Modern technology enables them to navigate both physical and online worlds with relative ease, but those I am talking to are highly skilled; their concern is for others just learning how to get around. Funding cuts have carved hefty chunks out of the budgets of local authorities, meaning less independence, less community engagement and less useful activity for those adjusting to urban life with disabilities. For the rest of us, the challenge is to be more aware of the world we live in; for even those with perfect vision often fail to see people with disabilities who are right before our eyes.
By depriving people temporarily of sight, Dialogue in the Dark makes us look around a bit more. The coronavirus outbreak meant that the Hackney Citizen was unable to print a monthly newspaper for three months. We're grateful that we have since been able to resume printing. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our readers, whose donations kept the paper from disappearing completely at a distressing time for residents.
A huge thank you to everyone who gave their time and money to support us through the lockdown, and to those who continue to do so as we slowly recover from the dramatic fall in advertising revenues, on top of the existing challenges threatening the future of local journalism. A one-off donation or a regular contribution from anyone who can afford it will help our small team keep the newspaper in print and the website running in the coming months and years.
Find out how you can donate. The exhibition gives sighted people an experience of being blind. Image: Dialogue in the Dark I feel my way into the park, clocking with my hands a fence, a bench, a railing, bushes and trees which are big and rough. The platform landed in Shanghai a decade ago and has hosted over , visitors to encounter a simulated reality without sight. You arrive 15 minutes early for instruction and encouragement! There is a maximum of eight guests per session but they do single-person journeys as well.
Remember to ask for help when needed and always keep your cane on the ground. Founded in Germany in by Dr Andreas Heinecke, the Dialogue in the Dark exhibits have toured 40 countries and serve a dual purpose: providing employment opportunities for blind and low-vision people it has employed up to 10, blind guides and facilitators in its 25 years , and allowing sighted people the chance to better appreciate life without vision. After a short introduction that warms up my ability to identify things based on smell jars of samples, hidden inside tissue paper , sound tubes filled with sound-making materials and touch boxes full of different objects , I am equipped with a cane and sent into the exhibit.
My casual skim along the handrail becomes a white-knuckle grip as the light slowly disappears behind me. One of the parlour games of privilege is to try to imagine what life would be like if, say, you woke up tomorrow and could no longer see.
Somewhere nearby?
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