From: Lois.Briggs@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Lois Briggs)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Barrier Town
Date: 7 Apr 92 20:31:07 GMT
Reply-To: Lois.Briggs@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/89 - BlinkLink, Pittsburgh PA

Index Number: 20877

[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hello Chet,

I just NEVER know where I'm gonna run into you, do I?

You commented regarding a message I quoted thusly:

 LB>> I did not feel blindfolding the sighted was usually positive...

 CT>         In this thread, someone said it ain't the same,
 CT>         knowing that there is an END to the experiment,

That's exactly right Chet, but that goes for ANYTHING, which I will
address further on in this message.

You went on to say:

 CT>         My sensitivity--not in some blubbering sense--has
 CT>         been heightened, not by blind-folding me; but by
 CT>         GETTING TO KNOW YOU!!

And that's why I love you dear friend, you've gone that extra mile, and
I thank you.

I went on to talk about a Handicapped Awareness Day I participated in at
a local college and you quoted me as saying:

 CT>         only one of seven was sincerely interested; that perhaps an
awareness, a sensitivity was born.

 CT>         Without making excuses, a lot of sighted folks JUST
 CT>         DON'T KNOW!!!  And, quite honestly, how many of them
 CT>         have to?????

 CT>         I, certainly, know more than I did a
 CT>         year ago; but, I STILL don't KNOW...

That's exactly the point Chet, a person really can't be expected to know
what it is like to be blind, deaf, paralyzed, mentally retarded,
chronically ill, poor, beautiful, rich, married, childless, fat or
anything else, unless it is that person's particular way of life.

The day we participated in this Handicapped Awareness Day, the purpose
was so that the architecture and interior design students, who would be
responsible for designing access able buildings of the future could spend
a day simulating handicaps to see how the present architectural barriers
inhibit those with handicaps from taking part in everyday normal
activities like everyone else.  Only when one of the young ladies who
had decided to spend the day in a wheelchair had to go to the bathroom,
did she realize that if she truly were confined to that wheelchair,
she'd better not wait too long to head for the ladies room, because the
whole process was going to take quite a bit of time.

The young man who decided to spend the day blind-folded was only a half
an hour into his experiment when he spent twenty frustrating minutes
trying to find his jacket.  As he went down the hall towards where he
knew the stairs to the cafeteria were located and other students who
were not participating passed him saying "Hi, Jack," he hated not
knowing who it was that just spoke to him, but he like many blind people
didn't want to ask.  After making his way down the stairs, which he said
he never knew was such a long flight of steps, and after having his cane
get caught between half a dozen chairs, he finally arrived at the
cafeteria line.  He found a tray and silverware without much trouble,
began to slide the tray along as he sniffed the air trying to decide
what his choices for the day might be.  He was certain someone was going
to come to assist him, but the wait seemed to be forever.  Finally he
got his food, found himself at the cash register and was mighty glad he
had a meal ticket rather than having to prop the cane under his arm,
retrieve his wallet and be faced with the cash problems inherent when
you can't see and haven't learned the nifty tips.  Now it came time for
him to pick up his tray and get out of the way of others.  Helpers were
close-by watching the proceedings but did not come to his rescue right
away.  They watched as he turned his head side to side "looking" without
seeing for where to go.  Hesitatingly, he trapped the cane under his
arm, picked up the tray as though it was made of fine crystal, turned
and took three small steps.  He said that right then, if no one had come
to his rescue, he would have trapped the tray against his chest and tore
the blind-fold off.  Just then he was rescued, sat down at a table and
thus began the process of trying to eat food he couldn't see and in this
particular case, they had not told him what he had been given.  He had a
bowl of tomato soup, which he said he could not recognize the taste of
simply because he didn't know what it was.  As soon as they told him it
was tomato, it tasted like tomato.  He had a chicken sandwich, which he
wanted mayonnaise on.  As he covered the bread and his thumb, replaced
the slice of bread turned sideways, cut it into two very uneven pieces
and began to eat, his wrist hit the glass of milk he didn't know was
there and the sandwich he just struggled to make turned to mush.  Right
then, he told one of the nearby helpers, he needed to get some asp erin
because he had the worse headache he'd ever had in his entire life.

 CT>         That would be frustrating....

No doubt about it.  That day, one of the folks who used one of those
electric carts instead of a wheelchair and could stand for short
periods of time let me try it out.  I IMMEDIATELY realized that out
there in this wide, wide world, there are folks who are mobility
impaired and also blind.  Where do you go in a cart when you also can't
see.  I even tried using my cane to help, but that was impossible.

Two of the wheelchair people, who were married, picked up my friend and I in
their specially outfitted van.  When we arrived at the college, almost
an hour early, I soon saw what a long process went into their being able
to just get their chairs and themselves out of that van to get on their
way.  Naturally it was also raining.  There I politely stood waiting for
them and getting pretty wet.  My only thought at that moment was, I am
able to hop out of a vehicle the minute it comes to a stop.  With my
cane, I can take off hopefully in the direction of the building and once
I find it, I can usually find the door in half the time it takes these
folks just to get themselves situated in a way that allows them to start
heading for the building.  Neither handicap is better or worse than the
other, just different and they each have their own set of problems.

You went on to say:

 CT>         KNOWING that a whole [expletive deleted] load of folks
 CT>         really can't understand the circumstances would be, I
 CT>         think, frustrating.  That they are the ones that are
 CT>         responsible for perhaps trying to make things more
 CT>         accommodating would be even more frustrating.

Everyone, handicapped or not, has frustrations in their life.  Although
most of the young people at my table were only there because they had to
be, that one young man, Jack, can and probably will make a difference
some day.  So, it was worth it.

This is a mighty long message, but I usually do not post in BlinkTalk,
unless I have a definite opinion on the subject being discussed.

Thanks for your interest Chet.

Lois

This long message deserves a PS:

The young man of which I speak told me at the end of the day, that he
had not cheated once during the day, but had been tempted many, many
times.  He said, he had NEVER bumped into so many things in his whole
life as he had in those hours.  He said he had never said "excuse me" or
"I'm sorry" as many times as he had that day.  He did say however, that
he was getting more comfortable by about 2:30 and wanted to continue his
experiment.  He said he was going to leave the blind-fold on when he
went home.  He also said, it occurred to him sometime during the day
that most people are NOT born with a handicap, but become disabled
sometime during their life and that it could happen to a family member
or even himself.

I've never seen him again, but I have wondered about him a couple times
since he was then a senior and by now may actually be hard at work to
make buildings more access able for everyone.

--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89!Lois.Briggs
Internet: Lois.Briggs@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org