In 1921 James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol who became blind after an accident and was uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, painted his walking stick THIS LIGHT COLOR to be more easily visible. It soon caught on and is now the standard color of canes used by people with visual impairments.
White
Long, Cylindrical rod often made of metal that is used to help people with visual impairments get around.
White Cane
True or False: When meeting a person with a visual impairment for the first time, it is typically polite to shake their hand and tell them your name.
True
Are all people with visual impairments completely blind?
No. Many people with visual impairments can see some things.
The President of the United States annually recognizes White Cane Day by the Blind Americans Equality Day Proclamation on THIS DATE IN MID-OCTOBER to acknowledge the abilities of people who are blind and to promote equal opportunities as any other American.
October 15
A type of dog that helps a person with a visual impairment get around.
Guide Dog
If you are talking to someone who has a visual impairment and you need to walk away from the conversation, what do you do?
Tell them you are leaving.
Daniel Kish, who became blind as a young child, learned how to ride THIS non-motorized vehicle using echolocation.
A bicycle
In 1944, Richard Hoover developed the cane techniques we now use after working with newly blinded veterans from WHICH World War?
World War II
Tactile warnings made of a distinctive surface pattern that are detectable by a long cane or underfoot, which are used to alert the vision-impaired of approaching streets and hazardous surface or grade changes.
Truncated Domes
When is the best time to push or pull someone who has a visual impairment to go where you want them to go?
Never. Just ask them if they need help.
Joe Stretchay, a man with Retinitis Pigmentosa has worked as a Blindness Consultant on many TV shows, including THIS Marvel show about a superhero who is blind.
Daredevil
The first depiction of someone using a cane to travel is on a scroll drawn in the 13th Century from THIS East Asian country.
China
These lights, representing Walk and Don’t Walk, provide special types of traffic signal indications.
Pedestrian Signal Heads
(AKA Ped Heads)
True or False: If you see someone with a visual impairment struggling to do something, you should do it for them.
False. Just ask them if they need help. People with visual impairments are no different than people without visual impairments.
Haben Girma, is the first deafblind person to graduate from the THIS prestigious law school, the same law school that Barack Obama graduated from.
Harvard