Hello, Everyone. Today’s blog will be a shorter one. The topic on my mind is exercise, which is just as important for blind or visually impaired people as it is for sighted people. How can you exercise if you can’t see?
First, you should consult a physician before beginning. Next, you should consider how to exercise based on your lifestyle. What I mean by this, is to exercise based on your surroundings. For example, if you work in a building with a staircase that is well-vented, walking up and down steps is great exercise. If you live in walking distance from a track, this may be another option, assuming the weather cooperates. I own a treadmill, and I have begun to use it on a regular basis. I love to read, and so I decided that when I read, I will also walk on the treadmill. This way, I am being more active than passive. There are also other pieces of exercise equipment you could buy for your home. One benefit to these is that they can be used in any weather situation, but remember, they will only be effective if you actually use them. I say this because my treadmill does not get used as much as it should. I am hoping to make my new routine a habit, but only sufficient motivation will make this happen for me.
Speaking of motivation, one way to ensure you will exercise is to put yourself in a position that requires you to be physically active without your doing it for the purpose of exercise. For example, one job I had required me to walk up and down multiple sets of steps each day, and I benefited from this even though I hadn’t planned it as part of my exercise routine. Joining a gym might be another option. Paying for the exercise time may make you more motivated to actually do it. Also, exercising with someone else also helps motivate one to exercise, though this is not always possible. Another helpful suggestion may be to look up the benefits of exercise online and read these each day to encourage yourself.
You may be wondering how to do certain exercises as a blind person. I am not a trainer, and so I would rather not discuss this. However, if you know others who do exercise, ask them to show you. Or, if you sign up for a gym, ask if someone there can assist you.
One last thought is to remember to develop a plan for yourself that you can do for a lifetime rather than burning out by overdoing it at first. Exercise is something you should enjoy, and thus, you want to make doing it a pleasurable event for yourself. This means not forcing yourself to do a physical activity that you do not enjoy or doing one you do enjoy to the point that you begin to dread it. Start with small goals, and build up to longer times. Some types of exercise include swimming or playing in water, walking, playing ball, riding a stationary bike or a tandem bicycle if you have a partner, any type of stretches, jumping rope, and walking up and down steps.
Don't forget to pass the word about the Blindness Blog to those who may find it interesting. Also, I do enjoy receiving your comments, and so please feel free to do so.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Seeing Blindness
Hello. I didn’t know what kind of blog to write on Christmas Eve. First, I thought about a poem about blindness, but then I realized my lack of talent as far as poetry is concerned probably signaled this wasn’t a good idea. And so, I decided to write about blindness in another way based on my thoughts during the past several days. The question for us to ponder is this. Why do some seem to believe that it is not okay to use our vision? In order to answer, we must first get a couple of definitions out of the way so that we are all on the same page.
A belief is an idea that seems true. A hope is a desire based on this belief, and thus, it is the fuel of belief. Blindness is a lack of vision. To be clear about blindness, it represents a total lack of vision, a small degree of vision, and on up the continuum until the point at which this inability to see disappears. In other words, blindness means the inability to see well enough to perform a task using eyesight safely and effectively.
First, let’s talk about belief since it is a key part of the answer to our demanding question about why we shouldn’t use that vision, if indeed we shouldn’t. When you were a kid, did you believe in Santa Claus. If so, you acted a certain way come Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. During Christmas Eve, you probably bounced around the house so excited your parent or guardian wished you would hurry up and fall asleep or that Christmas was past so that the peaceful, angelic child would return. During the next morning, you expected to wake up and find Santa had filled your stocking and/or had placed gifts for you under the tree. Right? Yes, well, what does this all have to do with blindness? Your actions were based on what you believed to be the case, and your expectations reflected this belief. Excitement occurred due to your hope of a special visitor in the night leaving gifts, and since you just knew it to be true that he would come, you never once considered you might wake up to an empty stocking or lack of gifts. I once taught a senior who believed that he was going to receive his sight any day, and the hope that fueled this belief caused him to act in a certain way, a way that included no motivation to learn alternative techniques because what was the point if he was going to see again. Can you see how this expectation of receiving his sight prevented him from moving forward as a blind person? Evidence to the contrary was the only thing that was going to force him to act as a blind person, an important way to act since he was blind and needed to act in a way that not only allowed him to live a happy life, but that would keep him safe in the process.
Let’s talk more about how our beliefs drive our actions. If you are sighted and you fall asleep, you will expect to wake up in the morning able to glance over at your clock for the time and able to dress yourself. You don’t acknowledge this belief. You know it to be true just like you knew Santa would arrive bearing gifts, and so you act on this knowledge without thought of its validity.
However, what if you woke up blind? Then, what would you believe? Remember our beliefs affect our actions, and our hopes fuel our beliefs. If you believed blindness meant helplessness, one might conclude you would panic. The thing to note here is that this is a different situation from what you are used to, and oftentimes, when we face situations that are unfamiliar to us, we are afraid. To compound that fact, your belief is a result of what you have learned about blindness from the society in which you live. Everyone believes blindness means helplessness; it must be true. Right? Many children believe in Santa Claus; that means he must be real. Right?
To get back on track, your belief about having no vision affects what you think you can do, and what you think you can do is the same as saying what you know you can do. Have you ever been wrong about something? I certainly have. Just when I thought I was right about knowing a thing, someone had to come up with evidence to prove me entirely wrong. That’s kind of how it happened with Santa. I don’t bounce around the house like an out-of-control Tigger these days, expecting great surprises in the morning because evidence has clearly presented itself that Santa was conceived by the goodwill of another, and thus, this spirit of goodwill is really being performed by my parent as a way of remembering how a gentleman gave to a family during one lonesome Christmas long ago. Might I suggest that you could be wrong about blindness meaning helplessness? I’ll not present the evidence here for you though because my mission is to tell you why I believe that learning to function totally without vision is essential just as learning to use your remaining vision is essential. The reason for learning about how to function without sight is so that you will believe you are safe based on proven evidence and not based on the false belief that you have just enough vision to miss that hole just up ahead.
