Submitted by Kelly Wakefield, Development Assistant at The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.
ProTactile Communication
When you visit The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.’s Annual DeafBlind Retreat in Seabeck, WA, you will be amazed at the many layers of communication happening around you. You may pick up some of the ProTactile communication techniques that DeafBlind campers use in their everyday lives, such as touching someone’s shoulder to let them know that you are near and when you are leaving. That is just the beginning of the accessible environment that is created at the Seabeck Conference Center every year for DeafBlind participants from around the world.
Campers enjoying the Puget Sound water and weather
Terry Hall, a DeafBlind camper from Arizona, reflects that in his day-to-day life people don’t know that he has a disability because he doesn’t walk with a cane, and at the retreat he gets the chance to forget about his disability around hundreds of his peers. In addition to campers and volunteers from across the United States, this year the retreat hosted participants from Amsterdam, Sweden, Germany, and Canada. The retreat is recognized as the longest running and best-established DeafBlind retreat in the entire world. To top it off, we had perfect weather and a beautiful environment to enjoy in Seabeck.
It takes a group effort to launch a tandem bike.
Whether it be the dance party on Thursday night with bass so powerful that hearing guests are required to wear earplugs, the tandem bicycle outings, or the tandem downhill slip and slide activities, The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.’s Annual DeafBlind Retreat is the highlight of some peoples’ lives. Lighthouse volunteers leave the retreat feeling “renewed and recommitted” to the cause that they are supporting, says Board of Trustees member Tom Kuebler. “Words don’t do it justice; you have to experience it to believe it.”
With the hopes of all of you readers joining us next year, I leave you with some of the sensations I felt at the retreat that everyone could appreciate.
Lighthouse board and staff members
FEEL the sun shining on your back.
SENSE the butterflies and dragonflies whizzing by your ear.
TOUCH the ProTactile American Sign Language communication all around you.
SMELL the salmon feast baking on the fire.
