Lyle and I are in Iceland, and so today in Reykjavik it was natural for
us to visit the Icelandic National Institute for the Blind. As it
turned out, the Institute itself is a government run agency, and was not
particularly interesting to us. Instead, in the same building, we
visited the Icelandic Organization of the Visually Impaired. It was
here that we had a most informative chat with Baldur. He explained that
this organization has more to do with advocacy and accessibility. The
agency promotes for the needs of blind and visually impaired people and
transmits these needs to the afore mentioned government institute.
From speaking with Baldur, I learned that blind Icelandic clients have
access to free public transit. They usually only need to show their
white cane or be accompanied by their service dog. Discounts for guides
or clients in other areas such as concerts or theatres and still a grey
area and are up for debate and negotiation.
We inspected the store items and I purchased a small button showing the
traditional stickman and white cane. It is certainly a more
recognizable symbol than the piece of Braille broccoli shown on the CNIB
insignia at home!
We re enjoying our time here and will write more about Iceland in future posts.
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