Many necessities in life are taken for granted including food, water, and the human senses. Several individuals are robbed of their senses including touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. This handicap is a burden for many; however, this causes them to be forced to adapt to this lifestyle. An individual, in particular, is Helen Keller. She was born with the ability to see and hear, but at a year and seven months from her birth, she lost both of those senses. In her early life, she did not have to communicate and express her opinions and thoughts. Helen Keller had to adapt to accommodate her handicap, as well as, live an ordinary life. She used sign language as a way of communication. To understand what others were saying, Helen would touch their lips or throat which allowed her to sense vibrations. Through this, she could understand what others were saying. An individual’s loss of their senses of sight and sound, causes them to live a life of many challenges and obstacles.
The loss of sight causes several challenges in an individual’s life. Blindness affects their sense of location. A person who is blind may find it difficult navigating; therefore many of them have to use an assistant dog or a white cane to have a sense of their surrounding. Another issue is they cannot do simple tasks a person with sight can do. This is a hindrance for them because it limits their ability to do activities. One more challenge a person with blindness can face is when they are handling cash. They cannot see the cash. So when they are giving and/or receiving cash as payment, they might be scammed or tricked. Most blind people have adapted to that, so they have specific ways they fold their money so that they can just feel the cash and assume that what they give and receive is the right amount. Also, blind people can adapt to many of these changes or difficulties throughout life like going with their close friends whenever they need to go outside. Also, when they are looking for a job they can go to a specific place that allows them to work there and accommodates their needs. Life is different between a blind and a “normal” person but they overcome those challenges. At the end of the day, everyone just wants some happiness in their life and that is what makes them successful to themselves.
Being deaf has many effects on a person. Due to their inability to hear, if a deaf person were in an airport or train station, they might not get informed their train or plane is departing early or late, and that causes significant problems for them. Deaf individuals have adapted to the problem by using applications on their phones that give the announcements for an airport or train station. This helps deaf people because they would have an application that they know they can rely on to get information just in case they have not already got it. Another problem when being deaf is being in the dark when trying to communicate. Most people can communicate in the dark without a problem because they can hear what the other person is saying but individuals who are deaf usually read lips or communicates through sign language which is hard to do when they cannot see. In movies or at clubs, they usually have one of their friends or an interpreter capable of helping a deaf person because when learning sign language, most teachers teach them by touching as well so they know what letter it is just by feeling what the interpreter or friend has put up. In addition, when deaf people try to get job interviews set up, it is hard because the world now revolves around technology, so face to face interviews are far less common. A deaf person cannot hear others when they talk on the phone, and that makes it harder for them to get interviewed. For interviews, one must actually have to go to the area they plan to work and get an interview scheduled. Some deaf students have hearing aids, but there are problems like lighting. Most people do not notice, but fluorescent lights emit a special sound that interferes with hearing aids. That can break the person’s hearing aid. Deaf individuals have worked around that and have their teacher stay nearby them when they are speaking so they can read their lips. Also, a deaf person might tell the teacher not give directions when they are passing out papers because they cannot see their lips which make it harder for them to interpret what their teacher is saying.
If one was like Helen Keller and they were to regain one of their senses, they would likely want to regain their sense of sight. For instance, when one is not blind they can see the world around themselves and know when there is an object in front of them. However, when one is blind, the person cannot see around themselves. Another benefit from being able to see is one can drive and go to places much quicker. When being blind, the person must rely on another person to take them everywhere. Lastly, another benefit of not being blind is they can look at a cellular device and text people so for assistants, but when being blind, one is incapable of doing so. When being able to see rather than being deaf the person can do many things like driving, seeing things around them, and looking at the faces of their fellow friends and family around them. When being blind and capable to hear they cannot drive, look at the surrounding things, and look at the faces of their fellow friends and family around them.
The loss of the senses of sight and sound is difficult for individuals. Also, both these difficulties can cause many problems and hurt the way one lives. Many people want to see the world and hear the sounds people who are not deaf hear but are incapable and most people take for granted. Blind people, for example, cannot see the colors and lights one normally sees daily. People who are deaf cannot experience listening to music and the sounds of this world. Helen Keller, for instance, had to be taught a whole other way to live so she can be a successful person. For example, she became the first person with a disability to graduate college. Also, she was a women’s rights activist who wanted equality for all. Even though she had these disabilities, she was able to overcome them and become a great civil leader and a well-known person in today’s modern world.
