the documentary was a good way for me to look back on some of the things that I had to face growing up. some of which I thought that I would never have to face again. when I interviewed my father it was a little bit harder for me to listen to him talking about the depression and the struggles that he faced, because I was the one that was there getting him through it and it was a very good part of my childhood. when I went to interview my grandmother I learned just how hard a life time of people telling you that you cant do stuff can be on you. when I started looking at what people could do with a little bit of encouragement that's when I started to feel good about doing this project. because it would make people see that no matter what someone's circumstances are that it truly is that people around them and the mind set that they have that determines how they do in life. 

The first scene is going to be pictures of just a bunch of people with me talking in the background about what makes someone legally blind. While some of the pictures are still showing I’m going to ask a couple of questions like, when you think of someone who has a handicap do you automatically have pity for them, if you were handicapped would you automatically want that pity and if you had a handicap that could be corrected with technology would you think that that makes you any less of a person.

Interview:

Harold W. Barnes

What is the hardest thing about being legally blind?

One of the hardest things about being legally blind is that almost as soon as someone finds out that I’m legally blind the first thing that they say is “oh wow that must be such a struggle “ , it’s almost like they don’t even have to know anything else about me to feel sorry for me. If people got the time to know me before they started to feel bad they would realize that there is no reason for them to feel sad for me.

What are some of the physical challenges that you have to face on a day to day basis?

One of the major physical challenges that I have to overcome is having to use a magnifying glass to read anything and everything. The worst part of having to use the magnifying glass though is if you leave the house with the wrong one you won’t be able to read everything that you want to. So if I leave the house with a magnifying glass that is only a 5x then I can only read part of the menu at a restaurant.

What was the best part about getting your driver license?

The best part was that after all of the years of not being able to do anything on my own I was now able to drive to the store, to sporting events and anything else that I felt like going to on my own. Once I got the driving piece so much more than me being able to drive changed. I was now able to use the piece to watch my children play their sports I was able to see something that I didn’t have pressed up against my face and best of all I had my freedom back.

Why do you think that people look at you with pity once they find out you are legally blind?

I think that part of the reason that they look at me with pity is because they think that I am already at a disadvantage compared to them. They think that something that they don’t have to deal with makes life so much harder for someone else, but in reality it doesn’t. Just because someone has to deal with something that you don’t doesn’t mean that life for them is that much harder for them than you. it’s like if some broke an arm or leg you don’t feel bad for them because of the situation you feel bad for them because they had to deal with the pain of it breaking, but being legally blind isn’t painful, annoying at times yes but not painful so why be pitifully.

What is it that made you realize that your handicap didn’t truly limit you?

One afternoon I was over at cousin’s house playing a game of cards and we got to talking about things that I did to try and get around being legally blind and she mentioned to me that there were devices that I could use to help to correct my vision. I think that it was at this point that I realized that I was no longer defined by my handicap it was just one more thing that I have over com

 

After the opening scene I would start to talk about how there are sports out there for people with a visual impairment, I would talk about how just because someone has a handicap doesn’t mean that they can’t do things that people who don’t have a handicap do every day. I would show a small video clip of a group of people who are legally blind and or completely blind playing a sport and doing other activities such as playing basketball or playing a board game. While showing the videos I would talk about how it is possible for people with handicaps like this to participate in these activities with special pieces of technology, some being more advanced than others.

At about this point I would show an interview I am going to do with my father talking about what some of the challenges that people who are visually impaired face on a daily basis. I can talk from experience and say that some of the problems that can face are people automatically think of them as less of a person just because they can’t see as good as them. Part of the major problem that people who are visually impaired face is a self-inflicted one, the thing that most people who are legally blind bring on themselves the most is the fear to do something new. A lot of people who are legally blind are either older people or are people who have been legally blind since they were born or very young. Situations such as this allow for people to become complacent with life and be afraid to try new things. There is, however, a group that is right in between there where they have lost their vision at an age where they are used to being active. This group of the legally blind is starting to lead the way for the rest of the group, they are making the fact that they are legally blind become irrelevant to the world. There is a group of legally blind people who are breaking the mold and going out and getting their driver’s license and jobs.

 

After this I am going to start talking about how people who are legally blind can get their driver’s license and how people who are legally blind can become more active. The first step for someone who is legally blind to get their driver’s license if for them to go to a government organization called OSEA (occupational safety and environment association), this organization helps people who have handicaps get involved in the world around them. Part of this involves helping them to get their driver’s license they do this by fitting them with a set of glasses that has a scope that allows for the wearer to zoom in and out. After they are fitted with the glasses they go through a one day training program, were they are taught how to properly use the glasses, then they go through the driving part of the training were they drive around a city with a licensed driver and  scored on how well they drive with the piece. After they go through the one day training program they go two years only being able to drive during the day after the two years they go back in for a night time driving course that is very similar to the day time driving  one. If they pass the night time driving course then they are able to get their full license. While in training if they get in any trouble with law enforcement with how they drive time can be added on to their day time driving period or their ability to get their license can be revoked completely.    

