This is the second edition of my questions and answers. There's a bunch more to share with you all in upcoming columns, though.
My larger aim in doing this is to educate the teachers, parents, grandparents and other people who work with children.
You are the people who influence the children in our communities. Your words and actions and beliefs help shape the perceptions of that generation. And what they hear and learn early on as they inquire about things will determine what they perceive and believe as they get older.
My answers here are authentic to me and my life, but are not necessarily the final word on blindness. I simply want to expand your repertoire so you can then pass along more informed and thoughtful messages to the next generations. That, I'd say, is one of the noblest causes we can work toward with our kids. So let's begin.
Q : Can blind people be afraid of the dark too?
A: For me, the darkness isn't particularly scary, rather it's what the darkness represents that is sometimes scary. My world is nearly always bright and full of imagery and animation, so it doesn't leave much darkness for me to be afraid of. But, darkness innately represents a time when shadows abound, and things can lurk mysteriously in them. Darkness, in this world, represents a less-safe time than does broad daylight. That notion is perhaps something that can be equally as scary to sighted and blind people alike.
Q: How do you know if it's morning or night time?
A: The generic answer to this is that blind people have talking clocks or Braille watches, right? Let's think outside the stereotypical box, though.
Our bodies get trained on a certain schedule. We feel energetic during the day and then our body gradually slows down, progressively getting sleepier as the evening deepens.
And how about paying attention to the traffic sounds? I can tell it is 4 o'clock in the afternoon every day of the working week because there is a marked increase in traffic out on the street.
Also, when it's sunny out, I can tell what time of day it is by feeling where the sun is in the sky and feeling the temperature change that accompanies the sun's movement.
How about birds? Listening to the birds can tell us a bit about the time of day as well.
Our environment has many signs of morning versus evening.
Even the smell of morning is very different from the smell of evening.
Q: How does a blind person use a stick to cross the street?
A: Technically we don't use the stick, otherwise known as a white cane, to get ourselves across the street. We use our legs and our ears to do the job. We do use the cane to find out what, if anything is in front of us _ obstacles, stairs etc. That is how the cane works no matter where we are walking.
Crossing the street is just a matter of mastering traffic noises.
This means spatially knowing where you are in relation to the moving or the idling traffic, knowing how to hear the difference between a car that is coming versus one that is going, and knowing the sound of parallel traffic versus perpendicular traffic.
If a person cannot hear nor see, the cane has no particularly special function that will guarantee that they'll get across the road safely. Only our ears can do that.
Q: How does a blind person find the Braille on signs?
In all reality, we don't know right away. Braille on signs is not a standardized practice in all locations. Sometimes, there are fairly standard places where we find Braille signs, like on the button panel in elevators.
Whether rooms in a building are labeled with Braille numbers is generally more uncertain. We either have to ask or simply feel around for ourselves to find out.
Q: Is it mean to get my blind friend a gift certificate to the movies on his birthday?
A: If he likes movies, then no, it's not mean. I love listening to movies.
Let me tell you something, though. Sometimes there are times in a movie or television show that they focus the camera in on something important to the plot, but nothing is verbally said about it.
Or they have dramatic music playing but no script to explain what is being shown. I like to have a friend describe what's happening when that occurs.
You would be surprised, though, because there are a lot of things that a blind person can follow just by contextual clues.
Getting to know the voice of the characters in a movie is another thing we blind folks will often try to pick up on right from the beginning.
So the fact your friend can't see the movie screen doesn't mean he can't derive pleasure from hearing the movie.
Thanks for reading. Come back for more next month.
Kate Pavlacka, a graduate of the State University College at Oneonta, has been totally blind for more than a dozen years.
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