รายละเอียดกระทู้

Susan Gray | Special to The Citizen http://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/disability-or-no-communication-guides-us-all/article_550b1e87-432b-5012-ae0b-f04abd426015.html My son recently had his wisdom teeth extracted, and being a healthy child, had never before experienced anesthesia or pain medication. It can be difficult to explain a procedure and the expected outcome in terms that both alleviate fear and prepare expectations. It occurred to me that I would need to tell my son about how the anesthesia would affect him, and about the instantaneous effect of it. I also needed to explain that the pain medication, while helpful, would not take away all of his pain. In much the same way, the communication that I require to move and function safely in my environment depends on correct explanations of the places I am moving to and from. Audible communication is such an important part of my everyday living. My computer talks to me, as does my watch, my digital recorder that holds my phone numbers and recipes, my iPod that reads my books, and several audible devices that help me identify color and temperature while cooking. At the end of the day, I crave the quiet peace of my bedroom, where no communication is required, and all the senses can shut down and rest for a while. For those of us who are blind, and lucky enough to have friends or family to act as sighted guides when we are out running errands or attending events, we know the value of our guide’s words. My husband, Rick, has gotten very good at minimal speech, and accurate commands. I think he secretly likes telling me what to do all the time, but won’t admit to it. He has learned almost naturally the sighted guide technique of arm movement that does not require any words, just motions. When I am holding his arm just above his elbow, he can move his arm in, out or back to indicate that I need to move in that direction in order to avoid an object or person in our path. He will just pause at areas that change in surface, so that I know I am stepping onto pavement, grass or stone. Steps require communication, as I need to know if they are going up or down, and how many there are. Our lives are made so much easier by communication. While it is extremely important to my life and the lives of other people that are blind or vision-impaired, communication is key to everything that we learn and do. Good communication leads to a comfort level with any process that we are taking part in. It also helps to really listen, and hear not only the requirements that are expected of you, but the needs of your communicator. As with small children, we all need to know that we are being heard and understood. As we communicate shared experiences, like the extraction of wisdom teeth, we do share our wisdom with one another, and gain more wisdom ourselves. It is said that we are to comfort others with the comfort that we have received. Our words can be a reassurance to others that have not yet experienced what we have. They can be a light to a person who is blind or lost in some way. After all, what good are words if you have no one to share them with? Susan Gray is chair of the board of directors of Options for Independence in Auburn.