If someone who is legally blind wants to get involved in the world by getting a job or something along that line, the same organization OSEA also helps people who are legally blind. The organization helps people by finding jobs that they are capable of doing with very little assistance or if someone was to apply for a job were they would need assistance, say at a legal firm where someone would have to do a lot of reading they would set the person and firm up with everything that is needed for the person who is legally blind to do the job properly. Some of the equipment that would be included in this is a magnifying glass that works over a whole sheet of paper, a computer that you can read to and it types as well as it reads emails and any other digital documents back to you, and various other pieces of equipment.

Interview:

When you went in to see how t OSEA was going to set up your work space what all did that entail?

Most of what was done involved me going through a regular work day in the office, seeing where it was that I would need equipment to help me get the job done properly. We went into the office and decided that I would need a special computer the\at could read documents back to me and a large magnifying glass. After we got done in the office we went out into the field to see what was needed for me to do my job out there. Since I already had the eye piece to help me see the only thing that I really needed to help me do my job was an app on my phone that made it easier for me to distinguish colors from each other.

   How big of a difference did using the equipment have on how well you could do your job?

Each piece of equipment that I got to use made each part of my job that much easier. The computer that I used made reading online documents and emails easier and the large magnifying glass made reading regular paper documents that much easier to read. When we went out into the field we test working conditions with and without the glasses that I use for driving and when was using them it made the field work so much easier. The only other tool that I had to use was an app on my phone to help with my color blindness and it help me to distinguish the colors.

 

The world today is defined by what people see on paper, unless it has something to do with sports they refuse to think that something or someone could do something that doesn’t fit the profile. When someone looks at person with a handicap they automatically think of them as less of a person and more as a handicap themselves. But there are people out there that have a handicap that don’t fit the mold.  Some people can be legally blind and have a conversation with you and you would never know that they are legally blind. Some of the most amazing people through history were legally blind, some of the more famous people who were legally blind are Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stevie Wonder and Joseph Pulitzer. If people who are this famous and legally blind truly do break the mold of what being legally blind is. If people can achieve greatness such as this and it doesn’t hinder their ability to perform the task  at hand then why do we think of them as any less of a person, why is it that we automatically assume that they are already less of a person. People who are legally blind aren’t less of a person just because of the handicap they are just as human as you or me it’s just that the challenges that they face are different from the ones that the rest of us have to face    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bio

 

Blindness." The Ee Dictionary By Farlax. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

 

Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

http://cdni.wired.co.uk/620x413/s_v/Untitled-1_620x413_11.jpg

 

Creighton, Ryan. "Wearable Technology Restores Sight to the Legally Blind." TecVibes. 2 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

 

Robitaille, Suzanne. "Bringing the Blind into the Workplace." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 22 Jan. 2002. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Eye Piece, personal photograph by Jonathan Barnes, October 11

Driving Blind, personal photograph by Jonathan Barnes, October 11

 

 

Interviews

 

Barnes, Harold. "Vision Impairment." Telephone interview. 25 Oct. 2015.

 

Barnes, Alma. "Vision Impairment." Telephone interview. 25 Oct. 2015.

 

Barnes, Stephen. "Vision Impairment." Telephone interview. 25 Oct. 2015.

 

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the process of doing research for me was mainly dependent on the fact that I have three people that are close to me that are legally blind. most of the research that I did with family was talking to them about how their life changed after they became legally blind, and how they dealt with some of the major differences. another part of the first person research that I did involved watching how people who are visually impaired read, drive and get through a regular day of life. The hardest part of the research though was finding secondary sources, were as there isn't very much out there on communities of people who are legally blind. luckily though I was able to find some secondary sources through medical websites that had information that wasn't already general knowledge.

Visually impaired community

 

 

 

Wrd 110

October 13^th 2015

 

 

Jonathan Barnes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think about your day to day life, how you walk to class or work, driving from place to place and reading the news or a book. Now imagine all of that not being possible without help or not at all possible. The community of visually impaired is larger than most people think. When most people think of visually impaired people they think of ether people who need help with glasses or the worst case scenario of being completely blind. Being legally blind means that your vision is so close to being gone that the government considers you to be blind. What most people don’t know is that there are ways for them to still be active in their communities, to drive and to have a job.

