places.

After we went for a stroll, we went into Tony's. It was a little

difficult because there are three steps to go up, but I did fine. According

to my friends, we got lots of strange looks at Tony's. We stayed for a little

while and decided to go to the bakery for some pizza. When we rounded the corner

from Tony's back to Court Street, this very strange boy came right up to me

and started talking to me and asking me questions about what I was doing. He

got way too close to me; his face was less than an inch from my face. I even

think his nose touched me. I did not like that. It seemed like a few people

got closer to me than they would have if I could have seen them. When we got

to the bakery, the OU cheerleaders were there. Sheila is friends with all of

them, and I know a couple of them. They had a great time with the fact that

I couldn't see them. There was some sort of picture of me taken, and from what

I've heard, I don't think I want to see what they were doing around me.

I got my pizza, and we got a table and ate. Sheila and Andrea

were amazed at how well I had adapted to not being able to see, but really it

wasn't that bad. The only things that really bothered me were things that could

be adapted if I really couldn't see: like getting a talking clock, making the

microwave so I could feel the numbers, and getting used to walking around by

myself. I think driving would be the hardest thing not to be able to do.

After we ate we decided to take one more trip down Court Street

and then go home. Sheila had been my sighted guide the whole time, so they switched,

and Andrea did it for a while. Andrea was a good guide too, but after we switched,

I could feel Sheila on my other side guiding me too. She was so protective of

me it was funny.

I swear, we knew everyone that was uptown that night. I didn't

feel self-conscious about the blindfold, which surprised me. Quite a few people

stopped and asked what I was doing and why. They wanted to know if I really

couldn't see anything, so waving their hands in front of my face was common

practice for most of them. One thing I found very humorous was that at least

five people asked me if my hearing was better because I couldn't see. I thought

about saying, "Why, yes of course, now I hear like Superman." But

I guess that would have been inappropriate.

On our way back down Mill Street, there was an odd boy in front

of us. He didn't see my blindfold at first and just thought that I was really

drunk and couldn't walk, but then he realized that I couldn't see. He walked

us home and followed behind me with his arms out in case I fell. It was strange

that so many people I didn't know came up to me and were extremely protective

of me. I guess they thought I would break.

The truth is that I suffered no injuries and no falls when

I was blind, and I get hurt at least three times a day when I can see where

I'm going. The thing I noticed the most was that I had to pay more attention

to my other senses, and I had to pay more attention to where I put things. You

can figure out where people are in the room by listening just as well as looking,

but you don't give your hearing the chance because seeing is quicker. It surprised

me that people were so shocked that I could make phone calls, use the microwave,

go down the stairs, eat without seeing my food, and walk quickly. All these

things were easy, and I won't ever think of a blind person as helpless. This

ended up being a good experience, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do it.