Add@Me Learning Methods Database (EN)

This exercise is a way for the group to get to know each other on a different level. This is perfect in order to set up all the participants on the same level regardless of their background and experience, cause at the end of the day all of them are wearing shoes.

The participants are divided in groups of 2, the facilitator can give them the freedom to choose their pair by themselves and maybe suggest pairing up with someone to whom they did not talk so much during the previous exercises or they do not know well. The pairs speak to each other and share with their partner the story about their shoes. They can share everything for example: where did they buy the shoes and when, where have the shoes taken them till now, what do the shoes mean to them, some interesting story which happened while they were wearing the shoes. They have 10 minutes to discuss and need to divide the time so both partners can share something. After the 10 minutes passed the participants will reunite with the group next to them . Groups of 4 participants will now share their stories shortly. But in this new group of 4 everyone is sharing the story of the shoe of their partners. They have 10 minutes for this part also. A small discussion ends the game.

The group sits in a circle. The vi facilitator asks the participants to go around the circle sharing with the rest of the group the story of their name (how did they get their name, if they like their name, if they were to have another name what would that name be).

An alteration to the activity that can make it longer is to ask participants also to introduce themselves by providing two positive adjectives that characterize them and begin with the same letter as the initial of their first and last name. Another proposal is to ask participants to give for each letter of their name a word that relates to them.

Participants will go one by one and share their name as well as the story of it, it can be the real story or an imaginary one if some of the particiapnts do not know the story of their name. The vi facilitator will open or close the sharing, also by telling the story of his or her name.

The activity can be prepared in relation to various topics. The most common is related to discover the surroundings (a neighborhood, the old town, etc.) with little notes written both in Braille and in large print. The group should be divided into two and in each group you should have both sighted and participants with visual impairments.

Generally, for a treasure hunt we prepare a series of clues where each clue points to the next in line. A Treasure Hunt is typically 10-15 clues long, depending on the topic chosen. The clues can be generic or tailored to the particular topic they have to discover.

The vi facilitator organises a trip into the woods, from the morning to the late afternoon.

Where? Somewhere around the city/town, with a good path to walk.

Who? Maximum 6 blind people with a sighted guide each.

If the blind people who have been enrolled have already have a friend to take with them, that's fine; if not, you can find volunteers who want to support.

Sighted participants can swap places and wear blindfolds to experience the walk from a different perspective. If amongst the participants who are blind there is one with a guide dog, then the sighted blindfolded participants can be guided by the blind participant who has a guide dog.

The exercise will be played in form of a competition. There must be a minimum of 3 teams. Each team has to be composed of at least 2 members: one blind person and one person can be sighted or can be partially sighted (if there are several members in the group at least 1 should have normal vision or should be partially sighted). A contest track will be prepared which can include (depending on the space that you use): start line, chairs, ropes, plastic bottles, etc (any material really that you can use, be as creative as possible). The set up of the materials should be as difficult as possible and should resemble a track with obstacles. The blind person will start to pass all the obstacles based on the direction given by his /her teammate. Each person from the team will take turns on going over the track, but the person who will give the instructions should always be a person with at least partial vision. For spicing up the game and create empathy in case one of the participants has normal vision or partially sighted his eyes can be covered. The team who finishes first the track will win. 

NOTE: do not use sharp or dangerous objects for creating the track.

Facilitator prepares a well known movie that is audio described. It introduces the activity “movies for the blind” and plays the audio described movie for the audience. At the end of each movie, the vi facilitator initiates a feed-back group discussion.

The facilitator prepares an excerpt of the same text in Braille, large print, electronic format, audio and normal print. It introduces the activity of reading for the blind and reads the texts to the audience. The facilitator invites the attendees to follow the text via normal prints. At the end of each reading, he/she initiate a feed-back group discussion.