O & M: Enforcing Skills for Independence

By Jessica Minneci

An example of a sighted guide assisting
someone who is visually impaired 

            Visually impaired individuals, such as myself, often have a difficult time orienting themselves to a new setting. In these instances, people may ask for assistance. Unfortunately, most of the time, the help they receive is not “helpful.”

            For example, could you imagine having trouble receiving proper guidance to a seat in a restaurant? Sadly, I have experienced this issue multiple times in the past. One afternoon, my legally blind friend and I decided to eat at a local pizza restaurant. Upon entering the diner, my friend asked the hostess if she could lead us to a table. The hostess, not seeing both of our canes, was confused. She proceeded to tell us that the table was “over there.” I thanked the hostess, but explained to her that we were both legally blind and couldn’t see where she was pointing. My friend asked for sighted guide to our table, meaning that the hostess should offer my friend her elbow. My friend would hold on to her elbow and I would hold on to my friend’s other arm. If it was a narrow pathway to our table, the hostess would have to put her arm behind her back to let my friend know that she should walk behind the hostess and so should I. When she turns, she should tell us, “turning right” or “turning left.”

            After a bit of hesitation, the hostess guided my friend and I through a narrow pathway of closely-spaced tables. Upon reaching our table, she was about to leave. We asked her which table was ours, the one to our left or the one to our right. She said, “The one to your right.” I heard her turn again to leave and hurriedly asked, “Would you mind clarifying where the table is again? Please, put my hand on the back of my chair so that I know where it is.” Reluctantly, the hostess did as I asked and flounced off as my friend and I were finally seated.

            Of course, this instance is just one of many encounters in which a sighted individual lacks the information needed to assist people with visual impairments. Other issues happen when a blind person is pulled across a street or when someone grabs a guide dog’s harness handle in an attempt to direct the team onto a train. Such problems have taken place in my life and in the lives of my friends. In order to stop these situations from taking shape in the future, everyone should have a basic understanding of orientation and mobility training, lessons that teach blind individuals how to become independent and people with full vision how to best assist a visually impaired person.

            In the original scenario, if the hostess had known O & M, she may have looked closely at my friend and I and noticed our white canes. After we asked for assistance to our seats, she could have easily offered my friend her elbow and put her arm behind her back as we walked through the cluster of tables. She could have stopped at our desired seat, used left and right directions to orient us to where the table was, and, without hesitation, could have put our hands on our chairs. Lastly, she could have asked us if we needed any further guidance before she left, and if not, bid us a polite goodbye.

            A couple tidbits of knowledge can go a long way. Understanding O & M practices allows the fully sighted and the visually impaired individuals to work together to make the event meaningful to one another. The sighted person may be confident and elated that she knows how to help while visually impaired people feel accommodated and not embarrassed that they had to ask and explain how they needed to be guided. On top of that, neither party will be embarrassed by having to go through so much trouble just to get a seat. Therefore, I encourage you to learn more about O & M so that you can help yourself to better assist others.

             


Jess Minneci is a senior at Seton Hill University and an intern at APH. She is a three-time National Braille Challenge participant and has previously volunteered with ACB. She is a poet and aspiring novelist who enjoys filming youtube videos about young adult novels and spending time with her guide dog Joyce.

Muhammad Waheed's Goalball Journey

By Jessica Minneci

Three players crouch in front of goals at the ready.
Photo credit Dotty Raynor, The Maryland School for the Blind 

          Imagine being blindfolded and lying on a gymnasium floor as you attempt to block a ball full of bells hurtling toward you.  This game, known as goalball, is enjoyed throughout the blind and visually impaired community especially in grade school.  Fortunately, athletes don't have to stop playing goalball when they reach the collegiate level. Starting a team at a university can be a fantastic way to continue playing and meet great people.  For these reasons, Muhammad Waheed worked with others to create a goalball team at Towson University.

When he was a sophomore in high school, Muhammad began playing goalball as part of an outreach program through The Maryland School for the Blind.  His two coaches were adapted physical education and health teachers Matt Mescall and Bev Marhevka.  Coach Mescall and coach Marhveka taught Muhammad and his friend, Tim Utzig, a great deal about goalball, including the fact that every player must be open to playing all three positions: left wing, right wing, and center.

"I'll admit I started off playing the right wing position," Muhammad said.  "However, that has changed.  I'm capable of playing all three positions and I just do what coach asks and what the team asks.” In this way, Muhammad became a more flexible athlete and does what he can to support his team.

