Experiences in a day without seeing what lies ahead
Jamie Ramirez
Issue date: 9/15/05 Section: Features
Three bruises, my shoelace caught in an escalator, running into eight different doorways, falling down half a flight of stairs, and all in the matter of 24 hours. I was overcome with a great sigh of relief when I realized that my experiment to go an entire day without sight was finally complete.
The idea behind the experiment was to observe how a blind person accommodates to a world made for those with sight. Along the way, I had uneasy feelings of being almost completely dependent of another person, being out in the public and hearing snickering from all directions, and not being able to do the things I love.
"I think it's a very good experiment for a lot of people to go through," said Michelle Meagher, the high-tech instructor for the Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSP&S). "I don't think people realize the difficulties of being blind."
Meagher and I met prior to the experiment to discuss what kinds of accommodations Cosumnes River College and other Los Rios Community colleges do for those who are blind. Meagher said for the past ten years, the colleges have used adaptive software called JAWS, Job Access With Speech, applicable to computers that run on Windows.
JAWS is a screen-reading program that uses an internal speech synthesizer and sound card to read information out loud to its user said Peter Hunt, an on-line technical support specialist. The program can be purchased for $895 for the standard version and $1,095 for the professional version.
With such technology, Braille is being requested less and less. According to Columbia Encyclopedia, Braille is a series of raised dots representative of letters, numbers, and symbols that enable the blind to read and write. "Technological alternatives include programs such as JAWS and MP3 files that read out loud to the blind," said Meagher.
In addition to offering advanced computer technology, CRC also provides mobility training for blind students on campus. Meagher said blind students are usually very independent and do not need to rely on aides. Mobility training is much like a campus tour in which students can "get a feel for the campus," said Meagher.
Luckily my 24 hours for this experiment fell on a weekend, so I didn't have to use mobility training to make my way around campus. Though, I really wish I had mobility training just to make my way around the house. There were many obstacles I had to face, none of them easy at all. Simple tasks such as getting dressed, paying for food and doing laundry became seemingly impossible missions.
Patients who are diagnosed with blindness are medically referred to as patients with retinitis pigmentosa. According to pamphlets found at the Ophthalmology Center at Kaiser, some people are born blind and others can steadily lose vision because of other medical problems such as glaucoma, cataracts, and amblyopia.
My final thought on this experiment? I became more determined than ever. I learned that I couldn't let little roadblocks get in my way.
The idea behind the experiment was to observe how a blind person accommodates to a world made for those with sight. Along the way, I had uneasy feelings of being almost completely dependent of another person, being out in the public and hearing snickering from all directions, and not being able to do the things I love.
"I think it's a very good experiment for a lot of people to go through," said Michelle Meagher, the high-tech instructor for the Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSP&S). "I don't think people realize the difficulties of being blind."
Meagher and I met prior to the experiment to discuss what kinds of accommodations Cosumnes River College and other Los Rios Community colleges do for those who are blind. Meagher said for the past ten years, the colleges have used adaptive software called JAWS, Job Access With Speech, applicable to computers that run on Windows.
JAWS is a screen-reading program that uses an internal speech synthesizer and sound card to read information out loud to its user said Peter Hunt, an on-line technical support specialist. The program can be purchased for $895 for the standard version and $1,095 for the professional version.
With such technology, Braille is being requested less and less. According to Columbia Encyclopedia, Braille is a series of raised dots representative of letters, numbers, and symbols that enable the blind to read and write. "Technological alternatives include programs such as JAWS and MP3 files that read out loud to the blind," said Meagher.
In addition to offering advanced computer technology, CRC also provides mobility training for blind students on campus. Meagher said blind students are usually very independent and do not need to rely on aides. Mobility training is much like a campus tour in which students can "get a feel for the campus," said Meagher.
Luckily my 24 hours for this experiment fell on a weekend, so I didn't have to use mobility training to make my way around campus. Though, I really wish I had mobility training just to make my way around the house. There were many obstacles I had to face, none of them easy at all. Simple tasks such as getting dressed, paying for food and doing laundry became seemingly impossible missions.
Patients who are diagnosed with blindness are medically referred to as patients with retinitis pigmentosa. According to pamphlets found at the Ophthalmology Center at Kaiser, some people are born blind and others can steadily lose vision because of other medical problems such as glaucoma, cataracts, and amblyopia.
My final thought on this experiment? I became more determined than ever. I learned that I couldn't let little roadblocks get in my way.