We urge you to join a walk on the Denton Square today to encourage a commitment to improved access to basic services for blind and visually impaired people.
One walk may not be enough to convince everyone that continued action is needed to help this cause, but it’s a good way to start.
Organizers of Denton’s annual White Cane Day have designed the event as a show of solidarity, and they’ve invited area residents to join them.
Participants will meet at noon at the UNT on the Square gallery on the corner of North Elm Street and West Hickory Street.
The Denton Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities, the University of North Texas’ North Texas Rehabilitation Association and a Delta Alpha Pi International Honor Society chapter are hosting the event.
The event is designed to educate the public that there are a lot more people with vision loss who live and work here than they might realize, said Rebecca Cagle, student services coordinator at UNT’s Office of Disability Accommodation.
Way back in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed Oct. 15 as White Cane Safety Day in the United States, according to the National Federation of the Blind.
The day celebrates the independence of blind people and the white cane as a symbol of that self-reliance, according to the federation’s website.
“People with vision loss can work and want to work in [a] competitive employment,” Cagle said.
That goal once seemed impossible. It was unusual to find a blind person out on the street or working at a business. Thankfully, some progress toward greater independence has been made. More is needed, and that’s what White Cane Day is all about.
Thanks to new technology, all it usually takes to put qualified, visually impaired people to work is a willingness to give them a chance, Cagle said. Once we take the first step, we usually find that we have a lot more in common than we may have realized.
Today’s walk should provide a good opportunity to begin developing a better understanding of the employment and mobility-related barriers faced by people with disabilities.
By helping others gain independence and support, we also help ourselves because we never know when we may need the same considerations. Diabetes and other health conditions that often result in vision loss can happen to anyone and are especially prevalent in an aging population.
If we are willing to walk the same path as our neighbors, we will take a big step toward improving communication and understanding.
