Sad e-mail, we're all getting older

Subject: Sad e-mail, we're all getting older

We certainly can't stress strongly enough the importance of continuing and expanding critical services to newly blind adults of working age. 

But of equal importance are the unmet needs of the older blind and vision impaired folks. 

Dan's email and the several responses point to one of these critical unmet needs.  Mobility. 

Dan relates that he wanted to continue being an independent traveler, but after three days of training,the trainer told him that he was no longer a good candidate for a dog guide.  

Of course without being said, I'm sure Dan understands that in part, the trainer was telling him that he is no longer safe as an independent traveler.  So where does that leave Dan?  The dog school is protecting itself.  I guess that as far as they are concerned their involvement is at an end and Dan can just go home and "stay safe". 

This is the fate of an ever growing number of blind people.  Both newly blind, but also those of us long termers who were once light on our feet but nowadays look more like an old sway back Doblin.  Head down, swinging side to side, haltingly taking a step and stopping to see if we're still alive. 

Well, at least that's how I am feeling lately.  Gone are my quick reflexes, my ability to hone in on sounds, to be tuned in to all of the subtle cues that I depended on for so many years as an independent traveler.  Arthritis, a hip replacement and issues with vertigo have turned this once super traveler into a shuffling, bumbling fellow.  But inside my head I am still 20 years old and ready to go.  I'm certainly not ready to crawl inside my cave and stay safe.  I figure I'll have eternity to do that. 

Just what's our position?  Are we as a blind organization willing to shrug and say, "That's just part of getting older"? 

Or should we be busy drawing up battle lines to begin the fight for adequate funding for door to door transportation for those who want to be out and about, but are unsafe on our wild and crazy streets? 

Frankly, in-home services are pathetic for blind Seniors.  We need a new support network, a combination of vision and geriatric experts who have the training and skills to assist people to be as independent as they can be, while understanding and handling their multiple age-related issues. 

Perhaps we need teams working together.  Or we might look at short term residential settings for intense training.  We will need a new army of specially trained aids to work with folks in a one on one situation, not doing for them but encouraging them to do for themselves.  Brainstorming together ways of being as independent as possible. 

Of course this means we will have an uphill struggle, pushing a boulder ahead of us.  Our politicians and our corporate masters will cry out that such programs are far too costly, especially in these hard times. 

Well, just for the record, I've never lived in times that the politicians and corporate masters felt were good enough to extend a higher quality of services to blind people. 

I am done with listening to the talk of no money and our need to sacrifice during these times of War on Terror.  We older blind people are facing our own years of Terror, unless we do something about it.  It isn't the blind who have squandered billions of unaccounted dollars, as our military and their contractors have done.  In fact, we are held to very close accounting of the dribble of money given to older blind programs.  No, the money is sitting there.  The problem is that the people sitting on it don't want to let it go to provide a higher quality of life for blind seniors.  Our task is firstly to convince   ourselves that there really is money, and secondly, how to pry some of it loose. 

All we need are a few leaders who are visionaries.  So step right up and let's get going. 

 

Carl Jarvis