This Self-Defense Class Helps Empower Visually-Impaired People

Impact

Guide dogs and walking sticks could make those who are visually impaired more vulnerable to possible attackers. 

So nonprofit organizations are giving visually impaired people the skills to fight back. 

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They are learning to use walking sticks as weapons to fend off attackers. 

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And various techniques to help protect themselves. 

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But most importantly, these skills also boost their confidence. 

"If you learn how to do this, you gain a piece of your independence back," Clifford Crandall, Jr., the grandmaster who taught the class, said to WKTV

Shari Roeseler, the director of the Society for the Blind's version of the class in California, focuses on teaching her students how to be confident while also staying aware of their surroundings

"It's important that we teach folks that regardless of vision loss or anything else, you still can defend yourself and feel confident being out there," she told the News & Observer