Hannah
4-16-08
Reading 7
What causes blindness?
Blindness can occur when a baby is born. This
happens if part of their eyes don’t form the way they
should. The eyes might look fine on the outside but
the case could be that the brain is not sending pictures
needed for sight.
Another way blindness can occur is something hurts
the eye like a hockey puck. Unfortunately I found out
that if you get hit in the head with a coconut you can
loose your sight. Now I know it’s sounds funny but
laugh if you want after this presentation.
My story
It was a hot day, the temperature as high as 105
degrees. My friend, Olivia and I were trying to
cool off so we started to swim in the cool ocean.
Olivia had invited me to go with her to Florida for
Spring Break and of course without a doubt I said,”
Yes.” After we had been in the water for awhile
Olivia yelled because I was under water swimming,
“Hannah, look at that ice cream parlor. You want
to go? My treat.” I agreed to go because I for one
was ready for a sweet treat.
Continuing My Story
Olivia and I had started walking towards the parlor when
we see all kinds of coconuts on the ground. She then
says,” I really hope no coconuts fall on my head.” Then
she started giggling. She stood under the coconut tree
for only a quick second when,” Bang,” a coconut falls
right on Olivia’s head. I didn’t know that happened
because I had already started walking to the parlor.
Next I yelled ,”Com’ on Livia.” I didn’t hear a response so
I turned around and I saw Olivia lying on the ground.
Last page of my story!
I thought see was kidding but then I saw a ripe
coconut right next to her head. I immediately started
shaking her. After shaking her for a while with no
response Olivia asks in a whisper,” How long have I been
asleep? Where are we? Why did you bring me into a
hot pitch black room?” I then think to myself oh no she
can’t…. see. “Olivia…. Can you see? We’re on the beach
and it’s 4:30 P.M.” nervous me said. She told me that
she couldn’t see……. What should I do? Help
How should I help her get around?
You should give her {him} a cane to help get
around but if you don’t have one get a long stick to
help her not run into things. But if you don’t have
any of these things let her hang on to your arm and
tell the person what direction you will be turning
and tell them if you are going to be stepping on the
grass or the street something like that. There is
also another idea for your friend, get her a trained
dog to help her get around. I heard they are
excellent!
How should I talk to her?
Talk to him or her just like you did before they
became blind. Don’t talk extra loud then
normal because their hearing didn’t go away
their sight did. Also don’t try to avoid words
like see and look because they know that these
words are just apart of our American language.
Can I still get mad at her?
Of course if she/he is doing something that
you don’t think is right, tell them don’t be
afraid to speak up. Just treat them like
nothing ever happened.
How do I tell her/him what
he’s/she’s eating?
Just use the clock system. Example
your chicken noodles are at
6’oclock or your mashed potatoes
are at 3’oclock.
Can someone be partially blind?
Yes. Actually around 60 percent of
people over 60 are visual impaired.
Visual impaired is where you can see a
little bit but you can only see objects
and little color.
How can you read when you’re
blind?
There is actually a type of code of raised dots that
all stand for different letters, numbers and
symbols that people put on signs, keyboards,
keyboards, ect. This way of reading is called
Braille which people put in special books for the
blind to read. Braille was created by Louis
Braille when he was thirteen. He combined the
raised dot method and a military message
system which was for the military to
communicate at night, together that made
Braille.
What kind of other things can get
you blind?
Obesity can get you blind if you don’t
get it under control. Also if you have a
bad case of diabetes you can become
blind.
Weird Fact!
If you get egged in the eye, you could
end up having a bad infection in your
eye which could possible make you
blind.
Be Careful
Pop Quiz!
Who created Braille?
What was the name of the girl
that turned blind in my story?
What kind of animal usually helps a blind
person get around?
References
Blindness for kids
Brainpop- Helen Keller
Cures
Thank you
I hope you learned something
about blindness!
Any QUESTIONS?