Boyd Sheds Light on Blindness

   Garnet Boyd went back to school this year and enjoyed every minute of it. Mr. Boyd, his Dog Guide Ava, and his accountant and driver Ross Mehan attended every school in Charlotte County and some in York County, funded by a Local Initiatives Project grant.

Entitled "Dog Guide Awareness," the project saw the unlikely trio travel 5,000 miles, speak to every classroom teacher and every class in Charlotte county, plus School Districts 26 and 27 comprising the McAdam and Harvey areas. They even spoke at Calais High School which makes the project international in scope.

Mr. Boyd said the project was self-rewarding in the knowledge that these young minds were as well informed as those in any area of Canada with regards to blindness and the problems and hazards for the blind in a sighted world. They also know about dog guides, how they are trained and how they serve the blind.

In the primary grades he spoke about 10 minutes and then moved into a 40-minute question and answer period. He said it was amazing for both himself and Mr. Mehan to realize the very practical questions these young people could and did ask. At higher levels the talks were lengthened to 40 minutes with a question period for the remaining time. Both men agreed the talks were well received by both teachers and students.

The project, first endorsed by the Kiwanis Club of St. Stephen, has been a resounding success Mr. Boyd said. Teachers and principals went out of their way to be helpful and I met a lot of fine people. "You don't travel as much as we did and meet so many teachers without developing a profound respect for the schools in these various areas."

Assistant superintendent of schools for District 23 Bob Bridges deserves much of the credit for coordinating the visitations, according to Mr. Boyd. Mr. Boyd, who lost his sight as the result of a car accident in the mid-fifties, has been an industrious campaigner on publicizing the unmet needs of the blind and articles by him and interviews with him have appeared regularly in the Courier and other publications. Recently, he explained the subject matter of his talks.

The impact of his own tragic mishap prompted him to emphasize to students the important of wearing seat belts. The ad campaign run by the safety people is very apt when it asks "what's holding you back," asked Mr. Boyd.

He also stressed the unmet needs and dangers relating to handicapped people in general. "For instance, I told the youngsters to be very careful of subjecting small children or babies to loud noises because their hearing could be permanently damaged. Much of his talk related to the do's and don'ts relating to sighted people during social intercourse with blind people.

"Some things people do to assist blind people are not always helpful, even though they may be well intended. If you open a door for a blind person you thereby take away his landmark and this can really prove to be a hazard if the door opens out and the blind person happens to be coming in. You should never open a car door for a blind person. Let him open the door so he can orient himself and at the same time avoid the sharp steel corners of the door." Mr. Boyd also suggested that, in assisting a blind person across the street or walking with a blind person, you shouldn't take their arm. You tend to propel them and this takes away some of the sense of motion and equilibrium. Let the blind person take your arm and they can very simply adapt to sense of motion of the person they are walking with.

In speaking to a blind person on the street, you should always use their name so they can realize they are being spoken to and it is also a good point to identify yourself. There is nothing more maddening than to have someone come up and say "Hi, Garnet. Guess who this is?" About that time you would like to reply, "I don't give a damn."

In the instance of a blind person taking a seat, touch the back of a chair with a small slap and the blind person is automatically oriented and can sit down. There is no embarrassment in offering to cut up a blind person's meat at dinner or to render whatever obvious assistance is needed such as to indicate the food by the hands of the clock.

You should never pour hot beverages without first letting the person know you are going to do so. The hazards are obvious. If you enter a room in which there is a blind person, let the blind person know out of simple courtesy and to prevent embarrassment.

Dog guides work off traffic patterns, said Mr. Boyd, by way of explaining away the myth that the dogs actually see the changing traffic control lights. He also gave students a brief history of Seeing Eye, the philanthropic organization which was set up to provide dog guides for the blind. In North America, it costs a blind person only $150 for his first dog including transportation to and from his door and the New Jersey training centre, lodging, meals and instruction. "This is fantastic when you consider the actual costs are in the vicinity of $5,000," Mr. Boyd added. Each subsequent dog costs $50.

Being blind is a handicap, but it is not one which can't be overcome. Blind people can be and are productive members of society, not objects of pity.

I hope that through this 1.11 grant we have managed to get this message across to the thousands of students and adults we have met. It has been a wonderful experience and one I am very happy to have shared with so many people.-- Johnson