If someone was to think of a person as close to blind as possible without being blind or being legally blind one might think that there is nothing for that person to do in the world. People who think like this have been miss informed, with all of the disabilities that are out in the world today groups have started to come together and formed different sports teams. Dan Clark talks about different things that people who are legally blind can do “Many areas have centers and groups for blind people. These places offer additional resources, and they may also be have regularly scheduled events and outings for members of the blind community”. Centers like this are all over the country and help to get people who are legally blind be more active.

                                    

Learning how to drive and get a driver’s license for someone with good vision is as easy as 6 months driving with someone and 6 months only able to have one person that isn’t family in the car. But did you know that people who are legally blind can get there driver’s license too.  When someone is legally blind the process becomes a little more complicated. In order for someone who is legally blind to get their driver’s license they have to get fitted with a pair of special glasses like the ones above, go through a driving class, go two years only being able to drive in the day, then go through a night driving class and after that they are allowed to drive whenever they want. This process is to ensure that the driver has gotten enough experience so that they won’t freak out behind the wheel for no reason. With all of the obstacles for them to get a driver’s license,   Jamey Boyum interviewed Tillson a legally blind driver and she talks about the joy that getting a license did for her ” “It was a great moment," Tillson said. "You could tell how excited she was, how much of an aha moment it was that this was really happening”, not to mention that after they get their driver’s license it becomes a little bit easier for them to get a job. The joy that is talked about can be seen in the second picture of my father driving for the first time after he got his full license.

With today’s world it would be very easy for someone who is legally blind to go through life and not have a job the entire time, but there are those who choose to get a job. For those of the visually impaired community are legally blind and want to work there are a couple of different avenues for them to take. One of the ways for them to go about this is to apply for a job like the rest of us, the only difference is that they have to let the company know that they are legally blind. Another way that they could get a job is by going to a government organization called OSEA. This government organization helps people who have disabilities such as being legally blind find and get a job. After OSEA helps them to get a job, if it is necessary they will provide the disabled worker with any tools that are needed to perform the job properly such as computer programs like dragon or large scale magnifying glasses. Another piece of equipment that they might provide you with is a computer that you speak to in order to type and that reads it back. Computers such as this make it easier for people who are legally blind to handle documents on the computer.

These are just some of the things that are happening within the visual impaired community that people just aren’t aware of. There are people out there that are almost blind and could walk around in everyday life without you having any idea and perform jobs just as good as or better than people with good vision. So the next time you see a person that is legally blind don’t think about what their disability keeps them from doing but what challenges they over come to be here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biography

 

 

Boyum, J. (2015, April 1). Legally blind woman about to get her driver's license. Retrieved    October 14, 2015.

 

 

Clark, D. (n.d.). Activities for Blind People. Retrieved October 14, 2015.

 

Products for the disabled - Blind, low vision, Magnifiers, legally blind, macular degeneration, dyslexia, reading disabilities, voice recognition. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2015.

 

pieces of equipment like this allow people who are visually impaired to drive and participate in other activities.

The community that I have chosen to right about is one that I have grown up in. I have had my struggles with it but I have also had moments were there is no other place in the world that I would rather be and that is the religious community. Growing up in a religious community has showed me many things over the years. Over the years I participated in community service through my church like working the church fish fries and helping out with the religious education program. I think that the most influential thing that I have done through the community is going on a retreat to help out at retirement homes. during the course of the trip we helped the people who worked at the home catch up on things that normally they wouldn't have time to do. While we did have to do all the grunt work, I learned important life lessons from the people at the homes like not to let the joy leave your life and the people that we lose here on earth can still live through us. The religious community that I grew up in is one of love. so much so that there are ways for the church to help those who are in need, for most of us we give to the churches that we go to because we are told we are making a difference by giving. Most of us don't bother to see how we are making a difference, in my community back home I got to see how a difference was being made. While I was at home I saw the pregnant teen mothers getting help, the people who couldn't afford rent get a little bit of extra money from the church and food be given to those who couldn't buy it for themselves. This is my community a community that supports each other and that strives for a better world were there is no suffering.

Who you are is a very hard thing to describe, it is very easy to say that I was an athlete in high school just the same it is to say that I also kept to myself most of the time but none of that is who I am. Who I am is someone who has grown up having faced many adversities, having had an amazing family and a great group of friends around me. I am someone who goes to church on Sunday but would think twice about defending myself or my loved ones. As for what I am wanting out of the class, I am hoping that I can get the small flaws out of my public speaking and become a better writer. When it comes to which community I identify with its kind of hard for me to pick one, I grew up going to church so I identify with the religious, but I enjoy working out so I also identify with the athletes and there are several other communities that I do identify with. So I guess the easier question to answer would be which ones I don’t identify with.