Help page: How to Stay Awake Through Meetings (4:48)

Transcript: Techniques to stay awake through meetings.

There are two main reasons blind people quickly fall asleep at meetings. The first is, with eyes closed and no eye stimulation it is easy to fall asleep.

People who are blind or have low vision may keep their eyes closed due to light sensitivity, physical appearance or because they are mentally concentrating. When blind ones concentrate with their eyes closed others may think the blind person is asleep or ignoring them.
Consequently, with eyes closed causing a lack of visual stimulation a blind person can instantaneously fall asleep especially when sitting still during activities like Bible studies, meetings, or assemblies.

This can be compared to what happens when a child is read a bedtime story, with their eyes closed, they fall asleep. Likewise, when a blind person is sitting still with their eyes closed, listening to audible words, the result is the same. Sleep!

The second reason blind individuals quickly fall asleep, is the circadian rhythm sleeping disorder called, “Non-24”. This causes most totally blind ones to instantly fall asleep during the day. The circadian rhythm is controlled by the master body clock which signals when to sleep or stay awake.

For most people, the master body clock runs slightly longer than 24 hours, and regularly resets with daylight. However, with “Non-24” the internal body clock becomes irregular and the extra minutes add up day after day. Over time, this causes a noticeable change in the body clock of a blind person of when to be awake or asleep.

Two simple effective solutions to stay awake have been gum chewing and note taking.

Much research shows that chewing gum helps people stay awake, attentive, and keeps people from being drowsy. This is because the act of chewing stimulates facial muscles, which increases blood flow to the brain and moving the jaw up and down keeps people awake.

In the article, in a 2002 Awake magazine titled ‘Chewing Gum—Modern yet Ancient’ it says: “Others find that chewing gum is relaxing and an aid to concentration. Some drivers find chewing gum more effective than drinking coffee to keep them awake.”

British research shows “gum chewing keeps one awake as the motion of chewing gum combats daytime sleepiness and boosts alertness.” Therefore, a simple solution is to chew gum.

For years, in practice, this unconventional method has proven to be successful to keep blind one’s alert at meetings. Blind individuals that chew gum during conventions find that it not only keeps them awake but it also helps them pay attention.

Another successful method in conjunction with gum chewing is note taking. There are various ways for blind people to take notes depending on technology skills and resources available.

In the blind community, for the under 9% of the population that read Braille, these ones can take notes using an electronic notetaker or Braille display to help keep an active focus during meetings.

For the majority of blind individuals dictating brief voice notes into a “Victor Stream”, or a simple voice recorder has been proven to help them keep fully awake and engaged during long conventions or short meetings.

With a victor reader, it is possible to keep it on pause the entire session and un-pause it to whisper a few words, including the name of the speaker, title of the talk, brief comments and scriptures used throughout the lecture. This physical method of notetaking stimulates the brain and keeps the person engaged and alert throughout meetings.

Some blind individuals may have victor readers but not know how to take audio notes, training helps ensure the notes are beneficial.

With “Non-24” or a lack of visual stimulation, a blind person may unintentionally fall asleep. It is important to understand that some blind individuals may not realize, while others are aware and may feel embarrassed or upset about missing important information. However, the two methods of chewing gum and note taking combined together, can significantly improve concentration and is a dignified way to help blind individuals stay alert during Bible studies, meetings and conventions.

Notetaking no matter the method, writing with pen, typing on a computer or taking voice notes, helps all people to stay alert, hear the information and benefit from the valuable educational information.