Everyone’s sight and personal circumstances will be different. To encourage blind sailing and ensure a great time on the water your approach to teaching should be person centred.
Blind and partially sighted people are twice as likely to be inactive than people without sight loss. Therefore, when running a blind sailing session, it’s important to minimise and remove barriers where possible to increase participation, with the following
Have confidence in your ability to offer support and see the potential abilities in each sailor. Take time to discover a person’s hopes and fears and sign-post opportunities for them to actively take part, learn and progress.
Create opportunities for blind and partially sighted sailors to meet each other and share experiences on the water.
It can take a lot of confidence and energy to turn up to a sailing session. Offer encouragement, reassurance, and time.
Some individuals may prefer activities specifically for blind and partially sighted people or people with disabilities so they can access specialised support. Others will want to join in with activities designed for everyone, with the help of few adaptions and support. Always provide the option for both.
People are likely to rely on public transport or someone else driving them. Provide information about public transport options and local taxi companies. Give a named person and phone number as contact for anyone who can’t find the club. Meeting someone at the nearest public transport drop off point may be helpful, but some people prefer to be independent.
Only 27% of working aged blind or partially sighted people are in work. They will also face additional costs in day-to-day life, such as technology to access information, a carer or relying on taxis and public transport. To help alleviate this, consider any suitable adjustments you can make to fee structures.
Take time to get to know each and every person and the support they need. You know about sailing and the person knows about the support they need so together you can come up with plan. It is OK to ask someone about their sight if it is about getting them the right support but avoid doing so just to satisfy your own curiosity.
Good communication develops trust and confidence and builds a picture of what’s going on around you. It’s important that a blind or partially sighted person has access to the same information as everyone else.
There is no one way to offer assistance. If you think someone needs help, ask and they can tell you what they need. Some techniques always apply:
For more information visit the RNIB
Information is a vital part of keeping people safe and involved so it’s important that it’s accessible. Everyone’s different, so always ask people for their preferred information formats and communication needs, reviewing them on a regular basis by consulting helpful resources.