Facing the dark

Workshop aims to teach those with sight that those without must face

Troy Moon • tmoon@pnj.com • May 30, 2010

 

Pierre Barkhuizen is only 41. But he's preparing to be blind.

That's why last week Barkhuizen was in the kitchen wearing a blindfold while he cut veggies, shaped meatballs and slid trays in and out of an oven.

The Pensacola physician was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 18 years ago and fears he will go blind — a symptom of M.S. — in the coming years.

"I have 20/20 vision now," he said, as he grasped at a nearby counter, trying to search for a tray of pepper-and-onion infused meatballs. "But because of the M.S. diagnosis, I could go blind. So I better learn these skills now, just to be ready."

Barkhuizen, who no longer works because of his M.S., was one of about a dozen people who attended at least one of the eight "Working With The Visually Impaired" workshops at the Independence for the Blind of West Florida facility on Davis Highway. Most who attended were people who work with the blind and visually impaired, but Barkhuizen was there to learn to fend for himself when darkness comes.

The participants spent hours blindfolded during the three-day seminar, which aims to teach those with sight what those without must face. They learned to walk with a cane. They learned how to cook. They attempted to learn Braille. They learned to dress themselves without seeing, how to clean in the dark and how to identify medications when you can't see a label.

They learned what Leigh Hoskins, 39, and others like her have had to deal with for years.

Hoskins, who lost her sight to a genetic disease three years ago, laughed as she listened to the participants bump around aimlessly when they were first blindfolded.

"It's not easy," said Hoskins, 39, who works with "transition students" at Independence for the Blind

of West Florida. "They'll experience a bit of what we go through every day."

Hoskins has help though. She has a guide dog, Gem, who helps her find her way around.

When Hoskins sits at her desk, Gem, still in his harness, lies behind her, acting doggy. When Hoskins gets up from her chair, Gem springs alert, ready to go wherever Hoskins wants.

But guide dogs are expensive to train — tens of thousands of dollars — and not every blind person can handle a dog, said Russell Rieder, executive director of Independence for the Blind, who also went through the three-day seminar so as to better understand his clients.

"You have to be able to take care of a dog," Rieder said. "And there's a lot that goes into that. Not everyone is capable of that."

In fact, a majority of the 300 clients a year the center serves don't have guide dogs. So, they must get by with the same skills that were taught during the workshops, which will be repeated every three months.

The seminar participants started the first day by just sitting in chairs wearing blindfolds. Then, session leaders ask them to try to maneuver their way around a small conference room, filled with obstacles — signs and a wooden sawhorse — while   someone ran a loud vacuum cleaner nearby.

The participants bumped into each other. They moved their feet slowly, turning to and fro, searching for the seats they were supposed to find.

They turned in circles, arms flailing as they reached out. It looked like a bunch of grown-ups miming a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

Once they sat in their chairs, a few took off their blindfolds.

"What's this doing in the room?" Rieder asked, once he spied the oddly-placed sawhorse in the middle of the room.

"You never know what's going to be on the sidewalk," said Alicia Hefty, volunteer coordinator for Independence for the Blind, as she explained the obstacles.

Then, the man leading the session, Hulrick Baptist, a certified orientation mobility specialist, asked the small group what would have made their short journey across the room easier.

"Fewer barricades," one said.

"Less noise," said another.

"That was the key," said Baptist, 27. "We wanted to provide some chaos. When you don't have vision, you have to figure out how to do the same things differently."

It would only get more chaotic. Later in the afternoon, Baptist taught the group to use a cane, and then led them on a walk around the block. The group shuffled outside the door, sweeping the red and white canes from side-to-side, feeling for obstacles. The group, shuffling slowly, hugged Davis Highway, as cars raced by — people with sight, including Baptist, walked nearby, to make sure the group didn't get too close.

 

Anthony Pileggi, district administrator for the Division of Blind Services, spent a few moments going around in a tight circle.

 

"I know I'm outside," he said. "And I know I'm close  to traffic. But that's it. It's pretty nerve-wracking."

Pileggi said he signed up for the seminar "so I can stand in the shoes of some of the clients we serve. I want to better understand them."

The group made the walk around the block in just over an hour. Without a blindfold, Rieder said, the same walk would have taken about 15 minutes.

 

"That was something," he said the next day, between bites of the spaghetti with meatballs that the group had prepared while blindfolded. "Having to cross the street with horns blowing and cars going by, it definitely gets your attention and heightens your senses."

Still, Rieder realized that the training the group provides to the visually impaired really does improve their lives. As he sampled the spaghetti, which he pronounced as "excellent," he marveled that the group was able to slice vegetables without

drawing blood, work the ovens without prompting blisters, and prepare the ingredients without making anyone sick.

"I have a new appreciation for the skills that are taught here," Rieder said. "I learned that independence starts with each person's motivation. The abilities they'll need to master are taught by us."

 

  Want to learn more?

Independence for the Blind West Florida holds "Working With The Visually Impaired'' workshops every three months. The seminars are free and open to the public. The date of the next workshop has not been scheduled. Details: www.ibwest.org.

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