Visually Impaired Obstacle Course

As a visually impaired person, John finds that just going for a walk outside is an obstacle course. Fortunately he has his long cane, which enables him to find most of the obstacles but not all of them.

In areas that John knows, some of the permanent obstacles, such as street furniture, can be useful as an orienteering guide that gives him an idea of where he is. For example, a litter bin in front of a street lamp, next to some railings may tell him that he is at a particular point on a road that he knows. In an area that John doesn’t know, street furniture can cause as many issues as temporary obstacles.

Temporary obstacles, such as temporary road signs, shop signs placed on the pavement, cars parked on the pavement, wheelie bins left out etc, can cause problems and some confusion. This is mostly because they are unexpected and when the long cane hits them, John then has to figure out which direction to go in to avoid hitting them with his body. If a car has been parked fully on the pavement, John may even have to walk into the road to avoid hitting it. As a visually impaired person, who also has a hearing impairment, John may not hear if it is safe to step into the road to avoid the parked car.

There are also “hidden” obstacles that the long cane cannot find. This means that John doesn’t know that they are there until he walks into them, usually with his head or face. In the video below, there is an example of a hidden obstacle at the end - this is an estate agent’s sign that has been placed quite low on the wall. Over hanging trees and bushes also cause problems, and John has had his face scratched or been poked in the eye by a few of these.

Hopefully, the video below will help to raise awareness of some of the struggles visually impaired people have just walking outside.