Blindness Was Conquered

Wanganui Chronicle, 30 January 1948, Page 7

Blindness Was Conquered

Story of Former Raetihi Girl From Australia "It is almost time for me to go another appointment,’’ said Mrs. Elsie Mead, a visitor from Perth, as her fingers tracel the dial and hands of her Braille watch. Only then did I realise that this young woman, to whom I had been introduced, was blind.

“Don’t pity me,” said Mrs. Mead, when she quickly sensed I had come to the realisation that she was blind. "Pity is the last thing we blind people desire," she added, “for notwithstanding our handicap we find tremendous joy in living and have an appreciation of many things in life." Mrs. Mead is very keen that blind people should be given a chance in life and spoke of the ability of the sightless of doing a great many more things than they were given credit lor. No one could demonstrate more plainly the ability that can be developed by the sightless than she can. During our brief talk this young woman, who impresses one with her bright and sunny personality, told me that her husband is blind and that they run their household like any other couple. These two blind people live a self-sustaining life in their own home, doing everything required to run a home efficiently. Mrs. Mead does not think It is remarkable that they run their home without assistance. She does her housework, cooking, and even the shopping unaided, and among the tasks accomplished by her husband are mowing the lawn and chopping the wood. A New Zealander, her former home was at Raetihi. She lost her sight in an accident at the age of five. After about 20 years in Australia, Mrs. Mead is on a holiday visit of several months in New Zealand, visiting relatives and friends. She found no difficulty in travelling the long journey from Western Australia to the Dominion. On the journey she visited institutes for the blind in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. “It is because I am so keenly interested in the welfare of the blind, both socially and industrially, that I visited these institutes," explained Mrs .Mead, who added that she in-' tends calling in at the Auckland Blind, Institute when she goes north. She lias already visited the institute in Wellington, having spent the first part of her holiday in that city, following her arrival there just before Christmas. Mrs. Mead hopes that by visiting institutes for the blind during her journeyings that she will get some new ideas for West Australia. Asked if the methods of teaching trades were the same in all institutes, she replied that they appeared to be on similar lines, except that the trade of broom-making and brush-making was not included. She referred .to the opportunity to blind people during the war and labour shortage, when they were given a chance by employers, who were willing to try them in jobs. . "Many of them proved efficient and are remaining in industry,” she said, and then went on to explain that sighted people do not always understand that blind people need such a chance to prove their ability. “That is what I mean when I say that if sighted people would give just that chance they would find that blind people are capable of doing a great deal." Mrs. Mead, replying to a question on her holiday, said she was enjoying every minute of it, especially the drives and sight-seeing tours which she enjoys through other peoples’ eyes, for they give her word pictures and describe the landscape and points of interest. She is an excellent typiste and carries on all corresnondence by typing her letters. Mrs. Mead is at present visiting her aunts, Misses B. M. and R. N. Cummins, St. John’s Hill, and leaves next week for Raetihi to stay for a time. From there she will return to Wellington and then journey to Auckland.—E.R.