Imagine a container filled with nails. You are a carpenter, and it is your job to build a platform to hold the children when they perform their upcoming Christmas play. The container is only half filled with nails. Does this present a problem for you? The answer depends on whether or not the missing nails are necessary or simply desired by you. My carpentry skills are sorely lacking here, but there could be a reason you could use extra nails in the masterpiece platform you are to construct. But, most certainly, there are definite places for the nails that are required, those nails that must be placed or else the whole thing will break and all those precious children will tumble to the ground and lawyers will start knocking on that oak door you privately installed in your own home.
For the sake of argument, let us assume that all nails are required and that the cup really should be filled to the top instead of only half filled. The dilemma is that it is still only half filled. What are you going to do? Well, knowing what the project requires means you know the nails are required. Thus, you will do what it takes to fill the container. Right? Your conclusion about what to do is based on justifiable evidence you have collected as a skilled carpenter who has spent time researching and learning his craft. Sounds simple. But, what if the carpenter was new on the job and his belief relied on evidence based on what he heard those around him claim, many of whom were intelligent people? Everyone claimed the same thing. Missing nails weren’t important, and so he would just act as if they weren’t needed. He’d focus only on using the nails he could see and hope things turned out for the best. As a result, a disaster would be in his immediate future.
Let’s relate this a bit to blindness. The nails in the container that can be seen by the carpenter represent vision, and the empty space represents blindness. Remember, our question is why some believe that it is not okay to use vision. I believe it is okay to use vision, but in order to use vision, we must know how much of it fills the container and we must realize how much of the container is filled with blindness because my belief is that being aware of the entire contents of the container is essential in order to prevent disaster. Let’s say it like this, your container represents your absolute amount of vision, which unfortunately, for this example, means it only is three fourths filled. In order to walk safely across the room, you will need the container completely filled. If you only have the container three fourths filled, this presents you with a problem. Are you going to be like the carpenter and decide it doesn’t matter; you’ll just use what you have. The answer sounds kind of obvious now, I hope, but unfortunately, too many people who cannot see well enough to perform a task safely and efficiently do not realize they are missing vision because they are too busy focusing on the amount of vision they do have. Why be glum when you can look at your container as half filled or even three fourths filled? The reason, my friends, is because the missing portion is just as needed as the present portion, and in order to live happily and safely, you must address the total contents of the container. This is why I believe that as teachers, professionals, and caregivers for visually impaired children and adults, it is our responsibility to teach these visually impaired or partially sighted individuals how to function as a blind person and how to use their usable vision effectively. In order to know their usable vision, they must also know how much of it is not usable. In other words, they must be able to look through the container and realize how much is missing. Perhaps, you are your own caregiver; either way, the focus must be on the entire contents of the container, vision and blindness.
A barrier in attaining this goal, my friends, is that that missing portion isn’t too fun to focus on because it symbolizes helplessness because the ignorant public have told you this. Like the inexperienced carpenter, you have not learned about blindness and performed research; you simply believe what others claim to be truth. I challenge you to learn alternative techniques in order to place some focus on the blindness portion of your container because, by doing so, you will be addressing and acting upon those missing nails, the ones so needed to prevent the disaster from happening.
So, for a person who is just losing sight or just accepting the loss of vision, it is not okay to use vision because it is necessary to first learn how to complete tasks without it. Doing so enables the person to determine just how much vision is in the container because he or she will be focusing on what isn’t there. By locating these nails, so to speak, he or she can use them in place of or exchange them for nails in the vision portion of the container. For example, one could use the sound of the boiling to alert one to the time when to put the pasta into the pot or one could use vision to see the bubbles as long as both nails were present. But, if one nail was missing, whether it be the hearing of the boiling or the seeing of the bubbles, then the situation requires one to locate the equivalent nail to place in the container because all nails must be present since they are all required to do the job. Please note that I said all nails and not just the nails representing blindness. After a person has learned how to use alternative techniques, then I believe it is necessary for him or her to learn how to use vision effectively or how to increase its amount in the container, if possible. I suggest this second because relying on and learning how to use vision is ordinary to humans, and beginning with this goal will most certainly ensure that one forgets to notice the missing nails, or missing vision, one must also address. In addition, the eyes automatically try to se, and in order to stop this automatic response, vision must not be used, which is why I suggest eyeshade training because seeing is an automatic response of the brain. After eyeshade training is complete and the individual is comfortable with using alternative techniques of blindness, one will be informed enough to make reliable judgments about his or her amount of vision in a safe and effective manner, and then visual aids and eyesight can be paired with appropriate alternative techniques to improve quality of life.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you. Remember that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and for yours, and so if you aren’t saved, He is waiting for you to reach out and claim your gift He is offering to you, whether it be on Christmas day or any other day of the year. It is His desire for you to live eternally with Him. Please take a moment to learn more about Him in the Holy Bible because, if you do, you may find that there are even more nails that were so needed in your life that you didn’t even realize they were missing. God Bless, and remember, Jesus loves you, even if you don’t believe it.
A belief is an idea that seems true. A hope is a desire based on this belief, and thus, it is the fuel of belief. Blindness is a lack of vision. To be clear about blindness, it represents a total lack of vision, a small degree of vision, and on up the continuum until the point at which this inability to see disappears. In other words, blindness means the inability to see well enough to perform a task using eyesight safely and effectively.
