In 1978, long before there was a name for it, Arthur O’Neill pioneered accessible recreation for the blind and visually impaired. That year, O’Neill, an instructor at the Carroll Center for the Blind launched an Outdoor Enrichment Program. He wanted to use orientation and mobility teaching to share activities he loved with a group that then had few fitness options.
O’Neill’s first offering was skiing. His timing was perfect. Ski for Light had made Nordic skiing popular and resorts (including Smuggler’s Notch in VT) welcomed O’Neill’s group, in part to give adaptive ski instructors practical experience guiding blind skiers.
O’Neill later expanded the program to include camping, hiking, kayaking, tandem cycling, and sailing — launching formal sailing instruction for the blind in the US in a program that would become SailBlind.
In this interview, conducted by phone on January 6, 2011, O’Neill, now a Carroll Center vice president, talks about his approach to accessible recreation and what the program has taught him about the capabilities of blind people.
O’Neill Helped Mainstream Blind Recreation
Q. What was driving force behind the Outdoor Enrichment program?
A.O. We explored how students might participate in outdoor recreation. I was determined that activities not take place in isolation, but brought blind and sighted people together. Our solution for most activities was to pair participants with sighted instructors whose role would recede to that of guide once the student got comfortable.
Q. How did you choose accessible activities and venues?
A.O. We were fortunate to begin just as disabled sports were taking off. The ski school at Smuggler’s Notch heard about us and invited us up. Their instructors had done training in Aspen to guide blind skiers, but had only practiced by guiding one another while blindfolded. They wanted to guide some real blind people, so we went up. That program was very successful and continues to this day.
Q. How did you adapt sailing for blind people?
A.O. We decided there’d be at least one sighted sailor in the boat (screened and trained by us) and that we’d teach all aspects of sailing. We explain what a boat looks like, the deck layout and the keel and rudder in the water underneath, sometimes using model boats and a window fan to teach sailing mechanics.
Recreation Often Moves Blind People to Compete
Q. Why do you think draws blind people to sailing?
A.O. It presents an opportunity to be in control, a feeling many lose with diminished sight, e.g. losing one’s driver’s license. Making a vessel go where and how you want it to is a big lift. We have many blind sailors who can sail with sighted people who don’t know how to sail, using that person’s eyes to stay on course.
Q. What’s surprised you about accessible recreation’s effect on blind people?
A.O. It can tap undiscovered reserves of competitiveness. Once blind sailors discover they can graduate from recreation to competition, they get excited. In 1992, we were invited to participate in the first international blind sailing regatta in New Zealand. I presented the challenge and our sailors’ first response was “Yeah, let’s do it!” I tried to put the brakes on: we’d never raced; other countries had bigger boats and more established programs. But they were undaunted and really pushed me to get the job done. We took two teams to Auckland and became one of the founding members of Blind Sailing International in 1994.
O’Neill’s Outdoor Enrichment program demonstrates recreation’s empowering effect on blind people, while his teaching strategy increases social interaction and enhances the experience of both participants and guides.
Andrew Leibs - Andrew Leibs is Suite101’s Feature Writer for Accessible Recreation. He is a longtime chronicler of the disability movement with ...
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