[Community-service] NCCC’s Maple 6 serves the blind and visually impaired with the Muskegon Lions - Et+cetera - Vinton Today, A News Cooperative :: Vinton Iowa

Thu Jul 21 03:50:40 UTC 2016

This article doesn’t say much. My immediate reaction is skepticism and doubt of the Lions’ intent, but honestly, that’s me reading subtext where it doesn’t ever clearly state exactly how this program is ran.

I will say that I get tired of programs supposedly intended to “help” blind people “experience” certain activities, the unspoken message being without such programs we would not be able to participate in such things. The fact of the matter is that if we want to participate in something, we just do it, join it, participate. We figure out accommodations, if necessary, as we go along. I recently trained for and did a triathlon. I had a fantastic partner, but a lot of people thought it was much more difficult to do it blind, but I was doing all the same physical movement as the sighted athletes. The only difference was I was tethered to my partner during swim and run, and we used a tandem bike. Otherwise, nothing else was different. But I just did it. I didn’t need outside interference or a special program just for the blind to participate.

However, I do consider that not all blind people have had nonvisual training or proper training, and therefore don’t always have the correct tools or methods available to them to participate in certain activities. Or some don’t have the confidence to engage in certain things. It’s really an individual thing. We can’t assume every blind person can do the same things at the same level as another blind person. Like sighted people, we are varied in our strengths and weaknesses.

But going back to the article, I wish more programs facilitated learning how to do things independently instead of always doing things for the blind person. But that’s something requiring education on the part of groups like the Federation and its members who believe this philosophy. Maybe instead of guiding participants around, they could have been taught how to navigate nonvisually. Maybe blind athletes could have demonstrated how to play sports nonvisually. Maybe the campers could have packed their own lunches, learning how to do simple kitchen skills nonvisually. When everything is done for them, I wonder what exactly they are taking away from the experience. It would not seem a program like this would foster much of an independent spirit in campers, allowing them to go home and apply what they learned at home. Or teach them how to participate in activities like sports or other recreation without sighted assistance. Yes, sometimes sight is convenient or even necessary, but not all the time. I wonder if the Lions worked with a group capable of instructing in nonvisual skills if blind campers would come out of the experience with more than just memories.

Bridgit

From: Community-Service [mailto:community-service-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Darian Smith via Community-Service
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 4:42 PM
To: Community Service Discussion List <community-service at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com>
Subject: [Community-service] NCCC’s Maple 6 serves the blind and visually impaired with the Muskegon Lions - Et+cetera - Vinton Today, A News Cooperative :: Vinton Iowa

Saw this article and wanted to get your thoughts

http://www.vintoniowa.org/

Et cetera :: NCCC’s Maple 6 serves the blind and visually impaired with the Muskegon Lions

Photos (1) View All

The team poses with the director of Pioneer Trails, Karl Dewitt. 

By: Luke Bowes and Megan Crissy

Maple 6 is currently serving in Muskegon, MI with United Way of the Lakeshore. However, the team had the opportunity to take part in an Independent Service Project (ISP) with the Muskegon Lions Club on Sunday, August 23. Muskegon Lions Club hosted their biannual adult retreat for the blind and visually impaired at Pioneer Trails on Big Blue Lake in Holton, MI.

Maple 6, along with a member of Oak 5, helped the Lions Club on their final day of the retreat. The team began the day by serving the participants’ breakfast while engaging in conversation with them. Afterwards, the team guided the participants to various areas of the camp and led activities including basketball, boat rides, hiking, and dancing. The team finished off the day by serving the participants’ lunch and helping them pack their belongings. Maple 6 also presented a program to the attendees on AmeriCorps NCCC.

This ISP meant a great deal to Maple 6 because they previously served on a project that involved the blind and visually impaired at their home base, the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School (IBSSS). The team assisted in the IBSSS’s Spring Conference by supervising blind or visually impaired children while the parents attended various workshops to gain valuable educational and parenting resources.

Team member and ISP leader Luke Bowes reflects on this opportunity, “I was thrilled to be a part of the Lions Club Adult Retreat for the Blind and Visually Impaired and immediately jumped on the opportunity to serve with such amazing and spirited people. I absolutely loved playing basketball with some of the campers. It was one of the most heartwarming and memorable experiences I have ever had.”

The Muskegon Lions Club will also be graciously serving a pancake breakfast at United Way of the Lakeshore’s annual Day of Caring on Friday, September 11, 2015. Maple 6 has spent the second of half of their project assisting in recruitment, site development, and hospitality for Day of Caring 2015.

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