Blind people from across BC gathered Feb 15 at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria for a historic demonstration to tell government and the public there is an urgent need in BC and Canada for intensive training in blindness skills, such as Braille, cane travel and adaptive technology. And, as a basic human right, it must be publicly-funded and accountable – not offloaded to charity.

Many well-educated blind people presently need this type of blindness-specific training.

Three such blindness skills immersion training centres exist where people can go from 6 to 9 months to get the best training available (Colorado Center for the Blind; Louisiana Center for the Blind and Blind Inc in Minnesota). The intensive immersion-based training at these centres equip graduates with necessary skills and self-confidence, vastly improving employability and quality of life.

Blind people need to be given choice of where to attain this training. Presently, these 3 centers are where it’s at. But, government needs to fund attendance.

With proper training and opportunity blind people can compete on terms of equality with sighted peers.