Sunday, April 12, 2009

My Blind Experience

Shenayh Rivera-Melendez

Teaching Divers Populations

Professor A. Navarro

Blind Experience Paper

Waking up as a Blind Person.

Waking up as a blind person was a humbling experience for me. I have always considered myself lucky to be profoundly Hard-of-Hearing rather than blind, which is not to imply any negativity for blind culture, however, this experience has taught me the reason for this. Never having been one to think of diversity much, as for me it came natural that the world we live in is diverse and I had already accepted that fact long ago, this experience has put that into perspective for me. While all of us have characteristics which are unique to each of us, we must also remember that we are not the only ones with such indentifying characteristics. Upon accepting that, perhaps the human race can evolve from that which holds us back; things like discriminations, stereotypes, accusations, conflicts and contradictions, there are many. For me, this simply broadens my perspective on diversity.

I have always been a strong minded individual growing up as I was taught no differently than that of my sister who has no disability [as defined by the states]. Growing up I was taught to never give up or think myself to be weak because of a lack of hearing, that everything is obtainable should I pursue them with fierce determination, so with such focused and prepared teachings [and among many other lessons] I began [as I suppose I always have] to view myself “normal” and of the same as everyone else. In everything I did, sports, school activities, competitions, I had to be the best. To shorten this story and reveal my point, I never complained because of my “disability” and when I look around I sometimes see others who take advantage of their disability, actions such as this I have negative connotations of. Completing this activity has made me realize that, many times this is not the case [taking advantage], it is simply that people tend to deal with or do things differently; diversity is a fundamental aspect in people which cannot be helped as it is as natural as breathing.

I confess I felt a little more at a disadvantage than I think most people would feel for completing this experience would mean waking up without two of my senses, but nevertheless, I looked forward to it. When I got up out of bed in the morning, I didn’t know whether it was night or day, the only thing I knew was the familiar annoying vibration from my phone, screaming at me to wake up. I had blindfolded myself the night before, and I admit it became a little loose upon my waking, but maintaining my focus on its purpose, I fastened it and proceeded to get out of my bed.

How I ended up on the floor on my face I didn’t know, and I spent approximately five minutes searching for the object which had tripped me so, articles of clothing. I’m not a particularly kept person at times, and I supposed I should I have prepared my room the night beforehand, but that would have defeated the activities’ purpose. Being careful not to trip on anything else, I made my way out of my bedroom and into the restroom, a task I found easy to do by feeling and maneuvering myself carefully around. Suddenly, daily tasks were no longer easy ones. Not having the faintest idea which toothbrush was mine, I took my chances, feeling around the edges of it helped a little in my determination of this.

My daily morning shower ritual was surprisingly easy to start with, as I had no problem gauging the water temperature or locating the basics, but the more challenging tasks were even more simple things like which was the shampoo and conditioner and not the body wash. Imagining the horrors of previous bad hair days, I felt around the different bottles and felt the contents to feel the differences, identifying the correct ones left me feeling relieved.

Dressing me was by far the more challenging part of it all. A decision I regretted was that of quickly opening the closet door, the pain of it colliding with my right knee haunted me for the next few days and stubbing my toe on the corner railing of the closet added to my distress. I became fearful of the results of dressing myself blindly; the phrase, “did you get dress in the dark?” came to mind. Mainly using my sense of touch to measure the density and fabrics of each article of clothing, I finally determined my outfit for the day; what felt like a jean I put on, and what felt like a shirt I normally wear, I put on. Upon my completion of getting ready as a blind person, I feared to take the blindfold off for the very sight of me dressing myself so left me feeling uncertain of the outcome.

As I stood looking at myself in the mirror, I immediately saw the pathetic hilarity of myself… my orange shirt was inside-out, backwards and did not match my dark blue jeans with yellow seams. Not surprisingly, my socks did not match as the “laundry monster” ate the significant other of all my socks. In short, I was a mess. I never presumed to think being blind was an easy task, nor did I underestimate the daily effort it can take out of a person; such a limitation [depending on one’s opinion] would take years to master and adapt to. But it did increase my gratitude for the little things in my life, as well as my respect for those who have had to adapt because of this.

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