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

Thu Mar 11 22:09:21 UTC 2010

He's just telling the truth.  We're tired of being treated like little children!!!

Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!

E-Mail:
rforetjr at comcast dot net

On Mar 11, 2010, at 2:22 PM, Steve P. Deeley wrote:

> 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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