Outdoor Recreactional Activities for the Blind

Abstract

The ratio of blind to total the population has been increased since world war Ⅱ. It is estimated that there are 16,000,000 blind men in world today. The problems of the blind, such as career, material and mental aspects of life, have drawn much attention from the general public. Establishment of outdoor recreational facilities is one of the major methods to improve living for the blind. The physical handicap will naturally bring about psychological problems and personality changes. However, statistics indicate that the blind are not as pitiful and helpless as often thought. Their intelligence abilities to learn and to overcome obstacles are not inferior at all to the normal. In fact, the blind have many difficulties in everyday life. They believe that loss of sight is not the only plight to bear. Results of various investigations show that most of the blind in Taiwan wish to increase their opportunity to learn, to broaden then living scope, to visit scenery spots, listen to the sounds of nature and to accept the help offered by various organizations. The installation of outdoor recreational facilties is a major way to materialize all those wishes and dreams of the blind, and to make them feasible within the limit of a small budget