Realistic Blindness Simulation Exercises for Effective Corporate Team Building

A fictional monologue

Hear me read this post on the Deep Sy Podcast.

Alright, alright, circle up, American Sky Life Insurance and Casualty Corporation employee team building retreaters! Welcome back, everyone! How was walking around with those blindfolds on? Were our blind volunteers good guides? Well, they’ve had a little experience, ha-ha. We kid around here. Disability is not something to be afraid of. You can have fun with it.

Now we’re gonna move on to part two of the exercise. That’s right! It’s not over yet. This is always my favorite part of the morning! We here at Blackout Corporate Events LLC are all blind professional trainers providing participants with realistic and powerful blindness experiences to promote empathy, team building, and thriving, diverse workplaces. Yes, yes, you got me. I did memorize a few things from the website, ha-ha.

Well, it’s that realistic part I want to focus in on now. See, blindness isn’t something you can just put on and take off like a blindfold—you can go ahead and take those off by the way. When someone becomes blind, they’re usually in it for the long haul. So wearing a blindfold for half an hour isn’t a very realistic experience.

What’s that, Mark? Oh no, the lights in this room are on actually. Well, that’s the surprise. You’re all blind now! That’s right. There were some chemicals in those blindfolds.

Now, now, don’t worry. It’s almost certainly not permanent. And I know, it’s a lot to take in. But nope, I’m sorry, I can’t take any questions right now. An authentic disability experience has to involve people telling you the things you care about most are not important. So, I’m gonna jump right into your blindness orientation.

Let me introduce you all to Gerald. He’s from the State Commission for the Blind. He’s in charge of teaching you blind life skills, getting you back in the workforce, and helping you learn how to live your new life. Gerald is a real nine-to-five guy. Checked out years ago. He doesn’t really care or know much about blind people, but the position opened up and he took it because almost no one ever gets fired. Well sometimes they do if they’re outright abusive to the blind people, but not if they’re just useless like Gerald.

He has a lot of technology he badly wants to train you on. Sorry, I meant he wants to train you on a lot of technology, badly. He also has four or five minimum wage jobs he can successfully prepare you for. He and his supervisors will be over the moon if 60% of you get a job. Boy that would be blowing right past those annual targets, huh, Gerald?

Susan, you have a question? Yes, that’s right, most of you do still have jobs with American Sky, for now anyway. We told them you’re blind, and most of your bosses are unsure if you can do your jobs anymore. I suspect you’ll all be on the job market soon enough. Stan, you’re fired. Sounded like they were already looking for a reason.

Sure, Mark, it’s illegal to fire you because of a disability. But I don’t think they need to worry about that. Do you know how you would do your job now? Right, well neither do judges or juries.

It should make you angry, Mark. Yes, I’m happy to hear others agreeing. The first hurdle in this exercise is acknowledging the anger you feel toward society. See where that takes you.

I have a few more things to cover before I turn the rest of this session, and your wellbeing for the next several years, over to Gerald.

Well, Susan, you shouldn’t say we can’t do this. We already did. Yes, somebody should do something about all this. But who? Now, Mark, there’s an idea! What can you all do together? Yes, very good. Assert your agency. Combine your efforts to build power as a group. My goodness, you all catch on fast.

Oh wow! Did one of you figure out how to get the screen reader working on your phone? And now you’re showing others how to do it. This is beautiful. Absolutely, one of you should call the authorities. A lawyer, uh-huh, that’s a good idea too.

Actually, Gerald, I’m not sure you should get started with your presentation. I can already hear them discussing the ways you are an institutional barrier to their thriving as blind people. I’ve never seen a group intuit that this early on. You can still present to the afternoon group though. Yeah, take an early lunch. Your favorite thing!

Okay, for those of you with significant others, we’ve let them know what happened. Most of them are considering leaving. Stan, Jenny’s gone. Sounded like she was already looking for a reason too. The court immediately gave her full custody. The judge said it sounded like the kids were already looking for a reason to leave. What’s going on with you, Stan?

Now what’s this? Stan, you’re presenting a list of demands from the group? Wow, way to step up. Maybe people have been underestimating you. Let’s see here, compensation, medical costs, proper vocational training, punitive damages—this is a really comprehensive list.

Yes, Susan, that’s right! It does feel good to band together. What else could we do? Anybody? A social media campaign against Blackout?! Stan, that’s brilliant! This could be a real turn-around for you, bud. If Jenny could see you now, huh?

Okay I can hear sirens outside so I only have so much longer with you. But yes, Mark, there is power in solidarity and collective action among disenfranchised people. You all are rocketing through the key learnings.

Good morning, officers. Yes, that’s me. I know I have the right to remain silent, but I’m still wrapping up here—oh, you’re moving fast with those cuffs.

Okay, well, to conclude quickly. I’m so proud of you all. Remember this, everyone. Remember this day. Today you discovered what blindness truly is. It is not merely a disorienting loss of sight, or a challenge to beat. It’s an opportunity. It’s a chance to find community, to find yourselves. To be creative, to struggle together and overcome oppression. To love and be alive! This! This too is blindness! And, as I’m physically dragged from this room by the police, I urge you to never let anyone tell you otherwise!

YOUR BLACKOUT TEAM BUILDING RETREAT T-SHIRTS ARE ON THE TABLE BY THE DOOR!