Blindness and Managing the Environment

Abstract

Existing and proposed environmental modifications are analyzed by means of the model of a competently trained, blind person's movement in both the physical and the attitudinal environment. The motivation to modify the environment is believed to grow out of a lack of understanding of the role that personal knowledge, judgment, and skill play in a blind person's understanding and management of external reality. In the absence of this understanding, the abilities of blind people are minimized greatly, resulting in a custodial response termed “neoinstitutionalization.”