[Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
Steve P. Deeley
stevep.deeley at insightbb.com
Fri Mar 12 01:43:44 UTC 2010
That sort of stuff just doesn't bother me. I believe I'm fairly successful
and I let it roll off of me. I only listen to those who are the closest to
me. If they have a problem with me, then I will take corrective actions.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at icrc.IN.gov>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 3:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
> Hi,
>
> I don't think that Marion sounded angry at all. I think he sounded
> pointed, and told it like it was.
>
> However, it is difficult not to get angry when you are reduced to a child,
> or an inferior simply on the basis of blindness. It is hard to sit quietly
> when the blind are being portrayed and painted as inept.
>
> Have you, as a blind person, experienced these things? I have, and it's
> very demeaning, very hard to take. Marion stated the case much more
> civilly than I usually do.
> I think he did a great job.
>
>
>
>
>
> Diane Graves
> Civil Rights Specialist
> Indiana Civil Rights Commission
> Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
> 317-232-2647
>
> "It is service that measures success."
> George Washington Carver
>
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Steve P. Deeley
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 3:22 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the
> Dark"
>
> 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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