You will begin to feel safer and more comfortable moving around your home if you can:

• Create an accurate mental picture of your home environment
• Maintain your orientation through the use of landmarks and "trailing"
• Protect your head and body from doors, cabinets, and sharp furniture edges
• Locate dropped objects more easily
• Become more relaxed and confident when you walk with another person who is guiding you

Visualization: Creating Mental Pictures

In some cases, such as learning to create mental pictures of your environment, it's a good idea to practice independently.

Visualization is a process where you consciously form accurate mental pictures of people, places, and everyday objects. You do this by using the vast storehouse of visual memories and information that you've acquired throughout your lifetime. For example, it's likely that you have the ability to create an accurate mental picture of every room in your home, as well as the individual items -- furniture, appliances, and decorative objects — within each of those rooms. By continuously creating this type of detailed mental picture, you'll be able to recall the location of doors, windows, major pieces of furniture, and potential hazards and obstacles in your home.

By using visualization in this manner, you can also train your senses (including your remaining vision) to become more responsive to the textures, sounds, odors, and sights in your everyday environment.

You can use visualization when you meet people and shake their hand. This information will help you create an accurate mental picture of that particular individual:

• Height: Estimate the location of the person's voice in relationship to you. Is it higher, lower, or approximately the same level?
• Age: Notice the skin texture. Is it taut and smooth, or is it looser, with protruding veins and ligaments?
• Body structure: Are the hands long and tapered or are they shorter and more rounded?
• Additional details: Is the person wearing perfume, aftershave, or jewelry? If you can see an outline of the person, can you determine their hair color and style?

Develop a System of Landmarks

You may also find it helpful to develop to develop a system of landmarks in combination with visualization and sensory input. These environmental clues can help you create a more complete "map" of your home that will allow you to feel more secure and in control of your surroundings. Examples of landmarks that can help you construct this "mental map" can be any of the following:

• Contrasting floor coverings, such as carpet, tile, or wood, that remind you when you are moving from the kitchen to the dining area.
• The sounds of birds chirping, leaves rustling in the breeze, or children playing outdoors that indicate the direction of a window, terrace, patio door, or driveway.
• Different household odors, such as laundry soap, cooking odors, or potpourri, that signal the location of the kitchen, laundry room, or pantry.
• A distinct change in temperature, such as the cool air from a fan or air conditioner that differentiates your bedroom from a guest bedroom.

Related Topics

See also the Lower Body Protective Technique, the Trailing Technique, Upper Body Protective Technique