[Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"

Thu Mar 11 20:22:29 UTC 2010

Why sound so angry!!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael" <bonsai1b at bellsouth.net>
To: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>; "Blind Talk Mailing List" 
<blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"


> Well stated Marion.  I did find the original article on NFB Newsline's
> yesterday's listing.
>
> Thanks for the time this morning.
> Michael
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
> To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>; "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 10:54 AM
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
>
>
>> Dear All,
>>    I tried to get a copy of the original article about which I wrote this
>> letter to the editor; however, it was not available without paying a fee.
>> The article can be accessed by going to NFB-Newsline and selecting the
>> St.Petersburg Times Metro section. If anyone can get access to this
>> article, please send it to the list. Pasted below is my letter to the
>> editor.
>>
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion Gwizdala
>>
>> March 11, 2010
>>
>>            I am writing to comment on the article "Awareness Was the Main
>> Course" by Laura Reiley that appeared in the March 10 Metro section of 
>> the
>> St. Petersburg times. As a blind person, I often meet people who are
>> amazed by the fact that I can perform even the simplest of tasks.
>> Generally this attitude is based on their own experience attempting to
>> perform the same task without eyesight and failing at it miserably. It is
>> for this reason that most blind people are opposed to using the type of
>> simulation exercises featured in this article. Blindfolding a sighted
>> person and asking them to perform even a simple task does not, as the
>> article purports, give a person any awareness of what the life of a blind
>> person is like. In fact, such exercises only serve to reinforce the
>> misconceptions and promulgate the myths about blindness that create the
>> social, legal, and economic barriers that prevent us from achieving true
>> equality with our sighted peers. Those of us who are blind have developed
>> an array of non-visual techniques to perform activities of daily living,
>> such as eating, just as effectively as sighted people do using eyesight.
>> Blindfolding a sighted person and asking them to perform a task is like
>> putting someone in the cockpit of a jetliner and telling them to fly!
>> Lacking the proper skills, the results of both would be disastrous!
>>
>>            The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight;
>> rather it is the manner in which we are treated as the result of the
>> misconceptions people have about blindness. If one really wants to find
>> out what life is like for a blind person, there is no need to don a
>> blindfold! All one needs to do is carry a white cane, the international
>> symbol of blindness,  and go about their everyday life. Then they would
>> feel the crushing insults  of public misperception that blind people,
>> except for those few who are believed to be amazing and extraordinary, 
>> are
>> innately ignorant and helpless. They would experience the waitress who
>> asks a five year old what the blind adult wants to drink. They would
>> encounter the librarian who admonishes them for going out alone, thus
>> exposing them to the hazards of opening a door. They would be confronted
>> by the Employer who inquires about who will bring them to work. They 
>> would
>> learn that even well educated doctors are so ignorant as to ask them who
>> bathes them! Though you might want to minimize these incidents away, they
>> are examples of the type of ignorance I - and other blind people -
>> encounter on a regular, almost daily, basis!
>>
>>            I am not asserting that eyesight is not beneficial nor that 
>> the
>> work of the Foundation Fighting Blindness is not valuable. What concerns
>> me is that organizations that assert they want to "serve the blind" do us
>> such a disservice by reinforcing the public misconceptions and fears that
>> create the problems we face. I am all for raising money to cure retinal
>> degenerative diseases, especially since the condition that has caused my
>> blindness, that of my 14-year-old nephew , and several other members of 
>> my
>> family is retinitis Pigmentosa. I am, however, opposed to creating the
>> type of fear and pity that results from blindfolding people for the
>> purpose of raising money! Such a practice is as offensive to me as a
>> black-faced minstrel would be to an African American! These 
>> misconceptions
>> are the reason fewer than 10% of blind children are learning to read and
>> write Braille, producing functionally illiterate blind adults. These 
>> fears
>> and misconceptions are the reason that the unemployment rate among the
>> blind is more than 70%!
>>
>>            The veracity of my concerns are supported by the numerous
>> inaccurate statements made by the author who has bought into the false
>> perceptions of the blind. Does she really believe that "other senses are
>> heightened" by taking away one's sight or "; texture became paramount" as
>> the result of simulated blindness? Does she really believe that
>> blindfolding participants "gave all assembled a greater window into the
>> world of the sightless"? Does she really believe that blind people go
>> through life "bumbling" their ways around or did she just irresponsibly
>> promulgate the pitiful stereotype in an effort to sell your newspapers
>> like the Foundation Fighting Blindness did to sell themselves and
>> selfishly generate  revenue with no concern about the social consequences
>> of their actions?
>>
>>            The belief that blind people are endowed with heightened 
>> senses
>> and special powers is a myth. Blind people simply learn to use their 
>> other
>> senses and alternative techniques to perform the tasks sighted people do
>> with eyesight. Like any skill, these techniques are generally not 
>> acquired
>> in a half-hour nor mysteriously and supernaturally endowed. However, 
>> these
>> skills enable blind people to function independently, efficiently, and
>> effectively. In fact, the average blind person can perform the same tasks
>> as their sighted peers as well, if not better, by employing these
>> alternative techniques. Our blindness is not the problem. The real 
>> problem
>> of blindness is the misunderstanding and lack of information that exists.
>> If a blind person is given proper training and opportunity, blindness is
>> only a physical nuisance.
>>
>>            In the future, when your paper is doing a story about
>> blindness, it would be helpful to get accurate information and the
>> perspective of a blind person who is qualified to speak to these issues 
>> by
>> being chosen by the blind to speak on their behalf. The National
>> Federation of the Blind is the oldest and largest organization of the
>> blind in the United States. We are not an organization that speaks on
>> behalf of the blind; we are the blind speaking for ourselves. For 
>> accurate
>> information about blindness or the blind, please feel free to get in 
>> touch
>> with me or visit one of our websites at
>>
>>
>>
>> HTTP://WWW.NFB.ORG
>>
>> Or
>>
>> HTTP://WWW.NFB-NAGDU.ORG
>>
>>
>>
>> Respectfully yours,
>>
>> Marion Gwizdala, President
>>
>> National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind
>>
>> 813-598-7161
>>
>> President at NFB-NAGDU.ORG
>>
>>
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>
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