First, let’s talk about belief since it is a key part of the answer to our demanding question about why we shouldn’t use that vision, if indeed we shouldn’t. When you were a kid, did you believe in Santa Claus. If so, you acted a certain way come Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. During Christmas Eve, you probably bounced around the house so excited your parent or guardian wished you would hurry up and fall asleep or that Christmas was past so that the peaceful, angelic child would return. During the next morning, you expected to wake up and find Santa had filled your stocking and/or had placed gifts for you under the tree. Right? Yes, well, what does this all have to do with blindness? Your actions were based on what you believed to be the case, and your expectations reflected this belief. Excitement occurred due to your hope of a special visitor in the night leaving gifts, and since you just knew it to be true that he would come, you never once considered you might wake up to an empty stocking or lack of gifts. I once taught a senior who believed that he was going to receive his sight any day, and the hope that fueled this belief caused him to act in a certain way, a way that included no motivation to learn alternative techniques because what was the point if he was going to see again. Can you see how this expectation of receiving his sight prevented him from moving forward as a blind person? Evidence to the contrary was the only thing that was going to force him to act as a blind person, an important way to act since he was blind and needed to act in a way that not only allowed him to live a happy life, but that would keep him safe in the process.
Let’s talk more about how our beliefs drive our actions. If you are sighted and you fall asleep, you will expect to wake up in the morning able to glance over at your clock for the time and able to dress yourself. You don’t acknowledge this belief. You know it to be true just like you knew Santa would arrive bearing gifts, and so you act on this knowledge without thought of its validity.
However, what if you woke up blind? Then, what would you believe? Remember our beliefs affect our actions, and our hopes fuel our beliefs. If you believed blindness meant helplessness, one might conclude you would panic. The thing to note here is that this is a different situation from what you are used to, and oftentimes, when we face situations that are unfamiliar to us, we are afraid. To compound that fact, your belief is a result of what you have learned about blindness from the society in which you live. Everyone believes blindness means helplessness; it must be true. Right? Many children believe in Santa Claus; that means he must be real. Right?
To get back on track, your belief about having no vision affects what you think you can do, and what you think you can do is the same as saying what you know you can do. Have you ever been wrong about something? I certainly have. Just when I thought I was right about knowing a thing, someone had to come up with evidence to prove me entirely wrong. That’s kind of how it happened with Santa. I don’t bounce around the house like an out-of-control Tigger these days, expecting great surprises in the morning because evidence has clearly presented itself that Santa was conceived by the goodwill of another, and thus, this spirit of goodwill is really being performed by my parent as a way of remembering how a gentleman gave to a family during one lonesome Christmas long ago. Might I suggest that you could be wrong about blindness meaning helplessness? I’ll not present the evidence here for you though because my mission is to tell you why I believe that learning to function totally without vision is essential just as learning to use your remaining vision is essential. The reason for learning about how to function without sight is so that you will believe you are safe based on proven evidence and not based on the false belief that you have just enough vision to miss that hole just up ahead.
Imagine a container filled with nails. You are a carpenter, and it is your job to build a platform to hold the children when they perform their upcoming Christmas play. The container is only half filled with nails. Does this present a problem for you? The answer depends on whether or not the missing nails are necessary or simply desired by you. My carpentry skills are sorely lacking here, but there could be a reason you could use extra nails in the masterpiece platform you are to construct. But, most certainly, there are definite places for the nails that are required, those nails that must be placed or else the whole thing will break and all those precious children will tumble to the ground and lawyers will start knocking on that oak door you privately installed in your own home.
For the sake of argument, let us assume that all nails are required and that the cup really should be filled to the top instead of only half filled. The dilemma is that it is still only half filled. What are you going to do? Well, knowing what the project requires means you know the nails are required. Thus, you will do what it takes to fill the container. Right? Your conclusion about what to do is based on justifiable evidence you have collected as a skilled carpenter who has spent time researching and learning his craft. Sounds simple. But, what if the carpenter was new on the job and his belief relied on evidence based on what he heard those around him claim, many of whom were intelligent people? Everyone claimed the same thing. Missing nails weren’t important, and so he would just act as if they weren’t needed. He’d focus only on using the nails he could see and hope things turned out for the best. As a result, a disaster would be in his immediate future.
Let’s relate this a bit to blindness. The nails in the container that can be seen by the carpenter represent vision, and the empty space represents blindness. Remember, our question is why some believe that it is not okay to use vision. I believe it is okay to use vision, but in order to use vision, we must know how much of it fills the container and we must realize how much of the container is filled with blindness because my belief is that being aware of the entire contents of the container is essential in order to prevent disaster. Let’s say it like this, your container represents your absolute amount of vision, which unfortunately, for this example, means it only is three fourths filled. In order to walk safely across the room, you will need the container completely filled. If you only have the container three fourths filled, this presents you with a problem. Are you going to be like the carpenter and decide it doesn’t matter; you’ll just use what you have. The answer sounds kind of obvious now, I hope, but unfortunately, too many people who cannot see well enough to perform a task safely and efficiently do not realize they are missing vision because they are too busy focusing on the amount of vision they do have. Why be glum when you can look at your container as half filled or even three fourths filled? The reason, my friends, is because the missing portion is just as needed as the present portion, and in order to live happily and safely, you must address the total contents of the container. This is why I believe that as teachers, professionals, and caregivers for visually impaired children and adults, it is our responsibility to teach these visually impaired or partially sighted individuals how to function as a blind person and how to use their usable vision effectively. In order to know their usable vision, they must also know how much of it is not usable. In other words, they must be able to look through the container and realize how much is missing. Perhaps, you are your own caregiver; either way, the focus must be on the entire contents of the container, vision and blindness.
A barrier in attaining this goal, my friends, is that that missing portion isn’t too fun to focus on because it symbolizes helplessness because the ignorant public have told you this. Like the inexperienced carpenter, you have not learned about blindness and performed research; you simply believe what others claim to be truth. I challenge you to learn alternative techniques in order to place some focus on the blindness portion of your container because, by doing so, you will be addressing and acting upon those missing nails, the ones so needed to prevent the disaster from happening.
