PROFILE
Blind from babyhood, Keller achieved a university education, wrote books and travelled the world changing the public perception of their way of life and was given civic receptions in town halls, toured schools, hospitals and libraries. But even with the will, and modern tools, it is not easy, according to Gosens. When studying for his business degree at university, the textbooks weren’t in Braille, and he was dependent on well-meaning volunteers reading them onto a tape recorder. “Sometimes they were agonisingly slow, then not clear as the person wanders off to pat the cat, then the noise of birds, or a plane passing overhead. I probably spent triple the time of a sighted person to read one page,” he said. How sweet it is
Then there are flat screens now with no texture to call up in lifts in office buildings, EFPOS machines and ATMs and all the visual bombardment of the world is out of reach. Technology greatly improved the life of blind people, but the origins of assistance go back to the 18th century. The system of raised dots on the page was invented during the Napoleonic Wars by a French soldier so the troops could see instructions in the dark. Louis Braille, who was blinded at the age of three, adapted the system of embossing paper as a means of reading for the blind in 1824 while a student at the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris. After World War 1 the number of blind people increased due to mustard gassing and injuries from shelling. The Red Cross and other organisations set up workshops for disabled veterans to learn skills that would return them to new and former professions. Braille Remington typewriters enabled them to get employment in professions like banking, accounting and management. Then in 1921 the white cane, a simple but effective tool was invented by James Biggs, an English photographer who became blind following an accident. Because he was feeling uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, he painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.
The modern Guide Dog story also began due to First World War wounded veterans. A German doctor, Gerhard Stalling, noting how animals interacted with the blind, conceived the idea of training dogs to be the ‘eyes’ of the blind. Guide Dogs for the Blind Association of Queensland was born when Hubie Morris, of Townsville, became the first person to receive a Guide Dog, Halda in 1960. Gosens, then a 16-year-old high school student at Yeppoon and the youngest Queenslander to own a Guide Dog, has owned five dogs and his current companion Boss, aged eleven years, will be retiring this year. His fourlegged muses are inspiring him as he writes his book ‘My Eyes and a Wet Nose’ about the quirky and funny experiences with his dogs.
Channel swim next April to raise funds for Great Dreams, a charity that encourages young people to aim high. He recently became the first totally blind swimmer to circumnavigate 2km around Queensland’s Great Keppel Island to prepare him for the channel swim. He is also involved in the launch of the new Willi Wonka prequel movie, with a stellar British cast including Hugh Grant and chocolates! To order his chocolates with delivery nationally go to: chocolatemoments.com.au
One story that made the front pages was the news that he was the first blind person to drive a car with his dog. ‘One woof for turn right and two woofs for left,’ said the story. One woman rang the paper in a fury, and asked how he could reverse park?’ No one thought to check the calendar for the date… April 1. Apart from running the chocolate business, he will be tackling the English
In the swim
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