[il-talk] Legally Blind Contestant Stops Short of Miss Florida USA Title

Wed Jul 18 12:47:09 UTC 2012

While she is to be lauded for her accomplishments, I find the tone of this
story to be rather troubling.  She certainly seems to be availing herself of
the sighted public's perception of blind people as "inspirational" simply by
virtue of achieving goals in spite of blindness.  Yet one wonders the extent
to which she embraces her own identity as a proud and independent blind
person.  No cane, it's cute when I trip or walk into something, bless her
sweet heart for even trying, etc.  Evidently not a Braill e reader either,
as she has her tests read to her.  Too bad that she is presented (and
perhaps presents herself) as more extraordinary due to her blindness, rather
than as an extraordinarily accomplished (and evidently beautiful) young
woman, who happens to be blind.  And, if she did use a cane onstage, I have
to wonder if the judges would have been disposed to advance her as far in
the competition as they did; she might very reasonably have thought her best
bet was not to distinguish herself too much from the other contestants by
virtue of carrying a cane.

Oh well, she's just 18;  she might yet embrace the adaptive techniques with
a bit more time.

My two cents.

Andrew

-----Original Message-----
From: il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Pattichang at att.net
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 6:29 PM
To: Jemal Powell; NFB of Illinois Mailing List
Subject: Re: [il-talk] Legally Blind Contestant Stops Short of Miss Florida
USA Title

 I think it's pretty clear that she does not use a cane. She is trying to
memorize the stage. A Kane might be a better bet. Jessica Ewell yo uses  one
on stage after all.

Patti S. Gregory-Chang
NFB, Scholarship Committee Chair
Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 17, 2012, at 6:16 PM, Jemal Powell <derek2872 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Interesting story, however. the story did not mention if she uses
alternative techniques, such as braille or a cane.  
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Syed Yousufuddin <syedy2003 at hotmail.com>
> To: il-talk at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 11:46 AM
> Subject: [il-talk] Legally Blind Contestant Stops Short of Miss 
> Florida USA Title
> 
> 
> Hollywood, Florida (CNN) -- Connor Boss, the first legally blind 
> contestant to compete for Miss Florida USA, was a top five finalist at the
pageant Saturday but fell short of the title.
> 
> The crown went to Michelle Aguirre, Miss Broward County Fair USA.
> 
> But Boss, 18, who was diagnosed 10 year ago with a hereditary eye disease,
isn't likely to lose too much sleep.
> 
> Before the contest, she said the older she gets the less importance she
places on winning the crown.
> 
> "I've come to learn that it's not even about winning the pageants," 
> she said. "I'm so glad that my story can be shared and that at least if I
can inspire one person, I feel like I've won already."
> 
> It was a message she echoed during the interview portion of the 
> competition Saturday night in response to what she would like to
accomplish in the next year.
> 
> "I hope that I could inspire others that anything is possible. You can 
> accomplish whatever you set your mind to, and I hope that they can really
learn from my story and take that and apply it to their own lives," she
said.
> 
> Ten years ago, Boss was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a hereditary eye
disease that caused her vision to get progressively worse.
> 
> "It affects my retina and my central vision, so my peripheral vision 
> is intact," said Boss. "When I'm looking at people, I try and look around.
People take me as being rude but it's hard for me to focus straight
forward."
> 
> Focusing is not a problem for Boss when it comes to her goals. Boss, a 
> freshman at Florida State University, graduated from high school with a
4.2 grade point average.
> 
> "All of her tests ended up being read to her, even the SAT and ACT for 
> college were read to her," said her mother, Traci Boss. It was not only
academia where Boss excelled; she was her high school senior class president
and captain of the cheerleading squad.
> 
> During pageants, Boss is treated just like all the other contestants, but
she must rely on her other senses to compensate for her poor eyesight.
> 
> In rehearsal, Boss pays close attention to where she needs to be on stage
and how to get there.
> 
> "She'll actually say 'four steps here, step down four steps, step 
> down,' " explained Miss Florida USA Executive Producer Grant Gravitt.
"She'll memorize it."
> 
> Humor is also an important outlet for Boss when dealing with her disease.
> 
> "I find a lot of humor in it, the stupid stuff that I do, like running
into things, tripping all the time over things that I cannot see," she said.
> 
> Although Boss is good at laughing off her missteps, she works very hard to
avoid them, especially when she is on stage.
> 
> "I think she's different than any other girl but not because of her 
> blindness," said Gravitt. "I just think that she's an awesome young lady
that is really coming into the prime of her own."
> 
> 
>                         
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