My Deaf-Blind Argument Part 1

This is an internal argument I have been having with myself for decades. I know what some of you are thinking. “Why would he think about such dreadful calamities to him?” And you’re right. But it’s something I have always struggled with ever since I was young. How young, you ask? I guess it goes back to when I was in high school.

            When I was in school I played in the band. I loved music. Still do. I couldn’t think of not being able to listen to music. Yes, if I were blind I couldn’t read music to play, but I could play it after I heard it and discussed it with others. I wasn’t the reader back then that I am now. But I never made a firm decision.

            As I grew older, and I became more of an avid reader, the pendulum began to swing in the direction of keeping my sight over my hearing. Again, there were things I could do to get that would allow me to read. Early on there was – and still is – Braille reading. (I used to drive for a blind lady who worked for the state blind association. She would visit other blind folks and help them adjust and live with their blindness. She would sit in the back of her car while I drove her from home to home, reading her Braille books! When we would get to a home, she would describe it to me including the number of steps we had on the walk up, the color of the house, whether we rang the doorbell or knocked, and million other things. She was amazing. I’ll save more of this for a later post!) Somehow though, reading those large books with my fingers never got me interested enough to learn Braille and try it.

            But giving up either sense is more than just giving up either just reading or listening to or playing music. However, for purposes of my argument here I am going to limit it to only those two activities. Sight reading books and listening to music.

            Today there are alternatives for sight reading that may worth considering. There are audiobooks. Or one can hire a reader. But why would one of these be better than reading a Braille book?

            I am at the bottom of my page and the artificial limit I put on my daily writing…to be continued…

(Ebrima 12 font)