What Happens When Things Fall?

This is one of the most difficult challenges of my life. What really happens when things fall? In the ordinary world, a mainstream person simply bends over and picks up the fallen object, or if the object has managed to roll away, out of sight, they simply use their vision to find it.

For me, the process is quite different. If something falls out of my grasp I can usually locate it using my sense of hearing to determine where it has fallen, but it all depends on whether or not it makes noise as it clatters to the floor. If the object in question falls onto a hard surface, then the task is not too difficult. However, if it rolls away from me then I am in trouble. If the object falls on carpet or if the object itself does not make any noise as it falls, then all hell breaks loose.

A funny thing happened to me a few days ago. A friend was over helping me with some computer-related stuff and on his way out noticed something small lying on my carpet. When he picked it up and then put it in my hand, I realized that it was an SD card. To my horror I realized that the digital card had been lying on my carpet for almost three weeks, during which time I had vacuumed around that spot a few times. The card must have slipped out of my MP3 player over three weeks ago, as I had not used it since that time.

Oh boy! What if my vacuum cleaner had swallowed up my SD card? I would never have known! When I next used my MP3 player, I would never have known what happened to my poor SD card. Ah , the joys of having to deal with falling objects that do not make sounds and noises.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special-needs business consultant asking you to go out there and help educate the rest of the world about some of the challenges that blind and visually-impaired persons face when it comes to falling objects that do not make sounds or noises.

To learn more about how blind persons deal with things in their daily lives, visit www.afb.org.