	June 1996

Accessible Art and Other Ventures:

Recreation Ideas for Individuals Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision

Donna Reihl, Ph.D. Candidate

Recreational activities incorporated into a daily routine can facilitate and reinforce the achievement of goals and objectives in a person's life. Recreation can facilitate life skill areas such as socialization, daily living, environmental interaction, and development of spatial concepts. Recreation also provides a medium for people to make constructive use of their leisure time and make time live versus killing time.

Recreation and play are important components to a healthy personality. A healthy personality should have equal parts of work, play and rest in order to maintain an equilibrium. Recreation and play allow for release of excess energy and provide a catharsis from daily stress. Constructive use of leisure time allows for changes in routine and provides opportunities to become and remain creative.

The environment is an important factor to consider. Is the environment safe? Is the environment accessible? Is there appropriate lighting, and are there appropriate tasks lights and/or environmental cues so that a person can be inde-pendent within that environment?

Environmental Considerations

Environment can be a key to success. Effective lighting, noise reduction, and appropriate space set the scene for a successful activity.

Choose your work area ahead of time and reserve it if reservation is necessary. Check the area out before the day you need it. Is the room large enough? Is the right kind of light present? Are glare and reflection minimized? Are there task lights available? Avoid facing bright lights if you are working with people with visual impairments. Many persons who are visually impaired may be sensitive to light. Know the etiology of the eye diseases and disorders and adjust the lighting requirements to the individual's needs.
Be sure you are familiar with the area in which you will be working. Does it have bathroom facilities, running water, enough work space, enough room for you to do the project you have planned, and a method to communicate (such as a phone, an intercom or a walkie-talkie) with persons outside the area?
Carefully plan how participants will move to and from the work area. Orienting people to their environment and to the room is an important part of activity planning and implementation.
Avoid confusing sounds while you are working. Many persons who are visually impaired may not be able to be successful in an activity if there is too much outside noise. Avoid blasting radios, speak in an appropriate level of loudness, and avoid personal conversations when working on a task or activity.
Plan how you will clean up after the project is over. Assign tasks so that everyone knows what their job responsibilities are for clean-up.
Always check the work area when you have completely finished and make sure everything has been put away in its place.

Specific Hints for Specific Activities

Tennis Anyone?

Choose balls to contrast with the background. A stripe around ball will give it the flicker effect so it is more easily tracked.
Using a larger than average ball or tennis racket will also help the person with low vision.

Going to the Movies

If you have low vision and are trying to find someone in a dark-ened movie theater or a darkened room, it will be very difficult. It is helpful to walk up to the screen, turn around, and allow the light behind you from the screen to illuminate the audience. This might make it easier for you to locate the row or the person you are looking for.

Hiking

When hiking or climbing, measure a level against yourself. This makes it easier to judge the height.
When going downhill, try to be second in line. This helps a person with low vision to judge where they are going. This is especially helpful if you lack depth perception. Check the level of your feet with the person in front of you.
National and state parks often have audio tapes or specially marked trails for the visually impaired. Call the Recreation and Parks office for your specific area.

Photography

Photography can be practiced, especially by people with low vision, particularly with the new Point & Shoot auto focusing cameras.
Telephoto lenses can be used to view distant objects.
Some Instamatic cameras, when turned toward the photographer, can become low power monoculars.

Gardening

Wrap the handles of your gardening tools with brightly colored tape.
Use measuring tape and string on stakes in order to have straight rows.
Sprinkle your seeds into the ground by hand.
Always place your utensils face down, with no prongs up, for safety purposes.
Label any fertilizer and chemicals in large print and/or Braille.
Do not sniff any garden chemicals to determine what they are. This method is very unsafe!
Keep the bags of garden chemicals off of the floor to keep them dry.
Plant flowers with distinct scents and bring them into your home when they are in full bloom.

