I can't believe I haven't written this post yet...
A few months ago, my P.S.E. class were visited by this amazing man named George, who spoke (rather signed) on behalf of deaf-blind Scotland.
We've had our fair share of incredibly mundane, predictable and uninformative speakers in the past, but George was undeniably different. He didn't just give us an insight into the hardships that deaf-blind people deal with every single day, but he made every single one of us walk out of that room feeling a little more inspired than we did walking in.
You see, unlike the majority of us, who whinge and moan about every minuscule problem in our lives, George just gets on with life. He started laughing half way through one of his explanations and told us that he had won his bowling competition yesterday. Everyone had a grin on their faces, it was such a lovely thing to hear, a deaf-blind man, not just bowling, but bowling well. Hey, he'd probably beat both of us if we challenged him to a game!
He showed us all of these fancy little gadgets that the charity kit the people they help up with, including a device that ensures that you don't overfill a cup with boiling water whilst making yourself a hot drink. It was interesting, discovering how the charity help.
But it was this man, it was George who was unforgettable. This lively, optimistic man who used his own situation to educate people about not only the charity, but the condition itself. The talk made us all think twice about the simple things that we take advantage of every single day. Our sight, our hearing, our lives. Music, television, TV, reading, sports, shopping, writing... all of these things that we love would be so difficult to do if we were registered as deaf-blind... how would you react if all of a sudden, they vanished from your life?
George doesn't get depressed about these things... he probably leads a happier life than you or I.
There is real beauty in being able to see the light when surrounded by nothing but darkness...
THAT is the lesson I took away from my short meeting with George.
Lauren xxx