So, for a person who is just losing sight or just accepting the loss of vision, it is not okay to use vision because it is necessary to first learn how to complete tasks without it. Doing so enables the person to determine just how much vision is in the container because he or she will be focusing on what isn’t there. By locating these nails, so to speak, he or she can use them in place of or exchange them for nails in the vision portion of the container. For example, one could use the sound of the boiling to alert one to the time when to put the pasta into the pot or one could use vision to see the bubbles as long as both nails were present. But, if one nail was missing, whether it be the hearing of the boiling or the seeing of the bubbles, then the situation requires one to locate the equivalent nail to place in the container because all nails must be present since they are all required to do the job. Please note that I said all nails and not just the nails representing blindness. After a person has learned how to use alternative techniques, then I believe it is necessary for him or her to learn how to use vision effectively or how to increase its amount in the container, if possible. I suggest this second because relying on and learning how to use vision is ordinary to humans, and beginning with this goal will most certainly ensure that one forgets to notice the missing nails, or missing vision, one must also address. In addition, the eyes automatically try to se, and in order to stop this automatic response, vision must not be used, which is why I suggest eyeshade training because seeing is an automatic response of the brain. After eyeshade training is complete and the individual is comfortable with using alternative techniques of blindness, one will be informed enough to make reliable judgments about his or her amount of vision in a safe and effective manner, and then visual aids and eyesight can be paired with appropriate alternative techniques to improve quality of life.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you. Remember that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and for yours, and so if you aren’t saved, He is waiting for you to reach out and claim your gift He is offering to you, whether it be on Christmas day or any other day of the year. It is His desire for you to live eternally with Him. Please take a moment to learn more about Him in the Holy Bible because, if you do, you may find that there are even more nails that were so needed in your life that you didn’t even realize they were missing. God Bless, and remember, Jesus loves you, even if you don’t believe it.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Gift Wrapping
Hello. Today’s blog will be about wrapping Christmas gifts. I am not the most talented wrapper, but I can get the job done. Again, this is a blog for the beginning blind person. I decided to write this particular blog because gift-giving season is upon us, and also because wrapping gifts is one of those things I never had anyone else to teach me. Therefore, I had to learn it on my own.
First, you need a gift to give someone, or you need an empty box you can practice with. For your first attempt at wrapping, I would use a box that is closed on all of it’s sides so that it resembles a cube or rectangle shape. Later, you can advance to boxes that are partially open or other irregular items.
First, you will need to cut the paper. Usually wrapping paper that has never been used will have a piece of tape holding it together. Some wrapping paper will also have some sort of paper surrounding it that you may also need to remove. It may feel like plastic-baggish material. I do not have any here in front of me, and so that is all the explanation I can provide because that step is so automatic for me that I really just slide it off without paying much attention to it. Once tape or plastic has been removed, unroll some of the paper so that the portion that is unrolled stretches out away from you and the roll itself is closest to your body. Place your gift on top of the paper. This will hold the paper straight so it does not curl up on you. Now, you should be able to unwrap the roll better. The roll will be in a horizontal position, meaning it will stretch out to your left and right. To unwrap more paper from the roll, pull the roll toward you. Slide the gift closer to the roll. Your goal is to judge the far side of the paper until you feel there is enough to cover the far side of the gift and the top half of it. You can test this by bringing the paper up and onto the top of the gift. Don’t get all nervous wondering if it is exactly half. It only needs to be approximate. How you will know you have enough is that you will lift the roll with the paper up in the same manner so that the roll is lying on top of the gift. In other words, you are unrolling it and then placing it on top of the gift to see if it covers the paper you bring up from the far side. If you do this so that the far side and the roll side are both over the gift, you will know to stop rolling when the roll slightly covers the far side. Then, be sure to hold the roll so that the paper does not roll out further or roll in with one hand, and use the other hand to remove the gift to a different spot. This is why I recommend the floor for your first try or you might just have a chair or something you can place the gift on with one hand.
Now, it is time to cut the paper. What I do is to roll out another inch or so of the paper by bringing the roll toward me after I have placed it flat on the work area. Then, lift the roll without rolling out any additional paper and move it toward the far side of the paper until about, say, two inches of paper is between you and the roll. When lifting, you are actually kind of making the paper to feel the same as if you had folded a sheet of paper in half and were going to crease it. The difference is that we are not folding this roll in half; we are only allowing enough paper in between the roll and our body to allow us to make a crease. To make this crease, place your finger in about the center of the roll and firmly press the paper as you move your finger toward your body. Then, use this finger to slide toward the left or right end and then continue in the opposite direction. Note if you have never folded a paper, it would be easier to practice making creases with a regular sheet of paper first to develop this skill. On a sheet of paper, you would lie the paper so that it is in front of you as if you were going to read it, meaning it is narrower from side to side. Then, simply take the edge closest to your body and match it with the far edge. Then, you would put a finger in the center of this paper and slide it back until you reached the circular part. Then, to make the crease, you would slide your finger to the far left, and then the far right, or you would slide it to the right and then to the left, depending on your preference. I always go right then left. Anyway, back to our wrapping, this crease you have just created will be used as a guide so that you can cut straight across the paper. Again, I said about two inches, but remember this is only a guess. You may need slightly more or less paper, and when you roll out the paper, you will need to think of about how much of this paper you will need.
The reason for this creasemaking is that it will produce a tactile line for you to use as a guide as you cut the paper. It is easier to feel this crease if you turn the paper over, but I sometimes do it on this side. Once you are more experienced, you will decide this matter for yourself, but for now, turn the paper over. It is okay if you need to roll out more of the paper once the crease has been formed. Once you are finished cutting, you can simply roll it back closed. When cutting, I use my pointer finger as a guide. For the purposes of this blog, I will assume that you know how to safely use scissors and that you know how to use the finger on one hand to guide you by placing your pointer finger at the tip of the scissors and using your other fingers to help you stay straight on this line. If not, you will need to practice cutting. Cutting and paper folding skills are really necessary skills to learn prior to gift wrapping, and so if you need to learn these skills, you will want to do so before wrapping the gift. Your option right now, if you do not have these skills, is to ask a family member or friend to cut the exact size of paper you will need for you. Again, this blog is for informational purposes only. Remember that I am not responsible for injuries, loss of wasted paper, etc. My only goal is to provide you with ideas about how to do things as a blind person.
