'Dialog in the Dark' - seeing the world differently

By: Sam Sheffield

Posted: 11/17/08

Take a minute and sit down. Then close your eyes for a moment and when you open them you only see darkness.

The only thing that guides your movements is a cane that you push out in front of you, guiding your steps along everyday scenes of life that can be so treacherous when you can't see them.

If you've experienced this, you're either blind or you've been to the new exhibit at Union Station, "Dialog in the Dark."

At the exhibit, you are led into a room in a group of up to nine other visitors, all holding white canes with a red tip (the international sign of blindness, according to the Braille Institute). You're told to sit down on a few lighted blocks and they slowly dim them down until there is total darkness.

Most people start to feel a little panicky, or their heart starts beating faster. Just as you're starting to freak out, a voice comes over a speaker and tells you that it's safe and that your guide will be coming in soon.

When your guide does come in, he or she leads you through a few rooms that simulate everyday situations and living conditions. You go through a park, a farmers' market, a busy street.

At a bar you have to figure out which bills are which, and you can buy a drink or a chocolate bar - everything is two dollars, so bring ones if you want anything.

Even though only 10 percent of legally blind people are totally blind, according to the Braille Institute, this role-reversal experience is what Adam King, a visually impaired guide at the exhibit, says is exactly what people need to be able to understand what people like him go through.

"This is definitely the most interesting job I've ever had," King said. "This is a really good way to promote awareness. It's our responsibility as blind and visually impaired people not to get on the soap box, but to educate. It's like when we go to a restaurant and they just drop off the check with a pen; it's our responsibility to say something, like hey I don't see very well, can you help me out.

"It's our responsibility to teach people who don't know how to handle being around being a blind person."

Reilly Hughes, a 19-year-old freshman from Crowder College, said he enjoyed the exhibit.

"It was an experience," Hughes said. "It makes you think about what blind people go through every day. I panicked a little bit when it got dark. You get dizzy almost even though you can't see. After a while I got this light flashing in my eyes, and it makes you think that they're lights flashing when they're really not."

"Dialog in the Dark" is a revealing experience - you go through many emotions and feelings, but it is still a lot of fun.

As the exhibit's Web site puts it, "Visitors gain a unique appreciation for those who live in a world without pictures. In the darkness, perceptions are enhanced and each of the other senses becomes magnified, allowing guests to 'see' again without the use of sight."

The exhibit opened November 14, and runs until March 29 at Union Station. It is $22 for an adult and senior ticket, and $18 for a children's ticket.

For more information, check out www.Unionstation.org.

ssheffield@unews.com