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

[Steve P. Deeley]

Really well stated.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 2:10 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"


> Hi Steve and Diane. I think I understand the anger but what moderates it 
> for
> me is my own
> ignorance of other people and other conditions. Where I have a hard time
> with my own anger is not with what people don't understand but what they
> simply won't understand. Quiet Cars is a fine example - some people, when
> they hear our explanation of the problem, have a light come on in their 
> head
> and they support. Others hear that same argument and say, "I bought this 
> car
> to be quiet, and what in the world are you doing out on the street
> unaccompanied anyway." I have a hard time when I understand our contract
> with society in the form of education and rehabilitation is that we will
> work and yet I see industry create and businesses buy technology which 
> isn't
> accessible. I'm not talking about cameras or things which seem to me to be
> inherently visual, but tools for managing projects, creating documents, 
> and
> making settings to regular household appliances. I think I understand
> ignorance, but I don't understand apathy or outright denial.
>
> I think one other thing we have to deal with is the fact that our 
> arguments
> about braille cause people to feel angry and defensive when, either 
> because
> of age, remaining vision, or lack of educational opportunity, they don't
> learn braille. They think, when we talk about the important need it serves
> in our lives, that we are intentionally putting them down. That couldn't 
> be
> further from the truth, but if that is their perception, then some of them
> just get mad, while others start their own crusade to show how they are
> getting along perfectly well in life without using braille. Some don't 
> stop
> there. They have to justify their inability to read braille by denying its
> utility, suggesting it is slow or out of date, and that, indeed, it is 
> being
> replaced by technology and they, as technical users, are on the cutting
> edge. This is very difficult for me to swallow, especially when I see a
> newly graduated student from college who wants my help in finding a job, 
> and
> I realize that his literacy skills are so lacking that I can't, in good
> conscience, even recommend him for the position of office receptionist. 
> The
> suggestion that he needs training is met with anger and hostility because,
> after all, he's a college graduate. His teachers have always been more
> interested in the content of his thoughts than in their presentation, so
> what, he wonders, makes me so rigid and inflexible?
>
> These are tough issues. Thank goodness we have a forum where we can talk
> about them and an organization where we can try to address them.
>
> Warmly,
>
> Gary
>
>
>
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