Once your paper is cut, it will be time to again place your gift in the center of the paper. Remember you will need to turn your paper back over so that the outside will be the correct side. You’ll need to repeat the above steps now because you will want to make sure that there is not too much paper on either end of the gift while wrapping. Keep in mind that cutting again may not be necessary. First, make sure the near and far edge still cover each other slightly. Then, check the ends to see if there is too little or too much paper to cover the end of the gift. If there is too much, you will need to once again cut the paper. The first step is to somehow determine how much is extra. Perhaps, you could use a piece of tape to mark this for you, being sure that the tape is on the portion that will be cut off. Then, you could make another crease to use a guide for cutting off this end of the paper. This blog is for beginners, and so I will not address what to do if there is too little paper at this time.
To wrap the gift, place the paper so that it’s white side is up. When cutting, you will need to keep track of which side of the paper is facing the ceiling or work surface so that you will know which side is the white side. Now, place the gift in the center of the paper, making sure to pay attention to how it should be placed based on how you cut the paper. In other words, when you bring up the sides, there should be a slight overlap in the center. If you bring up the far and near sides, there should be a slight overlap in the center. What you will now do is to bring up the side of the paper nearest your body and place it over the gift. Use your finger to hold it down in the center of the box. With the other hand, make sure that it aligns pretty much evenly with the paper on the floor. These edges of the paper will not be touching, but they should be so that neither extends out to the left or right farther than the other. Remember to feel the side of the box closes to your body to make sure the paper here is nice and flat and wrinkle free. Then, using one piece of tape, tape this piece to the box so that it will stay for you. You will be getting your tape onehanded here because the other is holding the paper in place. Now, bring the other side of the paper up. Again, make sure it matches the end. This will be slightly easier because you will have the other piece of paper that has already been taped as a guide so that the ends can match up more evenly. Place a piece of tape in about the center to hold this piece up. Remember before taping to check the far side of the box and the top of the box to make sure the paper is smooth. Now, you should also place a piece of tape on either end, but not flush with the sides. Try about a half inch to an inch in.
Now, it’s time for the sides. Remember that consistency is the key here. I always like to first fold the top side since that is where the edge of the paper is because folding it can help hide that edge, but if you decide differently, be consistent. The first end is the hardest to fold. You are going to again make creases here. You want to form a trianglularish figure here. I say it that way because the end may end up being a straight edge with two corners instead of an exact point like a triangle would be. To begin this triangle, you will need to take your thumbs and fingers and form the paper into this shape. My thumbs are on top of the gift, and my fingers extend down to the sides, but they rest on the side of the paper, and not the box. My thumbs generally stay still as I use my fingers to roll the paper in until it is far enough in toward my other hand that I can crease the edge leading from the point of the gift out to the end of the triangle where this point or line will be formed. Note that I am doing both sets of fingers at once here. Once I make this crease, I generally put one piece of tape over the point or straight edge so that it sticks to the box. Then, I can choose to repeat these steps with the other end of the box or to turn the gift over and form the triangles on this side. This backside is where you want to be more neat because your handywork will show here. A point at the end of the triangle is wonderful, but too much paper may result in this not occurring. In this case, you will want to fold the end that would form this point so that the straight edge is formed. I will stop explaining here because you may already be confused. The best way to learn this skill is to use a model. That means feeling a gift that has already been wrapped. It also means unwrapping the gift neatly piece by piece so that you can examine how it is put together. So have someone wrap up several empty boxes for you so you can examine what a wrapped gift would feel like so you can practice. Or, have a friend wrap a gift or several with you, allowing you to feel each time she has completed a fold or placed a piece of tape on the gift.
One final note here is to remember that wrapping a gift has a lot of steps and can seem overwhelming. You may focus on folding regular paper first. Then, you may choose to focus on cutting. Worrying about the white side being up may be something you don’t worry about until you have the art of wrapping down. In fact, wrapping with a precut piece of paper that fits your gift may be an excellent first step. Or, wrapping pretend gifts so that color does not matter at first may be helpful.
The reason I did not write a blog last week is because I was going to present this one. With finals looming ahead, I did not have time to write and edit prior to the deadline, and I wanted to make sure it was clear enough for readers before posting. So this blog represents last Friday and this Friday all at once. Have a Merry Christmas, everyone.
First, you need a gift to give someone, or you need an empty box you can practice with. For your first attempt at wrapping, I would use a box that is closed on all of it’s sides so that it resembles a cube or rectangle shape. Later, you can advance to boxes that are partially open or other irregular items.
First, you will need to cut the paper. Usually wrapping paper that has never been used will have a piece of tape holding it together. Some wrapping paper will also have some sort of paper surrounding it that you may also need to remove. It may feel like plastic-baggish material. I do not have any here in front of me, and so that is all the explanation I can provide because that step is so automatic for me that I really just slide it off without paying much attention to it. Once tape or plastic has been removed, unroll some of the paper so that the portion that is unrolled stretches out away from you and the roll itself is closest to your body. Place your gift on top of the paper. This will hold the paper straight so it does not curl up on you. Now, you should be able to unwrap the roll better. The roll will be in a horizontal position, meaning it will stretch out to your left and right. To unwrap more paper from the roll, pull the roll toward you. Slide the gift closer to the roll. Your goal is to judge the far side of the paper until you feel there is enough to cover the far side of the gift and the top half of it. You can test this by bringing the paper up and onto the top of the gift. Don’t get all nervous wondering if it is exactly half. It only needs to be approximate. How you will know you have enough is that you will lift the roll with the paper up in the same manner so that the roll is lying on top of the gift. In other words, you are unrolling it and then placing it on top of the gift to see if it covers the paper you bring up from the far side. If you do this so that the far side and the roll side are both over the gift, you will know to stop rolling when the roll slightly covers the far side. Then, be sure to hold the roll so that the paper does not roll out further or roll in with one hand, and use the other hand to remove the gift to a different spot. This is why I recommend the floor for your first try or you might just have a chair or something you can place the gift on with one hand.
