Dealing with broken pieces

At the best of times, dealing with broken pieces and/or shards of glass could be a real challenge for anyone, but for a blind person it is even more of one. Broken pieces are probably one of my greatest challenges, sometimes turning into a nightmare for me.

So, how do I deal with broken pieces? Well, here goes. If something falls and shatters, the first thing I do is to ensure that I am wearing slippers on my feet. Next, I carefully back away from the area and then go hunting for the hand broom and dustpan. As I am doing this, I have to concentrate very hard to remember where the shatter took place. When I am sure that I know where it is, I gingerly get down on all fours, taking care to ensure that I do not do so with broken pieces in my way.

I then take the hand broom and begin to gently sweep around until I hear the broom knock against something and then I guide it to the dustpan. I repeat this action until I am sure that I have gotten everything but there is no way for me to know that I have gotten everything.

If the broken pieces are on my counter, then I use my hand broom to guide the pieces towards my sink taking care to place my dustpan in the sink before doing this. I allow the broken pieces to fall into my dustpan.

Of course there will always be other places where broken pieces will be if I break something. In the bathroom or anywhere else in my home, but these are my first ways of dealing with broken pieces. I am usually careful enough not to cut myself.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and tell others how I deal with broken pieces. Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.