[Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
Steve P. Deeley
stevep.deeley at insightbb.com
Fri Mar 12 17:01:13 UTC 2010
Thank you Gary. I just don't understand the anger. I've have to work
around angry people and it is no picnic.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 9:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
> It may be that Steve shares the concern but his first priority is figuring
> out how to make it today and tomorrow. Having a job for 30 years and
> family
> obligations which tend to match or exceed income can make that the
> priority.
> We don't really know how he feels - only that this particular article
> doesn't bother him as much as other things.
>
> Warmly,
>
> Gary
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at icrc.IN.gov>
> To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 7:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the
> Dark"
>
>
>> Exactly, and one of the barriers to a blind person's employment and the
>> ability to support his/her family is the attitude and expectations of the
>> public
>>
>> I mean no disrespect at all, so please don't take this as bashing, but I
>> am simply stumped here. If you truly don't care about these kinds of
>> issues and changing the way the public perceives the blind and so forth,
>> then why are you a member of this organization. As you put it, don't you
>> have "more important things to worry about?"
>>
>> 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 5:28 PM
>> To: Marion Gwizdala; Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the
>> Dark"
>>
>> As I said, you need to focus your anger on more important issues.
>> That is just my opinion; you have the right to be angry. I choose to
>> worry
>> about employment and the issues with my family.
>> Steve
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
>> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 4:09 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the
>> Dark"
>>
>>
>>> Steve,
>>> As the writer of this letter, I am very angry! What is the problem
>>> with
>>> expressing one's anger over such sensationalized, inaccurate reporting
>>> that
>>> promulgates the myths and misconceptions that create the sort of
>>> discrimination we experience? Should we, in the interest of not
>>> upsetting
>>> those who offend us, simply sit back and take it without countering
>>> their
>>> ignorance with rational expressions of dissatisfaction? Should we say to
>>> the
>>> public, "It's okay to treat us as second-class citizens and generate
>>> revenue
>>> by lying to the public about who we are and what we can do, cloaking it
>>> in
>>> the science of medicine?" Every blind person who has been treated like a
>>> child simply because they are blind should be angry! It is this sort of
>>> drivvle that has caused our blind children to not get the Braille
>>> instruction they need and deserve to be literate, fully functioning
>>> adults!
>>> It is this sort of mythology that has created the 70% unemployment rate!
>>>
>>> Marion Gwizdala
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Steve P. Deeley" <stevep.deeley at insightbb.com>
>>> To: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "Blind Talk Mailing List"
>>> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 3:20 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the
>>> Dark"
>>>
>>>
>>>>I believe the writer of that letter sounds very angry. That, also,
>>>>turns
>>>>sighted individuals off. Let's not go down the race road for our
>>>>examples.
>>>> Steve
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>
>>>> To: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>; "Blind Talk Mailing List"
>>>> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:57 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the
>>>> Dark"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> You should be able to get it mailed to your e-mail address on file by
>>>>> pressing pound 9.
>>>>>
>>>>> Gary
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- 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
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>>>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>>> blindtlk:
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/stevep.deeley%40insightbb.com
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>
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