Both Respondents#26 and #21 said that before the task, they were very confident about their ability to express. However, they suffered setbacks when their team mates misunderstood their instructions and showed confusion over their commands during the workshop. Thereafter, they made attempts to speak in a concrete and specific manner and abandoned the use of some common phrases which conveyed only vague meanings. One of the respondents said the ability of the visually impaired revealed that we could have unlimited potential, and he had not fully utilized his body and brain. Another respondent discovered that every colleague had his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Hence, he should try his best to magnify the former and minimise the latter. Despite all the positive comments, Respondent#16 believed that he would not be able to overcome difficulties faced by the visually impaired if he were in the same position h) Relationships Several respondents had seen an improvement in their relationships with family and subordinates. Respondent #1 shared an incident: “Yesterday, I was having an argument with one of my family members, I was extremely angry and made an objection on the matter. I calmed myself down afterwards and analyzed from his perspective… we discussed and at last I approved his way of doing things. I feel that our relationship has improved”. HR#8’s reported that one of her colleagues invited his supervisor to discuss with him how to improve the communication between them, and the human resources manager received comments from the colleague that his relationship with the supervisor improved thereafter. i) Communication It appeared that all the respondents had
made reflection and changes relating to communication. In the workshop, they understood the importance of communication and that it formed the basis of many other themes, such as team building and delegation of work. Nine respondents showed empathy in life and work for other people. They learnt to think from others’ perspectives before starting a conversation or co-operating with them. Nine respondents stated that they tried to improve the accuracy of message transfer. They started using different angles and methods to explain things and to repeat patiently until their listeners fully understood the messages. Among them, two altered their speaking styles (eg., speed and organization) to ensure people were following their ideas. One respondent said he became more willing to communicate with others. Two-way communication was another critical learning for respondents. Respondent#3 considered one-way conversation a command rather than communication. A few respondents said that apart from distributing tasks, they would include the rationale behind and asked for comments from subordinates who appeared to be more willing to perform tasks with fewer grumbles. HR#9 also observed employees making direct communication (i.e., telephone conversation) more frequently. j) Awareness of the Disabled and Social Cohesion Several respondents displayed an increase in their awareness of the visually impaired in society. They kept an eye on the visually impaired on a street if they would come across any to make sure that they would not stumble over or bump into objects on streets. Respondents #1 and #18 even helped them to cross the road, bypass a construction site and walk down the stairs, etc. Respondent#13 became interested in observing how public facilities, for instance lift designs, caused help the disabled.
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