Recreation Resources

The National Park Service: Persons with visual impairments or who are blind can obtain a free lifetime permit to national parks. The permit is good for the holder, staff, children, and guests in the same car. The permit may be obtained at the entrances to relevant areas. An Access National Parks guide can be obtained also, and voice index cassettes from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Disabled are available.
Baseball: For information, write to Feelings Sports, Editor, Braille Sports Foundation, 4100 Vernon Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55418, or The National Beep Ball Association, 730 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 301, Minneapolis, MN 55403.
Biking: Tandem bikes, riding with a sighted friend, riding side-by-side buddy car biking. For more information, write to Fenway Company, 15940 Warwick Road, Detroit, MI 48223.
Boating for the Handicapped: This is a paperback book produced by the West Coast Guard, which contains a Braille section on safety. To obtain, write to the Products Manager, Human Resources Center, Albertson, NY 11507.
Camping: Blind Outdoor Leisure Development (BOLD). BOLD has information for persons who are blind or visually impaired on camping and skiing. For more information, contact Aspen BOLD, 533 East Main Street, Aspen, CO 81611.
Feeling Sports: Feeling Sports is a magazine that is written to assist readers in forming correct mental images about what is happening in the world of sports. A limited number of free subscriptions are offered each year. Contact The Braille Sports Foundation, 730 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 301, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
Football Schedules: A list of schedules for approximately 100 NCAA teams is available in Braille or on cassette. The price is $4.00 per unit. write to Football, 4408 Chalfonte Drive, Columbus, GA 31904.
The Association of Blind Athletes (USABA): USABA has information on a wide variety of competitive sports and events that are available throughout the country to persons who are visually impaired or blind. (USABA 55 West California Avenue, Beachhaven Park, NJ 08008)
Art for the Visually Impaired: Write to Volunteers for the Visually Handicapped, 4405 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20014.
The Genealogical Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped: This library has instruction materials in Braille, large print, and on cassette, plus a 5,000 volume collection in regular print in genealogical books, pamphlets and magazines. The Genealogical Library for the Blind is located in Atlanta, Georgia, P. O. Box 88534, Atlanta, GA 30358.
Atlantic City: Caesar's Palace on the Boardwalk has slot machines complete with Braille instructions. The machines are also 6" lower so they may be comfortably operated by persons in wheelchairs.
International Pen Friends: A pen-pal club for persons with visual impairments. Write to the President, International Pen Friends, Box 340, Dublin 12, Ireland.
The Public Citizens Visiting Center: The Public Citizens Visiting Center offers special tours of the U. S. Capitol for persons with visual impairments. Tours are about 2 to 2-1/2 hours long, and the cost is $2.50 per person. Contact The Public Citizens Visiting Center, 1200 15th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005.

Closer to Home

The Lyric Theater and The Morris Mechanic Theater have audio services available for theater goers. The number to call is 410-685-5086.
Easier Ways at 1049 Rock Hill Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21229, has a wide variety of adaptive aids and devices that are available. They can also be a good resource to find out about board games available in Braille and large print. Their phone number is 410-659-0232.
The Radio Reading Network at 333-5720 offers a wide variety of information to persons who are blind and visually impaired. The Hoover Services has their newsletter and an information hour on the last Tuesday of each month at 1:00. For information on how to subscribe, call 410-333-5720.

Information for the article was excerpted from Molasses, Feathers and Eggshells: Activities for Visually Impaired Persons by Donna Reihl, and Insight to Sight by Laura Dohner and Donna Reihl. Molasses, Feathers and Eggshells can be obtained through the Richard E. Hoover Rehabilitation Services for Low Vision and Blindness for $18.00. Insight to Sight is in the process of going through editorial review by Health Professions Press. If you are interested in obtaining a copy when published, contact the Hoover Services and provide your name, address, and phone number, and you will be contacted when the book is available.

Donna Reihl, M.S., C.T.R.S., C.L.P., is a Ph.D. candidate from Southern California University. Donna is in the process of writing her dissertation in the area of Business Management. She has her Masters of Science degree from Morgan State University in Recreation Administration and Super-vision with a Therapeutic Recreation emphasis, and a Bacheloršs Degree from the University of Maryland at College Park. Mrs. Reihl was a coordinator of the recreation program at The Maryland School for the Blind for 17-1/2 years, and has been at The Richard E. Hoover Rehabilitation Services for Low Vision and Blindness for three years as Manager of the Service.


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