Now, it is time to cut the paper. What I do is to roll out another inch or so of the paper by bringing the roll toward me after I have placed it flat on the work area. Then, lift the roll without rolling out any additional paper and move it toward the far side of the paper until about, say, two inches of paper is between you and the roll. When lifting, you are actually kind of making the paper to feel the same as if you had folded a sheet of paper in half and were going to crease it. The difference is that we are not folding this roll in half; we are only allowing enough paper in between the roll and our body to allow us to make a crease. To make this crease, place your finger in about the center of the roll and firmly press the paper as you move your finger toward your body. Then, use this finger to slide toward the left or right end and then continue in the opposite direction. Note if you have never folded a paper, it would be easier to practice making creases with a regular sheet of paper first to develop this skill. On a sheet of paper, you would lie the paper so that it is in front of you as if you were going to read it, meaning it is narrower from side to side. Then, simply take the edge closest to your body and match it with the far edge. Then, you would put a finger in the center of this paper and slide it back until you reached the circular part. Then, to make the crease, you would slide your finger to the far left, and then the far right, or you would slide it to the right and then to the left, depending on your preference. I always go right then left. Anyway, back to our wrapping, this crease you have just created will be used as a guide so that you can cut straight across the paper. Again, I said about two inches, but remember this is only a guess. You may need slightly more or less paper, and when you roll out the paper, you will need to think of about how much of this paper you will need.
The reason for this creasemaking is that it will produce a tactile line for you to use as a guide as you cut the paper. It is easier to feel this crease if you turn the paper over, but I sometimes do it on this side. Once you are more experienced, you will decide this matter for yourself, but for now, turn the paper over. It is okay if you need to roll out more of the paper once the crease has been formed. Once you are finished cutting, you can simply roll it back closed. When cutting, I use my pointer finger as a guide. For the purposes of this blog, I will assume that you know how to safely use scissors and that you know how to use the finger on one hand to guide you by placing your pointer finger at the tip of the scissors and using your other fingers to help you stay straight on this line. If not, you will need to practice cutting. Cutting and paper folding skills are really necessary skills to learn prior to gift wrapping, and so if you need to learn these skills, you will want to do so before wrapping the gift. Your option right now, if you do not have these skills, is to ask a family member or friend to cut the exact size of paper you will need for you. Again, this blog is for informational purposes only. Remember that I am not responsible for injuries, loss of wasted paper, etc. My only goal is to provide you with ideas about how to do things as a blind person.
Once your paper is cut, it will be time to again place your gift in the center of the paper. Remember you will need to turn your paper back over so that the outside will be the correct side. You’ll need to repeat the above steps now because you will want to make sure that there is not too much paper on either end of the gift while wrapping. Keep in mind that cutting again may not be necessary. First, make sure the near and far edge still cover each other slightly. Then, check the ends to see if there is too little or too much paper to cover the end of the gift. If there is too much, you will need to once again cut the paper. The first step is to somehow determine how much is extra. Perhaps, you could use a piece of tape to mark this for you, being sure that the tape is on the portion that will be cut off. Then, you could make another crease to use a guide for cutting off this end of the paper. This blog is for beginners, and so I will not address what to do if there is too little paper at this time.
To wrap the gift, place the paper so that it’s white side is up. When cutting, you will need to keep track of which side of the paper is facing the ceiling or work surface so that you will know which side is the white side. Now, place the gift in the center of the paper, making sure to pay attention to how it should be placed based on how you cut the paper. In other words, when you bring up the sides, there should be a slight overlap in the center. If you bring up the far and near sides, there should be a slight overlap in the center. What you will now do is to bring up the side of the paper nearest your body and place it over the gift. Use your finger to hold it down in the center of the box. With the other hand, make sure that it aligns pretty much evenly with the paper on the floor. These edges of the paper will not be touching, but they should be so that neither extends out to the left or right farther than the other. Remember to feel the side of the box closes to your body to make sure the paper here is nice and flat and wrinkle free. Then, using one piece of tape, tape this piece to the box so that it will stay for you. You will be getting your tape onehanded here because the other is holding the paper in place. Now, bring the other side of the paper up. Again, make sure it matches the end. This will be slightly easier because you will have the other piece of paper that has already been taped as a guide so that the ends can match up more evenly. Place a piece of tape in about the center to hold this piece up. Remember before taping to check the far side of the box and the top of the box to make sure the paper is smooth. Now, you should also place a piece of tape on either end, but not flush with the sides. Try about a half inch to an inch in.
