[blparent] Fw: Story about Blind Dad, Ryan Knighton

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

Thank you for a well put letter.   I'm working on one as well.

Jo Elizabeth

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, 
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of 
the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of 
these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist

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From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at att.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2012 10:10 AM
To: "Multiple recipients of NFBnet blparent Mailing List" 
<blparent at NFBnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] Fw: Story about Blind Dad, Ryan Knighton

>
> Well, I finally took the plunge.  I just sent off a letter to This 
> American Life, inspired by the Ryan Knighton excerpt we were subjected to 
> a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe if they hear from a lot of us, they will 
> take my suggestion seriously and consider doing a real story.  Please 
> write to them, too!  We have power in numbers!
>
> Debbie
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at att.net>
> To: <web at thislife.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2012 11:03 AM
> Subject: Story about Blind Dad, Ryan Knighton
>
>
>>
>>
>> Dear This American Life Team,
>>
>> A few weeks ago I listened to your broadcast of a reading from Ryan 
>> Knighton's memoir, C'Mon, Papa: Dispatches from a Dad in the Dark. 
>> Knighton's writing is superb and the reader did an excellent job of 
>> bringing his words to life.  However, I was appalled by the content of 
>> this excerpt. It portrays a blind father as severely inept and willing to 
>> endanger his vulnerable young child in a world he has not learned to 
>> navigate on his own. This TAL episode goes a long way to promote the most 
>> egregious stereotypes about blind people, and blind parents in 
>> particular.
>>
>> I am the totally blind mother of a now-grown daughter.  For the past 
>> fifteen years I have chaired the Blind Parents Interest Group of the 
>> National Federation of the Blind, and I am in contact with hundreds of 
>> blind parents across the US and Canada.  For most of us, blindness 
>> presents occasional challenges, such as finding a reliable talking 
>> thermometer or figuring out how to teach our kids to recognize colors. 
>> However, the toughest problems we face come from the doubts and fears of 
>> friends, family members, professionals, and the general public.  Blind 
>> parents are not infrequently investigated by child protective services, 
>> even though there are no signs of neglect or abuse - they are 
>> investigated simply because of their blindness. In divorce cases, 
>> blindness has often been used as a reason to remove a child from a blind 
>> parent's custody.
>>
>> I have the greatest respect for the quality of reporting that has become 
>> the TAL hallmark.  I urge you to consider doing a serious story about 
>> blind parents.  Please listen to us.  Visit us and meet our children. 
>> Learn about the incidents that fill our day-to-day lives - including the 
>> sometimes painful, sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious encounters we 
>> have with people who cannot conceive of how we manage to survive, intact 
>> and smiling. We have a world of stories to share, and our experiences are 
>> a facet of this American life that your audience might come to 
>> understand. Please help us set the record straight!
>>
>> Deborah Kent Stein
>> 5817 N. Nina Ave.
>> Chicago, IL 60631
>> dkent5817 at att.net
>> 773-203-1394
>>
>> P.S.  For more information about blindness, visit the website of the 
>> National Federation of the Blind, www.nfb.org.
>
>
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