After high school, Tim and Muhammad enrolled at Towson University.  Following coach Mescall’s suggestion, Muhammad asked the staff of Disability Support Services about starting a team.  The staff connected Muhammad with Jeff Keenan, the assistant director of competitive sports in the Campus Recreation department.  Jeff guided Muhammad and Tim through the necessary steps to form a team with Matt Mescall from The Maryland School for the Blind as the head coach.

To generate interest in the sport, Towson hosted an intramural goalball event. Having doubts about the success of this event, Muhammad recalled, "I basically thought it wasn't going to work because goalball is a visually impaired sport...  and Towson is a sighted person school." Fortunately, those who attended the event seemed interested in the sport, causing the team to move forward with their plans to start a goalball club.

By the end of the fall 2016 semester, Towson had an official goalball club. Muhammad was elected club president with Tim Utzig as vice president. A secretary, Olivia Chapman, and a treasurer, Caitlin Morrell, were also elected. Afterwards, the four went to meetings to learn how to manage their club budget, submit budget and facility requests, plan events, and find two safety and facility officers.

The fun begins with goalball practice at Towson once a week.  There are times when practice has to be canceled, however, because there are not enough players.  In order to meet the requirement for a sports club at Towson, 10 people have to sign a waver.  The problem that the team runs in to is that people sign the waver but don't show up to practice.  In the beginning, 3 to 6 out of the 10 people that signed the waver regularly went to practice.  Now, the team roster consists of 10 to 12 players with 6 to 8 people showing up to practice.  Muhammad hopes that, "We can get, one day, everybody who signed a waver to consistently come to practice." A co-educational team, there is about the same number of male and female players. There are also two visually impaired players.

Three players slide across the floor to protect
 their goals from the oncoming ball.
Photo credit Dotty Raynor, The Maryland School for the Blind

When the team does practice, the players work vigorously under coach Mescall’s instruction. As Mescall also coaches down at The Maryland School for the Blind, the Towson team occasionally practices with their high school team. These practices give the younger students "more college exposure" as the Towson team can advise the other students based on their own college experiences. Muhammad also encourages the students, telling them that "they can go to any university or anywhere and they can continue playing goalball after graduating from school for the blind."

The players also host or attend different goalball meets, one on one matches at other universities. In the spring, Towson Goalball participates in the National Collegiate Goalball Championship, which is a tournament between multiple university goalball teams. In 2017, Towson's players went to Slippery Rock University to compete in the championship.  Out of about 10 or 11 teams, Towson earned fifth place with Slippery Rock winning first place. "For our first semester club, we thought that was pretty good," Muhammad said.

In 2018, Towson hosted the championship.  Unfortunately, only four teams were able to attend. Through coach Mescall’s connections, coach Matt Boyle, the head coach of the Men's Paralympic Goalball Team for Team USA, helped organize and officiate the championship. He also brought goalball goals to the campus. "When there's some downtime, occasionally, he'll even give us some pointers," Muhammad said.  Coach advises the team on how to roll the ball and how to slide and dive. He speaks on topics such as form, technique, offense, and defense.

            

          Others can connect with Towson Goalball on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @tugoalball.  "I'm also in the process of trying to help start other programs at other universities...  I am working with people at Syracuse University to see if they're interested and Norfolk State University in Virginia has shown some interest in starting a program," Muhammad explained. Muhammad opens lines of communication with these schools via phone calls and emails from the team's email address, tugoalball@gmail.com. On top of that, Muhammad provides advice for existing teams that are struggling.

One player about to hurtle the ball
back toward their opponents.
Photo credit Dotty Raynor, The Maryland School for the Blind

            

         During his next two years at Towson, Muhammad hopes that the team can grow and that they "can have a men's goalball team and a women's goalball team." To help achieve this goal, Towson is celebrating National Blind Sports Day with an intramural goalball tournament on Friday October 5th where anyone can come play goalball. 

Muhammad Waheed is a junior at Towson University. He is majoring in mass communication and is on the track of journalism and new media.  A determined individual, he does not let his visual impairment stop him from achieving success. Before graduation in 2020, Muhammad and Tim want to find other students to continue to manage the Towson goalball team. Upon graduation, Muhammad said, "I want to go into the field of journalism and...  find a job within the industry.  I'd also like to stay involved with goalball, whether that's coaching, playing, or helping develop new programs." A fantastic leader and player, Muhammad will succeed wherever he goes after college.

Jess Minneci is a senior at Seton Hill University and an intern at APH. She is a three-time National Braille Challenge participant and has previously volunteered with ACB. She is a poet and aspiring novelist who enjoys filming youtube videos about young adult novels and spending time with her guide dog Joyce.