Female 1: For millions of visually impaired Americans, the most basic of everyday tasks can be anything, but understanding these difficulties can help you provide empathetic assistance.
Female 2: There are 10 million Americans who are visually impaired. So it is likely that you will find yourself assisting or working with someone who has trouble seeing. Sight difficulties range across a broad spectrum, from a complete inability to see to basic color blindness. The term total blindness is used when an individual cannot perceive light or forms. Light sense blindness means that the person is able to sense the presence or lack of light, but not make out forms. Both of these types of visual impairment usually fall under the umbrella term legally blind. A legally blind person has vision of 2200 or less. That means that he or she would have to stand at 20 feet from an object to see it with the same degree of clarity as a normally-sighted person could from 200 feet away. Other types of seeing impairment include hand-powered and index-value blindness. A person with either of these disabilities will only be able to make out shadowy forms very close to their eyes. A defective visual field can occur in any part of the eye and usually causes a person to have a blind spot, where small area where they cannot see. The least severe form of sight disability is the achromatopsia, commonly known as color blindness. Achromatopsia can be total color blindness, red-green color blindness or blue-yellow color blindness. No matter what type of visual impairment a person has, the biggest challenge that most visually impaired people cite is walking and acts that most of us take for granted.
A white cane is a universal symbol that indicates sight impairment. It also helps a blind person to collect information about his or her environment. Some visually impaired people also use sight dog to the system. It is important never to pet or feed a seeing, eye dog as they are on the job all the time. If you encounter a blind person, it is polite to offer to help if they look like they need assistance. If they refuse, allow them to do so graciously without pressing the issue. You may have noticed the studded yellow blocks in the pavement in your city or town. These blocks serve as guidance as a blind person walks and as a caution at how to this areas. Sometimes, a visually impaired person may need assistance finding those studded blocks. Feel free to provide this help if it seems necessary.
When handling transactions with the Sight to Save Worlds, be patient and keep in mind that they may need more time to count money or to locate belongings. Allow them this courtesy, remembering to keep your voice enthusiastic and offering help only as needed. Sight disabled people have many obstacles to overcome in daily life. But by being aware and offering a helping hand, you can create a harmonious environment for everyone.
Female 1: Want to learn more? Check out other videos and sources on this site for more information.
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