Category: Daily Living
This morning it was pouring rain, and I got completely turned around at a familiar intersection that I cross every single day to get to class. Rain is disorienting. I find wearing anything that covers my ears even more disorienting, including umbrellas sometimes. I hear the shape of the inside of the umbrella and not the shape of what's around me. And in hard rain they're loud.
How do y'all navigate in the rain? Also, what do y'all prefer to wear in the rain that interferes with hearing as little as possible? My Google searches turn up even less than I expected.
Rain can really screw with you. I wear a wide brimmed leather hat. Keeps the rain off my head and shoulders and doesn't interfere with hearing at all. I also take it a bit slower than normal to give myself more time to hear the environment.
I navigate with assistance. Maybe, that makes me look helpless, but that is not my intention. Navigating a wheelchair in the rain, and not damaging my nearly $3200 hearing aides, makes rain a nightmare for me. Also, I have a friend who used to work for me, who broke her left ankle sideways, where her foot bent outwards from her leg, cause of the rain. So, I break down and ask for assistance. Better than breaking a hearing aide, or my neck.
Blessings,
Sarah
Also, I worry about hydroplaining.
We had a storm in Seattle, when I lived there, in '06, and, I came out the basement door, to ankle-deep rain in my chair. Several parts of that chair needed repair, and it never ran the same.
And, please note, that I do live in an area where when it doesn't rain, people are shocked. LOL
Blessings,
Sarah
I always find I can navigate better in the rain actually. I get more clues from my
environment, rain falling from gutters, awnings telling me where the door is
without me having to trail along the building face, car tires making a lot more
noise than normal. The only downside is that I can't use an umbrella because I
don't like what it does to the sound, as was said. So I basically just live with it.
I've thought about getting a hat, but I've never been a big fan of them. Perhaps
one day, but not now.
when navigating, as I live in a large city, I find that traffic is a lot mor easy to hear. in situations like that, when crossing streets, I use my cane mor than my ears to keep myself oriented. Lets use this crossing street example. When standing at a curb, flush or raised, use your cane to feel the edge of the curb. run it along the curb and make sure its running parallel to your body. Also, when cars are moving in front of you, you should hear them passing evenly from one ear to another, like a perfect stario pan. When your cross traffic stops, and your parallel traffic goes, you can use the flow of traffic, and keeping the ark of your cane even to cross strate. that's just what I do. other than that, walking sidewalks is pretty much the same. I don't really wear anything specific, I don't mind my head getting wet. Just something I deal with. Unless I am just standing at a bus stop and not moving, then I put my hood up. that may not work for everyone, but that is just what I do.
All good suggestions.
And yes rain changes the timbre of your sonic environment. When I was a synthesis back in the late 80s early 90s ... one who writes sounds on the keyboards and performs for background tracks ... weather sounds were the most commonly requested of nonmusical effects.
Weather definitely changes the sound texture of your environment whether your blind or sighted. And I think for us being blind it's extremely easy to see how one could get disoriented in rain. Especially the horizontal stuff. The directionality and depth of how things sound completely changes, depending on the winds and rain. People who say use your sense of touch more often, I think they're right. And I'm one who prefers the three-dimensional spatial understanding that sound gives. Touch makes you go slower because physical feedback is just that much slower. No matter what the humanities feel-goods try and tell you, you can't beat physics.
Here's what I would additionally suggest though:
On a Saturday or other day off when it's raining, when you're tempted to do like everyone else and stay inside with a glass of whiskey and a game on or something, instead go out in the rain and just walk around your area.
You can get so your mental calibration works in the rain nearly as well as it does in the beautiful sunshine with a dawn chorus overhead. Not as fast; we're dealing with a distorted 3-d sonic environment. But distances to the edge of the street from the corner, how deep the water's likely to be and how far you have to jump to miss it, those kinds of things you can figure out.
Snow is another issue since you're dealing with some parts of the sound being completely muted, not just distorted.
But in the rain you can do this, and yes, the reality is you will be more limited in the rain as you move around. So are drivers; you've never heard of someone fishtailing in the street? Can't come to an even stop on a hill due to moving water? It happens. You're not under a microscope; just do the best youy can. And try and go out when you're not having to get somewhere just so you can get used to it.
I find rain an aid as well, because it makes more noise for the traffic and other things as pointed out.
