Navigating Day-to-Day Without a Driver's License
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- Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 07:34:43 -0400
University of Arizona, AZ, USA
Friday, October 05, 2007
Navigating Day-to-Day Without a Driver's License
By La Monica Everett-Haynes
University Communications October 5, 2007
L. Penny Rosenblum says able-bodied individuals can do more to support the
needs of those who are disabled.
One faculty member spent three years working on a project that should help
those with vision loss to navigate the transportation system.
L. Penny Rosenblum is visually impaired, which has always kept her from being
able to drive.
"We are such a car-driven society," Rosenblum says, "but when that is taken
from you, how do you connect with your friends? Enjoy hobbies? Get to the
grocery store?"
There are a lot of answers out there - along with a lot of negative
perceptions, she says.
"The perception is that if visually impaired people have to stop driving
they'll be dependent upon other people or they'll be isolated," says Rosenblum,
a University of Arizona adjunct associate professor in the College of
Education's special education, rehabilitation and school psychology department.
"People potentially look down on them simply because they can't drive," she
added.
Rosenblum is trying to help change that.
She spent three years developing a DVD, CD-Rom, resource guide and audio tapes
meant to empower and inform the population, especially the aging population,
about ways to live without a driver's license.
Now, she is trying to get that information into the hands of people who need it
- people who are visually impared or blind, their family members and also
medical professionals.
Much of her material and what her interview subjects talk about address ways to
access buses, trains, subways, trams and other systems - depending on the city.
Also, Rosenblum advocates trading rides for favors.
"You are hearing these six people share their experiences of driving, then not
being able to drive.They are finding alternatives, and that's the big message,"
Rosenblum says about the video.
"As our population ages, many people will be faced with the challenges of
becoming nondrivers," says Rosenblum, who tried to make her information
accessible for people with varying disabilities. "But people can get around.
You can still be active."
Her 40-minute "Reclaiming Independence: Staying in the Driver's Seat When You
No Longer Drive" will be screened locally Oct. 10.
Rosenblum interviewed a Tucson woman and traveled with a Kentucky-based film
crew to Colorado, North Dakota, Florida, Virginia and Maine to interview people
with retinal disease, diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration, the leading
cause of vision impairment for people age 60 and older.
Each person talks about how after losing their vision they began to rely on
public transportation and other alternatives, which allowed them to maintain
their independence.
The video and the other added materials should also educate family, friends and
physicians about ways to aid individuals with impaired vision and blindness,
she added.
"Vision impairment is not only about the visually impaired person, but also
that person's network," says Rosenblum, a 1997 UA graduate whose video was
produced in conjunction with the American Printing House for the Blind in
Kentucky.
The project came after Rosenblum co-authored curriculum in 2000 titled "Finding
Wheels: A Curriculum for Non-Drivers With Visual Impairments for Gaining
Control of Transportation Needs" with Anne Corn at Vanderbilt University in
Tennessee.
The curriculum is for teenagers to prepare them for a life without driving.
"People said that was good," Rosenblum recalls, "but what about older adults?"
A subsequent article about older adults who had to stop driving was released by
Rosenblum and Corn in 2002.
Rosenblum's project can have far-reaching implications, she said, because the
age 60 and older population is, as the National Eye Institute research found,
the fastest-growing group of visually impaired people.
Another concern, Rosenblum said, is the need for more support and a new
perception about individuals with disabilities.
"I would love to see things more accessible for people with vision
impairments," she says. "The reality is that's not how the world is set up, so
we need to give people the tools and training to learn how to access things."
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