Write a letter to your friend about the blind man
Answers
Explanation:
Dear Friends
hi , Even though you may have some usable vision and describe yourself as visually impaired, for ease of writing and as a practical matter, I will refer to you as blind.
I have both good news and bad news about blindness. The good news is that, if a blind person concentrates on learning the skills of blindness for from nine months to a year, he or she will in all likelihood become a competent, functioning blind person. For that person issues of blindness will be secondary for the rest of his or her life. Reading at 200 words per minute, just as most literate sighted people read; typing at 80 to 100 words per minute; entering a room with confidence; walking wherever you please and doing it when you please; throwing a burger on the barbecue with the same ease as your neighbor: all of this is possible.
Life for the person who takes this time and concentrates on really becoming a master of the skills of blindness will be, for the most part, full of the ordinary cares of the world like dating, getting married, raising kids, paying the bills, about the boss. Blindness will be, for the most part, on the back burner. No, you won't be able to see, but the alternative skills you have learned will reduce that truth to a minor fact of your life.They don't think of it this way, but, if they were sighted, that's the way it would be described. They get some basic cane travel. No, they can't go to new places comfortably. They walk slowly and cautiously. They avoid really busy streets. When moving to a new neighborhood, they often call up an agency serving blind people to be oriented. The thought of travel to a new city is frightening and often complex, to say the least. And, what's perhaps worse, or at least saddest, is that the joy of a simple walk doesn't exist for them. Feeling the breeze, the warmth of a sunny day while walking through the park and not concentrating on one's cane technique, but just getting out for the joy of it, is lost to this person.
This person is a mediocre cook. she has no thought of flipping a burger and answering the phone the way normal people do. Cooking is a concentrated effort. It means microwave foods, not by choice but by necessity—no backyard barbecues, no neighborhood picnics where the blind person contributes as an equal, no simple filling of a glass .
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These people often end up in marriages based on caretaking rather than equity. They often have jobs that are carefully defined while the rest of their coworkers do work that requires flexibility. When something is needed from the other room, colleagues are quick to get it for them because the blind person doesn't put people at ease when he or she travels. Nobody ever looks to them to take charge of a situation. When they enter a room, people stare out of curiosity as they tend to do with blind people. But ill-adjusted blind people cannot help those staring people relax. They can only leave the people uncomfortable and wondering if they should help in some way.
Many people object to taking a whole year of their life to learn these skills. They say, "I can't take a year off; I have kids to raise," not realizing that their children need a dad or mom who can confidently parent them, not a dad or mom who needs taking care of. They say, "I need to get back to work," not realizing that without the skills of blindness they will most likely not receive promotions that others get, and they will find changing jobs a constant frustration. They will be heard to say, "I wish people at work treated me as if I were normal," not realizing that they don't look or act normal and don't really pull their own weight on the job- doing everything everyone
The difference between those who get full-fledged training and those who don't is what I shall call the great divide. After you get that year over with, you will be in a different world. Some of your blind friends will say, "Yes, but you're special." Some rehabilitation professionals will say the same, but all the time you will know the simple truth,you're only special in the sense that you decided to work hard, pay a price now to have a much easier life later, and therefore reduce blindness to a small part of your life instead of a big one.
Sincerely,
Mike Bullis