Also when you get a had get one that doesn’t have a bib, more like a skull cap.
Now your heads dry and so is your body if you wear a coat.
Get a soft coat that is water resistant so the rain doesn’t make noise on it if that will bother you.
Leather hats are great.
When you aren’t comfortable, you will tend to hurry, so makes mistakes, so your clothing should be as protective as you can get.
Snows harder.
All great suggestions.
Agreed with the sound muffling, I also choose not to wear anything over my head or use an umbrella. So I often end up sopping wet, but at least I'm sopping wet and safe.
Yes I often don't wear anything over my head either.
I don't know how they doo mobility anymore in the schools. But when I was a kid I had to do it after school once or twice weekly, and I think the best part was we went out no matter the weather or conditions. That's the best way to be totally used to it.
Yeah, I'm doing that too. I mean, rain could totally throw you off when
you're wearing something over your head or ears. but, I usually just wear a
coat and stuff and just cross streets. like others said, it's an aid for me too.
I have partial sight, and walking in the rain during the day isn't so bad, though I agree with all the sound sentiments here. At night is where I really get lost. All the concrete reflects the light, and it's really hard to tell the difference between certain surfaces. Not fun.
I hate travel in the rain, especially here, it makes cars louder, but because there are curves and such, this is a problem, because sometimes a car sounds closer than where it really is, and I miss my chance to cross. The problems of a street with little to no parallel traffic. I also can't stand things on my ears or head, sounds different.
I've heard the streets in the UK are very curvy. That's got to be different for sure.
Hi Leo. Yes they certainly can be. It probably creates more problems for navigation generally than it does for crossing, E.G. when what appears to be a sidestreet is actually another instance of the same road. GPS has helped with this in unfamiliar environments though.
Plus to us Americans, they drive the wrong damn way. Lol
Going to the UK or the other way might get you run over.
Laughing.
Thanks for the suggestions. I like the one about practicing walking in the rain. I'll try that on a day when I don't have class so I'm not worried about running late.
one of the things I love best about having a guide dog is walking in the rain. now, I can put my hood up. it makes going out much more fun.
My dog wouldn't walk in puddles because he hated getting his feet wet.
Another thing to keep in mind is to know your limitations and stay inside if your not able to be safe. While a bit of rain isn't a problem if there is snow fall over an inch an hour or wind at over 50 miles an hour making it impossible to ehar people are generally quite understanding if you explain why your not making it to class especially if the weather hit with no warning.
my dog skirts puddles, too. Or, she'll jump over them and make me walk through them if she can.
I admit, having a guide dog in bad wind and rain helps, but its still up to you to decide when to cross safely. You shouldn't leave it up to the dog. As far as driving on the other side of the road in other countries, the same basic crossing laws would still apply, the turn cycles may just be different.
Avoiding traffic is the same sure, but it is an adjustment as to traffic flow.
oh I'm the boss of my dog. she's not the boss of me. you ever notice how, even if it's pouring, they hate it so much that the will try to walk very slowly. it makes no sense to me. you'd think they would want to get the whole disgusting event over with.
Ya know what sucks even more than walking in rain? Walking in high wind. I don't know why, and I'm awaiting the barrage of people telling me I'm an idiot, but it seems like after hurricane Katrina, the DFW Metroplex has become more windy than it ever was.
Wind drives me nuts. It ... just ... never ... stops!
Ok, rant over.
Get a chauffeur. All problems solved.
Laughing.
Now you're talking my language!
Walking in the wind is in my opinion, a lot harder than walking in rain. While rain changes sound around you, wind all but blocks it out if its high enough. Even having a dog can't help you in some of those situations, as it takes input from you, and doesn't tell you when you should cross streets. I have been in gusting winds so badly, I didn't hear a car honking at me as I stepped out into the street.
Good, at least I'm not crazy. lol And yeah, I'm all about that chauffeur thing. lol
No independence-signaling ideological blindy here either: walking in the wind presents a lot of challenges, you are absolutely correct about that. Again, I do it whenever possible because I have opted to be a volunteer in the disaster response community, which means out here if it's not an earthquake is likely to be wind.
And you are absolutely right, wind is the pits. Sound waves are just air, remember. So they're literally carried and physically distorted for us. I find understanding the physics of the situation helps me cope, but nonetheless it is difficult. The best thing I've found is to try and figure out how wind acts in your environment. Winbd with tons of trees will create one type of sonic dystopia while wind over wide open spaces creates another.