Now, it’s time for the sides. Remember that consistency is the key here. I always like to first fold the top side since that is where the edge of the paper is because folding it can help hide that edge, but if you decide differently, be consistent. The first end is the hardest to fold. You are going to again make creases here. You want to form a trianglularish figure here. I say it that way because the end may end up being a straight edge with two corners instead of an exact point like a triangle would be. To begin this triangle, you will need to take your thumbs and fingers and form the paper into this shape. My thumbs are on top of the gift, and my fingers extend down to the sides, but they rest on the side of the paper, and not the box. My thumbs generally stay still as I use my fingers to roll the paper in until it is far enough in toward my other hand that I can crease the edge leading from the point of the gift out to the end of the triangle where this point or line will be formed. Note that I am doing both sets of fingers at once here. Once I make this crease, I generally put one piece of tape over the point or straight edge so that it sticks to the box. Then, I can choose to repeat these steps with the other end of the box or to turn the gift over and form the triangles on this side. This backside is where you want to be more neat because your handywork will show here. A point at the end of the triangle is wonderful, but too much paper may result in this not occurring. In this case, you will want to fold the end that would form this point so that the straight edge is formed. I will stop explaining here because you may already be confused. The best way to learn this skill is to use a model. That means feeling a gift that has already been wrapped. It also means unwrapping the gift neatly piece by piece so that you can examine how it is put together. So have someone wrap up several empty boxes for you so you can examine what a wrapped gift would feel like so you can practice. Or, have a friend wrap a gift or several with you, allowing you to feel each time she has completed a fold or placed a piece of tape on the gift.
One final note here is to remember that wrapping a gift has a lot of steps and can seem overwhelming. You may focus on folding regular paper first. Then, you may choose to focus on cutting. Worrying about the white side being up may be something you don’t worry about until you have the art of wrapping down. In fact, wrapping with a precut piece of paper that fits your gift may be an excellent first step. Or, wrapping pretend gifts so that color does not matter at first may be helpful.
The reason I did not write a blog last week is because I was going to present this one. With finals looming ahead, I did not have time to write and edit prior to the deadline, and I wanted to make sure it was clear enough for readers before posting. So this blog represents last Friday and this Friday all at once. Have a Merry Christmas, everyone.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Using Sight
Hello, everyone. Today’s blog is going to be about using sight to do tasks. In my opinion, it is okay to use sight to accomplish goals. It was invented for that purpose after all, and so if one has residual vision and chooses to use it, that’s fine. If one uses sight from the vision of another, that is also fine. However, I want to point out that one needs to have the skills to perform tasks with absolutely no vision so that if an emergency or other situation arises in which it is necessary to do something totally without the assistance of another, one can safely and effectively perform the task. Therefore, I feel it is essential for one to first become confident and comfortable utilizing alternative techniques. I also want to point out that it is necessary for one to use these alternative techniques on a regular basis. If not, then the blind person will be less confident, and therefore, be unable to use the skill when needed or develop a belief that performing a task is not possible for the blind because he or she has relied on sighted people to do the job for so long. In my opinion, it is essential for one to receive any needed training in alternative techniques of blindness and to utilize eye shades when learning how to use these alternative techniques. The reason for this is because first, it ensures that one will not rely on any residual vision and second because only by doing something without vision will someone be able to realize it can be done without sight.
To expand on this, if one has no eyeshades on when learning alternative techniques, one will attempt to use vision, even if this is done unconsciously. The job of the eyes is to see, and the brain is automatically programmed to take in any sensory information provided by the eyes. The job of eyeshades is to train the brain to automatically use the sense of touch along with the other senses to do things using alternative techniques. Also, if one uses eyeshades for a period of time, one will be able to judge how much of the vision was actually useful and how much was unreliable, which is very important for safety reasons. If one starts relying on a cane to locate steps instead of using vision that doesn’t exist to locate the steps, then one will be less likely to fall and become injured, for example. In addition, one may realize that doing something by using an alternative technique is more effective and better physically for the person. For example, if someone is bent over in order to read a book in print, one may develop posture problems over time. Using Braille as an alternative will allow the person to sit using a normal posture.
Finally, it is important to realize that always relying on someone else to do something means that you could be inconvenicing the person. Also, it means you are not confident that a blind person can do the task and/or your confidence level is very low. By actually doing things for yourself on a regular basis, you will help to maintain your confidence in your abilities. In addition, you will discover that you can do more than you realized without the use of vision.
Now, I want to say that using sight is an acceptable thing to do. What I was saying above was to do things for yourself to build your confidence and to prove to yourself that a blind person can do that one thing you think they can’t. And, the way to maintain your confidence is to constantly use your skills. However, there are multiple ways to perform a task, and when you are figuring out which sense to use to accomplish the task, you should consider all factors for all five senses. You may have no vision, but you may be able to effectively use the vision of another. Or, you may prefer to use a dog instead of a cane, and this is using the dog’s sight to alert you to obstacles and such. I encourage you to carry a folded cane in your bag at all times if you are being guided by a dog or sighted human in case the dog or person becomes injured or unable to continue leading you. However, in my opinion, it is okay to be led by a dog or human. Some of you may disagree with this, and so let me switch away from blindness here so that we can have a more objective example for all of us. Back in the 1800’s, horses and other animals were used to head west to California. People didn’t walk clear to California; they rode in a wagon. Those animals walked though, and so you could say that it was silly to rely on these animals because it is possible to walk to California. After all, even an animal can walk there. Some stubborn person back then may have thought just that and headed out on foot across the wild west. Assuming they new how to deal with the Indians and how to hunt for food, they could have probably made it all the way. So then why did some people rely on animals to pull wagons. I bet it was because they didn’t want to carry their belongings on their back. Still, they could have had the animals carry the luggage and walked alongside the wagon on the way. The animals were walking. But no, they felt it perfectly acceptable to ride there, and they probably didn’t consider the factthat they weren’t even using an ability, the ability to walk. Today, people could simply ship their belongings across country, but how many people do you see walking out to California from one of the Eastern, or even a Western state such as Utah. Even though it is possible to walk to California today, it isn’t necessary because a more effective, efficient and safe route exists. Now, let’s turn back to vision.
