Just Everyday People

Just Everyday People

Future Reflections April/May/June 1985, Vol. 4 No. 2
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JUST EVERYDAY PEOPLE
(Note: This article appeared in the
Summer, 1984, issue of The Blind side ,
a publication of the National Federation
of the Blind of Minnesota.)
Is it truly amazing that blind people
can find a door, open it, and go on
their way without mishap? No. But to
believe the answer is "yes" can greatly
harm a blind person's potential for
success. The members of the National
Federation of the Blind realize that if
we view everyday tasks as exceptional
accomplishments for the blind, we will
not expect much else.
Here is an example of how a blind person
approaches a "not-so-amazing" task.
Carol, a homemaker who is blind, hears
a television commercial about a product
that interests her. However, the store
is in an unfamiliar part of town and she
doesn't know anyone to accompany her to
make the purchase.
What can she do?
Carol calls to get the store's
address. Next, she calls the bus company
for directions and schedules.
The next step is to call the store to
find out how many blocks it is from the
bus stop and what streets to cross.
Using her white cane, she heads toward
the bus stop. Approaching each intersection, she listens to the traffic to
determine when it is safe to cross.
At the bus stop, the bus driver will
tell Carol the route number, to be sure
this is the right bus, and she will ask
the driver to call out her stop. Periodically,
she checks the time with her
Braille watch so that she can remind the
driver when her stop is near.
She enters the store and listens for
the sound of a cash register to find a
clerk to help her. Carol and the clerk
"look" at the product together. She
makes her decision after touching the
product and hearing the clerk describe
its color.
Reaching into her wallet, she can
easily identify the denominations of the
bills because she has folded each denomination
in different ways and placed
them in her wallet.
Because her purchase is too heavy to
carry on the bus, she calls a cab and
returns home.
To some, this story may sound rare,
but it's quite common. Yet it is not as
common as it can be because too many
blind people are sitting at home, unaware that such activities are possible.
The National Federation of the Blind
is working to educate the sighted and
the blind about the alternative techniques
which allow the blind to have
equality in a sighted world.
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