It is widely believed that accompanying a blind person is complicated.
It takes some tricks. But it is not a question of having to take a course, a school.
Yet people are often frightened by the idea of having to share an experience with a blind person.
It is thought that we must give directions, always be on the alert.
It is not so.
In most cases, those who cannot see have learned to live in the dark.
And who sees little and badly to live with the lack of depth, contrast and sharpness.
This means that it is the person him/her self who has precautions and precautions.
It is the person him/herself who asks if he/she needs help.
It is important to disseminate this information because we find ourselves clashing with the idea that to be with the blind people one must have particular predisposition, attention or energy.
None of this.
The blind are PEOPLE who do not see.
People, not horses.
Blind people are not to be carried like horses, to which they must indicate what to do, where to turn, when to stop, when to jump.
(We are referring to horse riding. Horses are independent too)
When we organize our activities, be it a few days’ walk, a sailing trip or a wine tasting weekend, we struggle to involve people who for simplicity we call “sighted”. That is, people who are interested in the initiative and who do not have visual difficulties.
The presence of these participants is important to be able to carry out the initiatives, but not because they have to do something particularly demanding.
They simply have to be touched at an elbow or shoulder while moving, indicate where the glass with water is and little else.
We have never heard of people who came to hike with us and who at the end of the trip said: nice, but it was challenging, I wouldn’t do it again.
Indeed, exactly the opposite: wonderful, being with you did not make me feel fatigue, see you next time.
Spread this post, we hope it will serve to inform. And to make it clear that inclusion starts with you, with us, with everyone. Inclusion is not something that concerns the disable people. It is something that concerns life, yours too.
Description of the image: a man with a horse’s head, with dark glasses and a white cane. The horse man is Bojack Horseman, a character from an animation series.