Sighted people simply use vision as a given. They don’t stop to consider that another sense might be just as effective to accomplish the goal, which is okay since vision is effective for them. Blind people can also decide to rely on this vision, and just as it was okay for someone to drive to work today instead of walking the half mile or so to the job site, it is okay for a blind person to use sight. That doesn’t mean that a blind person could not do the task without vision. It means that it isn’t always necessary to do the job using alternative techniques if sight is more effective and efficient for that particular blind person in that particular situation. Using the sight of a dog may be preferable to some people, and just like sitting in the wagon was okay for the western explorer, using that sight is okay for the blind person. What is important is that the person could safely and effectively travel without the use of the sight, if necessary. Also, when it comes to choosing to use sight, it is necessary for the person to determine if sight is the best sense for the job. For example, straining one’s eyes and using poor posture due to the necessarity of bending down to see the page of the book to read a novel suggests to me that sight is not the best sense for the job. Therefore, anyone with vision problems should receive training in alternative techniques of blindness because one could then accurately judge the best sense to use and because one will realize that the other senses may prove as effective, if not more effective, than vision would be to perform a job. Even sighted people may improve their efficiency if they use a sense other than vision. That’s why a ringing sound is use to alert someone to a phone call, for instance. After one is able to use alternative techniques confidently and effectively, then one could receive training on how to best use any residual vision or the aid of sight by another human or a dog. In a training program, therefore, I feel that alternative techniques should be the main focus simply because people want to rely on vision and want to make use of visual aids, such as magnifying glasses and CCTv’s, rather than continuing to build confidence in themselves and in alternative techniques. Training in residual vision should only occur once mastery of alternative techniques has been accomplished.
To expand on this, if one has no eyeshades on when learning alternative techniques, one will attempt to use vision, even if this is done unconsciously. The job of the eyes is to see, and the brain is automatically programmed to take in any sensory information provided by the eyes. The job of eyeshades is to train the brain to automatically use the sense of touch along with the other senses to do things using alternative techniques. Also, if one uses eyeshades for a period of time, one will be able to judge how much of the vision was actually useful and how much was unreliable, which is very important for safety reasons. If one starts relying on a cane to locate steps instead of using vision that doesn’t exist to locate the steps, then one will be less likely to fall and become injured, for example. In addition, one may realize that doing something by using an alternative technique is more effective and better physically for the person. For example, if someone is bent over in order to read a book in print, one may develop posture problems over time. Using Braille as an alternative will allow the person to sit using a normal posture.
Finally, it is important to realize that always relying on someone else to do something means that you could be inconvenicing the person. Also, it means you are not confident that a blind person can do the task and/or your confidence level is very low. By actually doing things for yourself on a regular basis, you will help to maintain your confidence in your abilities. In addition, you will discover that you can do more than you realized without the use of vision.
Now, I want to say that using sight is an acceptable thing to do. What I was saying above was to do things for yourself to build your confidence and to prove to yourself that a blind person can do that one thing you think they can’t. And, the way to maintain your confidence is to constantly use your skills. However, there are multiple ways to perform a task, and when you are figuring out which sense to use to accomplish the task, you should consider all factors for all five senses. You may have no vision, but you may be able to effectively use the vision of another. Or, you may prefer to use a dog instead of a cane, and this is using the dog’s sight to alert you to obstacles and such. I encourage you to carry a folded cane in your bag at all times if you are being guided by a dog or sighted human in case the dog or person becomes injured or unable to continue leading you. However, in my opinion, it is okay to be led by a dog or human. Some of you may disagree with this, and so let me switch away from blindness here so that we can have a more objective example for all of us. Back in the 1800’s, horses and other animals were used to head west to California. People didn’t walk clear to California; they rode in a wagon. Those animals walked though, and so you could say that it was silly to rely on these animals because it is possible to walk to California. After all, even an animal can walk there. Some stubborn person back then may have thought just that and headed out on foot across the wild west. Assuming they new how to deal with the Indians and how to hunt for food, they could have probably made it all the way. So then why did some people rely on animals to pull wagons. I bet it was because they didn’t want to carry their belongings on their back. Still, they could have had the animals carry the luggage and walked alongside the wagon on the way. The animals were walking. But no, they felt it perfectly acceptable to ride there, and they probably didn’t consider the factthat they weren’t even using an ability, the ability to walk. Today, people could simply ship their belongings across country, but how many people do you see walking out to California from one of the Eastern, or even a Western state such as Utah. Even though it is possible to walk to California today, it isn’t necessary because a more effective, efficient and safe route exists. Now, let’s turn back to vision.
Sighted people simply use vision as a given. They don’t stop to consider that another sense might be just as effective to accomplish the goal, which is okay since vision is effective for them. Blind people can also decide to rely on this vision, and just as it was okay for someone to drive to work today instead of walking the half mile or so to the job site, it is okay for a blind person to use sight. That doesn’t mean that a blind person could not do the task without vision. It means that it isn’t always necessary to do the job using alternative techniques if sight is more effective and efficient for that particular blind person in that particular situation. Using the sight of a dog may be preferable to some people, and just like sitting in the wagon was okay for the western explorer, using that sight is okay for the blind person. What is important is that the person could safely and effectively travel without the use of the sight, if necessary. Also, when it comes to choosing to use sight, it is necessary for the person to determine if sight is the best sense for the job. For example, straining one’s eyes and using poor posture due to the necessarity of bending down to see the page of the book to read a novel suggests to me that sight is not the best sense for the job. Therefore, anyone with vision problems should receive training in alternative techniques of blindness because one could then accurately judge the best sense to use and because one will realize that the other senses may prove as effective, if not more effective, than vision would be to perform a job. Even sighted people may improve their efficiency if they use a sense other than vision. That’s why a ringing sound is use to alert someone to a phone call, for instance. After one is able to use alternative techniques confidently and effectively, then one could receive training on how to best use any residual vision or the aid of sight by another human or a dog. In a training program, therefore, I feel that alternative techniques should be the main focus simply because people want to rely on vision and want to make use of visual aids, such as magnifying glasses and CCTv’s, rather than continuing to build confidence in themselves and in alternative techniques. Training in residual vision should only occur once mastery of alternative techniques has been accomplished.
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