The Normal-Sighted And The Sightless
By Le Dan Bach Viet (*)
There are small stories but their impacts are big
In 1997, after paying a visit to the blind victims of a big earthquake in Kyoto, we were seen off by a Japanese professor at the airport. That day, a five-year-old girl was with him. She went out of her way to find a bin for the wrap of the candies, which we had given her previously.
In another story, Mr. Sasaki is sightless and has a deaf right ear. He went to HCM City as a volunteer to teach massage techniques to the blind. After the end-of-course party, he took a taxi home. To our surprise, 10 minutes later, he came back, which we all thought because he forgot something extremely important. He could not leave without two bouquets of flowers that his students had given him. The common notion is that: “The blind cannot see, and thus, cannot feel the beauty of flowers.” That was not the case. Mr. Sasaki not only loved flowers but also deeply treasured the good will of his students.
The two stories had a tremendous effect on my perception of the Japanese: kids and adults alike have a very clear awareness of the environment and the people around them.
As a teacher in orientation and mobility therapy, I teach visually impaired students to make use of their senses for safe mobility. We experienced difficulties several times while walking on the pavement of Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, leading to Nguyen Dinh Chieu School for the visually impaired. Motorists who want to avoid traffic lights mount to the pavement. They go in the opposite direction to ours and even bump into the students’ canes. Those normal-sighted motorists tried to save every second and seize every centimeter of the pavement from the students while it is supposed to be for pedestrians. Moreover, my students who observe traffic rules hold the canes and should be given priority access.
I am visually impaired myself so my main choice of transport is by bus. Although the blind are entitled to free bus travel, I usually buy tickets as to contribute a modest part to the development of the bus network. Nonetheless, I have been startled on numerous occasions since bus drivers have the habit of picking up and dropping off passengers when the vehicle is still in motion. Once, when I was getting off the bus, even though my feet had not touched the ground, the driver drove on. The incident left me with painful bruises for the rest of the week and the utmost fright of being run over. Such lessons of jumping off busses are beyond my capability as a teacher in orientation and mobility therapy.
At a conference on orientation and mobility in April, discussions of the practical difficulties blind students face when moving about in the city and in communication brought about this conclusion of many normal-sighted teachers: that such predicaments arise from the students’ fault for not being able to follow the instructions given. The absence of compassion took me completely aback. These are clearly the dilemmas faced by the majority of visually impaired students, which provides enough rationale for a change in teaching methods as well as the crux of the meeting.
It dawns on me that the “archaic” teacher-centered learning has not left any room for maneuver, even when it comes specifically to the issue of safe mobility for the blind. In education, if students are not put at the center, if no empathy is shown towards the less advantaged, how are they supposed to gear up for certain circumstances? Blaming the visually impaired students seems to be the easier option as no responsibility is required.
How depressing!
(*) Master of Science in Orientation and Mobility therapy for persons with visual impairment, IFP Alumna