I'm actually much more comfortable when called up if cars are taken off the roads in high winds, because engine noise is one of the easiest sounds to lose in the wind, and tires moving across pavement is at a very similar frequency to the wind itself, to say nothing of how the wind redirects the sound itself.
In practical reality, from a purely physics standpoint, wind isn't just making you confused; it is objectively confusing. Rain might distort a pattern of sound waves by adding noise generation to it. But the wind alters the directionality as well as character of the sound. Sound waves aren't magic, they're just patterns of vibrating air. And wind currents are just patterns of moving air. You take patterns of counter-currents in moving air -- high winds -- and cross that with patterns of vibrating air -- sound waves of any type -- even the least scientifically educated should be able to see how that would make decoding it much less accurate.
I'm lucky: I live in a region full of tall trees. So while the patterns become rather dystopic at best during a high windstorm, the trees and buildings positions are generally static. I don't know how yu would manage this in very wide-open spaces like parts of Texas or the Midwest. It's tough, no matter how you shake it out. And Domestic Goddess is right to imagine we'll see our share of independence virtual signalers come along and say how easy it is for them. But objectively, those people are wrong, you're right, science is with all of us who claim it's more difficult.
My personal bias? You who live in wide open spaces must have it far more difficult than someone like me who lives in a very trees-filled city. There's just a lot more static points from which sound can bounce off of out here, as distorted and inaccurate as those sonic readings might be at times. So you all have my respect.
I am a graduate of LCB, and like to flex my independence at times, but even the most seasoned traveler will have trouble in high wind, no matter how much they try to say they don't.
Yep. Winds a problem and that is that.
It's been blowing at a constant 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph for the past day. It's about to drive me out of my tree. lol My house is at the top of a hill so it seems extra windy up here. lol
Go in the house and get out of that tree already then.
Laughing.
How bout navigating in heavy snow? Fun, ain't it?
We once got a foot of snow and I got the brilliant idea that my dog and I would walk to the corner store and get some things. We got soooooo lost. lol
Yes being on the top of the hill does subject you to higher winds.
Oh and snow is indeed the pits. It muffles sound and changes the physical
texture of the environment to such a degree that it's hard to know where you're
at after a snowfall and before paths get cleared on the sidewalks.
agree. Heavy snow and high wind are both disorienting.
I wear hearing aids, but they are water resistant. As was mentioned, I do enjoy the amplification of vehicles that precipitation provides, though with a dog guide, travel can be more complicated due to how he or she reacts to rapidly changing weather. Lol. You can purchase coats that protect most of the dog's body. This seems to help.
I too, am a graduate of LCB and while I used to be very militant like them, I've grown up a lot since then--I will freely admit that traveling in wind and rain is awful, even if you are a good cane traveler.
So as for suggestions, this may sound silly, but I'd encourage the OP to not believe anyone who says blindness is great and there are never times we experience difficulty. Because blindness is not just a nuisance, it really is a pain most of the time...but it's better to admit that truth than to act like it's great.
Like many who have posted here, I don't wear rain gear of any kind; I'd rather be safe and soaking wet than mostly dry and put myself at risk.
Chelsea wow! I actually agree with that last post. Telling myself over and over that blindness is nothing more than a nuisance when it causes significant problems is just denying reality. And we can't improve reality if we're busy denying it.
Though I am not a graduate of any center for the blind, blindness is a nuisance at times. Arguably, even if you think someone has superb abilities and is blind, such as the role models furnished by the National Federation of the Blind, there is a hidden struggle concealed somewhere that he or she does not want exposed. For instance, someone might possess efficient Braille reading and writing skills, can cook, but has trouble performing cleaning and mobility routes. While many NFB centers encourage structured discovery, this takes confidence, and some lack this entirely. Therefore, by simply throwing a person into an uncomfortable situation may force him or her to become self-reliant, it can also have the opposite effect. Since I have a hearing impairment, I understand the limitations placed upon my mobility. If I just explore with a cane, become lost, and attempt to reproduce the route, most likely I will not remember it. Even those who are sighted are dependent on one another for certain things.
I don't cover my head or ears. The only thing that iss difficult is if there is lots of wind and that obstructs listening to the traffic. However that hasn't resulted in any accidents for me yet thank God.