Simulating Sightlessness

A popular attraction at the National Jamboree is the disAbilities Awareness Challenge. Participants face al- most two dozen activities, each teaching about, or simulating, a physical or mental disability. Most challenges simulate either partial or complete blindness, including BB Target Shooting, Beeper Baseball, One-eyed Fish- ing, and the Cane Maze. Some require special equipment, like Beeper Baseball or target shooting, while others utilize simple construction materials.

To simulate sightlessness, these challenges use easy-to-make blinder glasses. First, buy a quantity of clear safety glasses. These are widely available and often cost less than a dollar each. Next, buy some black spray paint. The easiest way to prepare several pairs of glasses at one time is to mount the arms to a piece of card- board by poking the earpiece through the cardboard. Then spray paint the lenses evenly and thoroughly.

Most supervisors instruct participants to keep their eyes closed during the event. This is because the - blinders don’t completely cover their eyes, and peripherally, Scouts can manage to see their way around.

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Summer 2014 Abilities Digest 3

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Blinders do, however, help participants get started with the simulation, and remind them to keep their eyes closed.

Some challenges like the One-eyed Fishing cover only one eye. The same technique with the safety glasses can be used; just cover one of the lenses with tape before painting. Creating a mix of left-only and right-only blinders allows participants a different experience by merely switching one eye covered to the other.