[Blindtlk] Fw: Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
Michael
bonsai1b at bellsouth.net
Mon Mar 15 16:04:03 UTC 2010
Good Morning Marion
After reading Ms. Reiley's response several times, I honestly don't think
she "got it".
Michael
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
To: "NFB Chapter presidents" <chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org>;
<blindtlk at nfbnet.org>; "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 6:47 PM
Subject: [Blindtlk] Fw: Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
> Dear All,
> I sent my Letter to the Editor to the reporter, Laura Reiley, as well,
> and received a response from her. I am forwarding my reply to her response
> for you to read.
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
>
>
>
>
> Laura,
> I appreciate your response to my concerns about the article, Awareness
> Was the Main Course". Even though it was not your intention to perpetuate
> the myths and stereotypes about blindness, I do not believe the same is
> true about the Foundation Fighting Blindness. I have brought these
> concerns to them and other organizations who intentionally exploit the
> blind and public misconceptions about us in the interest of generating
> revenue. Unfortunately, they have chosen to ignore these concerns in their
> own selfish interests.
> It is my sincere hope that the St. Petersburg Times will utilize the
> resources of the National Federation of the Blind and the National
> Association of Guide Dog Users when reporting on issues that affect us as
> blind people. All too often the media does not empower us to speak for
> ourselves; rather, they accept the assertions of those whose purpose is to
> serve us. Even if such agencies have blind people speaking for them, it is
> our belief that only those who have been duly elected by the blind have
> the authority to speak on behalf of the blind. Otherwise, the only
> interest served is that of the agency, not that of the blind community.
> I would appreciate the opportunity to work with you in the future.
> Please retain my contact information and share it with your colleagues.
>
> Sincerely yours,
> Marion Gwizdala, President
> National Association of Guide Dog Users
> National Federation of the Blind
> 813-598-7161
> President at NFB-NAGDU.ORG
> HTTP://NFB-NAGDU.ORG
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: LReiley at sptimes.com
> To: Marion Gwizdala
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 3:25 PM
> Subject: Re: Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
>
>
>
> Ms. Gwizdala,
>
> I appreciate your letter and am chastened that my reporting on the event,
> in your opinion, served to reinforce stereotypes about the blind. It
> certainly wasn't my intention to perpetuate any myths. As the restaurant
> critic for the paper, I did indeed feel that the experience of eating a
> meal without the benefit of sight made certain elements (such as smell and
> texture) more important. For example, our shortrib entree had roasted
> potatoes, tiny zucchini and a roasted tomato, the squishy texture of which
> was quite a shock when unexpected. I was certainly not saying that blind
> people are "bumbling." What I said was that we, as sighted people
> temporarily deprived of our vision, were bumbling.
>
> Thank you for taking the time to write,
>
> Laura Reiley
> Food Critic
> St. Petersburg Times
> 490 First Ave. S.
> St. Petersburg, FL 33701
> (727) 892-2293
> Blog: http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/dining
>
>
> Marion Gwizdala <blind411 at verizon.net>
> 03/11/2010 01:45 PM Please respond to
> "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
>
>
> To <lreiley at sptimes.com>
> cc
> Subject Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear Ms. Reiley,
> I am sending you this letter I wrote to your editor for your
> information.
>
> Sincerely yours,
> Marion Gwizdala, President
> National Association of Guide Dog Users
> National Federation of the Blind
> 813-598-7161
> President at NFB-NAGDU.ORG
> HTTP://NFB-NAGDU.ORG
>
> 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
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindtlk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/bonsai1b%40bellsouth.net
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.436 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2748 - Release Date: 03/15/10
07:33:00
More information about the BlindTlk
mailing list