The Blind Leading the Blind

Linda Braga, Castro Valley, CA

The conversation went something like this: “Your TCC students are all registered and ready for tomorrow. Oh, by the way, one of your students is a young man who is blind.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean, Bev? Is he completely blind?” “Well, I guess so. He uses a white cane. But he also told me he’d be walking to your class Tuesday evening.”

The next night Dennis arrived and so began a friendship with a student uniquely challenged to learn T’ai Chi Chih. He told me he could “see shapes” and I trusted that the group and the process would support him. He stood quite close to me as we began in a circle doing Rocking Motion. Soon he was flowing along with the others with no problem.

Over the many weeks, I learned a lot from my new friend. Here are a few points that have made me a better teacher and helped him learn T’ai Chi Chih.

Teaching the visually impaired (VI) student means:

• Be exact. Give clear verbal clues. We depend a great deal upon students watching us demonstrate and observing subtleties of movement, seeing when and how to begin. You need to say when to start, how high, how far forward to go (this helps everyone).

• Provide energetic/emotional support. Place continuing students who perform well on either side, so the VI student will feel the balance and flow of chi during practice.

• Give verbal feedback directly to the VI student. Use it as a way to correct others while they are moving. “Good Dennis, your balance is shifting smoothly from front to back without extending too far.” Others will think, “If he can do this, then so can I.”

• Use a variety of ways to communicate quality of movement. One way is using sound. “Dennis, it feels like this when I move forward, then back, “UMMMMM/ummmmm.” Sometimes the whole class makes the sound to feel the difference.

• Ask for feedback. Don’t assume the VI student knows it all. Continue to ask, “Is there any way I can support your progress or make it easier?” (more demos, stand closer, stand side-by-side or in front, review).

• Encourage sharing with the group. VI students can help break the ice for others by telling how it is for them.

• Expect success. I was mentally prepared to teach Dennis the seated form of T’ai Chi Chih because it would be “easier.” He wanted to do the standing form, and he was successful.

Dennis is returning for another session of classes this fall. His presence will be a positive influence on others who are new and on those who know him. It’s a case of the blind leading the blind. Who knows? You might just luck out and have a VI student enroll in your class.