I know him by his footsteps

I often call my favorite cab driver, Gerry, to come and get me whenever I need a cab to take me on my errands. We often play a game. He approaches me and I am supposed to guess whether or not it is him. Nine out of ten times I can guess correctly and Gerry is almost always surprised that I can do so.

We talk about it as we drive along and I tell him that I know him by his footsteps. You see, I can often identify a person by their footsteps. Believe it or not, we all have identifiable footsteps. Some of us walk more quickly than others. Some of us walk more slowly and some of us drag our feet more than others. Some of us walk with staccato beats, some of us walk with clipped beats, and some of us walk with crisp beats.

Maybe I am confusing the issue a bit too much here but this is how I do it. In general, many sighted people may not think to pay attention to footsteps but for a blind person it is just part of the process of identifying. Listening for sound and footsteps are a part of this process.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Visit www.rnib.org to learn more.