Visually Impaired Youths Gain Confidence Through Practical Skills at US Camp

Several canes made soft but distinctive clicking noises against the brick walkway in downtown San Juan Capistrano, California, United States recently. Ten students in the Beyond Blindness Next Steps summer camp, having enjoyed their lunch at an In-N-Out Burger, were headed back to the Amtrak station, the US national passenger railway system, to catch their train back to Santa Ana, California. The excursion was fairly short but quite an experience for the students, ages 10 to 23, all of whom were either legally blind or visually impaired. Jasmine Jaber, 14, of Irvine in California was born legally blind. She said she appreciated the trip. The students learned ways to figure out which track to stand on, listening to the patterns of the trains and feeling the positioning of the sun – all things that people with good eyesight take for granted.