[Blindtlk] Walking Straight Without a Shoreline

[Judy Jones]

The distance perception is something you practice.  I know my husband has a 
hard time with that, too.  If someone tells me, ten to 15 feet, that's about 
the size of one wall of an average bedroom.  Fifty feet can be the size of 
an average house from one end to the other.  300 yards is the length of a 
football field.  3 feet about the width of a standard doorway.

These are rough estimates, but give an idea.  The more you work with 
measurements, the better idea you can have.  It will be interesting to hear 
others' views on this as well.

BTW, my mom was sighted very articulate and intelligent, and she could not 
enter a building and leave from an opposite door without getting turned 
around.  When we went places together when I was a teen or adult, although 
she was able to see where to go, I usually got us pointed in the right 
direction to begin with.  We worked as a team, hahahah!  After having grown 
up observing her, I wonder how much innate directionality is learned or 
inherited.  Very interesting questions.

Judy

-----Original Message----- 
From: Ericka Short
Sent: Tuesday, May 6, 2014 4:53 PM
To: gwunder at earthlink.net ; Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Walking Straight Without a Shoreline

What do you do if you don't have sun?  I can see some and have no sense of
direction and can't understand "25 feet ahead" or something really specific
like that.  Unless I am in a familiar area I'm totally lost and people
aren't much help giving directions because I can't read street signs at all.
I carry a cane.  Any advice?  I know I'm limited by my directional
challenges.  How do people born totally blind understand distance?  I can
understand general  "not too far or to your left a block don." I've never
had depth perception and apparently  nobody  explained what longer distances
are  in a tactile way.  I mentally know a foot is so many inches, but can't
seem to apply it.  I guess I literally can't imagine outside a "yard" (isn't
that 36 inches?).

Ericka J. Short


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