[Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
Steve P. Deeley
stevep.deeley at insightbb.com
Thu Mar 11 23:00:47 UTC 2010
I just don't see it that way.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Foret jr" <rforetjr at comcast.net>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
> 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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>>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
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>>>
>>>
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>
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