Deafblindness Day – Essen, almost blind and deaf – a self-experiment – News


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57,000 people in this country are visually and hearing impaired. In the restaurant it becomes clear: your everyday life is a challenge.

How does going to a restaurant feel for people with limited vision and hearing? That’s what I want to know and that’s why I made an appointment to meet Doris Boller for lunch.

She has been blind since she was 50. “I don’t see anything, I’m walking through a black world,” she says when I greet them. The 79-year-old suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease that destroys the retina. The disease progresses in phases, and Doris Boller’s vision was impaired for the first time at the age of 21. At the age of 62, a hearing impairment was added.

Day of deafblindness on June 27th


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June 27th is International Day of Deafblindness. That’s why you can currently find out what it’s like to eat with limited eyesight and hearing in 27 restaurants throughout Switzerland. The campaign «To the table!» by the Swiss Central Association for the Blind (SZB) and other organizations is intended to sensitize society to the concerns of the visually and hearing impaired.

Life is a great challenge for the visually and hearing impaired, everyday life becomes hard work. food for example. “Eating is actually an adventure for us,” says Doris Boller.

With cardboard glasses and earplugs

In eastern Switzerland, the Tibits restaurant is taking part in the “Zu Tisch!” campaign. around the day of deafblindness. Doris Boller comes in double accompaniment. She always has guide dog Shaya with her. Today, however, Heidi Irion, a voluntary companion from the Swiss Central Association for the Blind, also helps her.

Eating is actually an adventure for us.

At the buffet, for example, where the visually and hearing impaired would be lost without help. Heidi Irion reads: “Broccoli quiche, couscous, dal with spinach leaves in a curry coconut milk sauce, samosas…” Doris Boller opts for four samosas, rice and a vegetarian chilli.

Legend:

Doris Boller is deaf and blind. Bitch Shaya is always by her side.

SRF

Now it’s my turn. I can still see at the buffet – and I fill my plate as I please: salad, some vegetables, chickpeas and also samosas. I set myself back at the table. I received a placemat that informs me about the campaign and from which I can cut out a set of cardboard glasses. Earplugs are also provided.

The glasses have a tiny hole on the left side. Nina Hug, Co-Head of Marketing and Communication at the SZB, explains to me that the intention was to simulate a visual impairment and not complete blindness. This is because only a minority of the approximately 57,000 people affected in Switzerland are completely deaf-blind. I still close my eyes anyway.

Lettuce and chickpeas – a bad choice

Although I just saw the plate, I have no idea what to find where. I poke around at random and quickly realize: lettuce and chickpeas, that was a bad choice. Often the fork is empty when I put it in my mouth – nothing caught. “That’s part of it,” Doris Boller encourages me.

I have to concentrate so much that eating becomes hard work for me too. And how am I supposed to know if I still have something on my plate or not? I capitulate and open my eyes, the small hole in the glasses helps me enormously. There’s a huge difference between being totally blind and still having some sight. Doris Boller also confirms this to me.

Finally she asks me how it was. Extremely difficult, but impressive, I answer her. She wants to know if the taste was more intense. In fact, I perceived the food much more intensely, the spices, the consistency. Back home later, I’m grateful to be able to see dinner again. This is no longer a matter of course for me.

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