What it's like to be Blind or Deaf

It’s difficult to imagine what it’s like living with a disability. Luckily, the Basingstoke Voluntary Services organization in Hampshire, England with 7streammedia produced this short video.  Viewers walk with Alan, a family man who became blind at 27. Then we meet Sky, a young, deaf girl at school. Each of them invite us into their lives and re-enact similar past events. 

While there are various types of blindness, viewers experience a portrayal of what Alan sees daily.  We also see what Alan struggles with inside his own community.

Though noticeable, Sky’s disability is largely invisible, which can be incredibly difficult to grow up with. Sky is left out from a group of girls because of her deafness. One girl even tries to talk to her, but the classmate becomes frustrated with having to repeat herself and soon leaves.

A 2009 study titled What Makes My Family Stronger from charity Contact a Family reports almost 70% said there was a poor or unsatisfactory understanding and acceptance in their community for the disabled. 50% felt their community lacked in play and leisure opportunities for their children with disabilities.

Acceptance, awareness, and opportunity for the disabled are all ideas that with a little help from all of us, can help a large, too often ignored community.

 Next time you meet someone with a disability, don’t be afraid, Just Ask.

For more information about bullying of both disabled and non-disabled children, visit these links:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-friendship-doctor/201202/help-my-kid-is-being-treated-outcast

http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-school-bullying

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/social/tough-stuff/