Inclusion in everyday life

Beauty apprentices pamper blind people

Where sight is not possible, verbal communication must work all the better, as hairdressing apprentice Carina Smetala knows: "I explain every step".(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

In cooperation with the "Soziale Projekte Steiermark" association and the Odilien Institute, apprentices from various beauty professions at the Landesberufsschule 2 vocational school in Graz are giving blind and severely visually impaired people a free feel-good day in the spirit of inclusion. 

Visits to the hairdresser are characterized by many glances in the mirror and the question of whether the new haircut or the new color looks good. For blind and severely visually impaired people, however, this is not an option. They have to put their full trust in the beauty experts.

Trust as a basic prerequisite for a visit to the hairdresser
This is why 17-year-old Katharina Hauer, who is visually impaired, did not go to the hairdresser at all for many years: "As a child, I was too scared to go to the hairdresser, so my dad always cut my hair," she explains. But now she has given herself a jolt for the Beauty Youngsters project - and has been rewarded: "I think it's brilliant that there is a project like this and that I can be part of it."

Association chairman Herbert Winterleitner is particularly pleased that the project has been so well received.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

This situation was also completely new territory for the vocational students of the beauty professions in Graz. As part of the "Beauty Youngsters" project on April 15, they were able to brighten up the day of blind and visually impaired people with a visit to the hairdresser, a massage or a pedicure in collaboration with the non-profit association "Soziale Projekte Steiermark".

The aim of the Beauty Youngsters project is to break down fears of contact. Seeing is also possible with the heart, with words and touch.

Doris Kampus, Landesrätin für Inklusion

The aim of the project is to give people on the margins of society more dignity and respect. The residents of the women's shelter in Graz have also already been treated. According to association chairman Herbert Winterleitner, the big challenge for beauty professionals is to try to put themselves in the shoes of blind customers and find out whether they feel comfortable without feedback. A great deal of sensitivity and good communication are also important. The association's motto is: inclusion instead of isolation. 

"A hairdresser once said to me that when you come home from the hairdresser, you shouldn't just be satisfied, you should be happy. That is also our goal for all our guests who are pampered by our students," says Brigitte Reinprecht, Director of LBS 2, full of pride about her students' project.