Custom «Assistance to the Blind» Essay Paper Sample

Introduction

Most people come to this world endowed with good health and ability. Others come, against their wishes, with physical as well as mental disability. Unfortunately none of these people dictated their fate. It is only fair to appreciate, as has been demonstrated by people who were born blind, disability is not inability. Blindness may result from many factors prior to, during and after birth. Medical practitioners describe blindness as visual impairment that may result from both neurological and psychological factors.

Many will ask the question whether assistance to the blind is a worthwhile endeavor. A consideration of a variety of factors hereby discussed would best answer such a question and many others related to inability especially blindness. To begin with, no one is immune to blindness. Blindness results from diseases, mutation as well as from accidents. Some people become blind in the course of their living and any assistance accorded them is considered service to humanity. In view of this, any healthy eye can turn blind at any given time. It is therefore the duty, not only for the government but also for the community to extend facilities to the blind. Indeed no one chooses to be blind; most factors leading to blindness are beyond human control.

The blind once assisted with basic aids become independent and are able to earn a living. It is no doubt that those with visual inability once accorded basic aids like brail equipment, guide sticks as well as mutual support become independent and are able to lead a healthy living. Some are renowned athletes, lecturers in renowned institutions of higher learning among other noble professions. Denying them a chance is denying the world the services of noble men and women.

Assistance to the Blind

The list of assistance that can be accorded to the blind is not endless as most people believe. Given basic facilities, blind people can, with ease, lead normal lives. These basic aids include education, Braille equipment, mobility aids and psychological support. Though education to the blind may seem expensive, the truth is far from this misconception. Only the initial investment, just like is the case in setting up other facilities of learning, business organizations, companies, medical facilities among others. The government, for example, would only need to allocate funds for the setting up of institutions for the blind and the purchase of equipment.

Braille equipment for the blind though expensive is a core an aid to basic education. The United States congress in recognition of this basic requirement enshrined this in the social security act of 1972 .Other reading aids include computers specially designed with scanners and Braille converters, readers which translate text to speech as well as special character readers such as optical character recognition (OCR), as well as refreshable screen displays.

There is in existence a wide range of mobility aids. Examples of which include the white stick and mobility dogs. With little training from mobility professionals the blind become familiar with their environment and are able to move from place to place freely. With a little support from the people they may come across from day to day and the mobility aids, the blind can lead a fairly independent life. Software designers too are in the attempt to design equipment software that would aid the blind to drive. Other government interventions include adopting transport policies that would provide special transport to the blind and increase accessibility to public places.

Conclusion

In conclusion one need to accept the fact that no one chooses to be blind. Service to the blind is service to humanity and whether expensive or inexpensive it is a worthwhile endeavor. Moral support to the blind too cannot be under estimated.