[nabs-l] Blindness, loss and therapy

Sat Aug 20 16:55:45 UTC 2011

Hi Bridgit,

I completely agree! Don't demean yourself, you're very bright, IMO! I
believe you could very well be an NFB leader on the national level if
you wanted to persue that goal! The quote from Dr. Jernigan in my
signature, a quote that's so famous within the Federation, says it
all.

Chris

On 8/19/11, Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com> wrote:
> As a former sighted person, I thought I'd weigh in on this topic.
>
> I was fully sighted for 22 years then loss my vision due to a viral
> infection compounded by pneumonia.  I drove, loved fashion, had managed
> a clothing store, an avid reader, dancer, had been a theatre/vocal
> performance major, was raised sighted, lived sighted then pretty quickly
> lost my vision.  It took about a year beginning with just a little
> haziness to my vision, and at the end of the year, after a procedure
> that was suppose to restore vision, I lost it all.  Eight years later,
> it has cleared, if you can call it this, to where I can make out
> shadows, light and some colors, but I'm basically totally blind since I
> can't use any of this to use my eyes visually.
>
> I'm not sure why, and I've come to realize I'm in a minority, but I've
> never struggled much with losing my vision.  It wasn't the greatest
> thing to happen, but it was not even close to being the worse thing
> either.  I can't even put it in the middle of bad things that can
> happen.  From the beginning, long before I knew about training centers
> or consumer organizations or philosophies of blindness, I discovered
> blindness was not a catastrophic event and I was still very capable.  I
> knew I was the same person I'd always been, and I knew I could still do
> all the same things, I just had to figure out how to do them.  My
> biggest problem, and it still is, has been other people in my life.
>
> Once my eye specialist diagnosed blindness, my dad couldn't stop crying,
> and my mom said I better get back on anti-depressants, which I'd been on
> and off of for years for an entirely different reason.  It was surreal
> comforting my father since I never cried about it.  This isn't to say it
> has always been easy or wonderful, but my blindness has never struck me
> deep enough to feel this way.  And I remember being angry that my mom
> automatically assumed blindness would depress me.
>
> For eight years, people, mostly sighted, have tried to project feelings
> and thoughts onto me that are just not true.  No matter what I do, what
> I say, I still have people assume blindness is life-altering and limits
> you beyond functioning.  I don't provide lip service because I've been
> brain washed or have an agenda, once I received training, my life's been
> normal.  I've actually accomplished more blind than I ever did sighted.
>  Once my doctors cleared my health, I couldn't get into a training
> center fast enough.  I attended the Iowa Department for the Blind, and I
> went in with an open mind, eager to soak up whatever I had to learn.  It
> was difficult being around students who were resistant to training, or
> who couldn't "cope" with their blindness.  I'm not trying to diminish
> anyone's feelings and experiences, but blindness is relatively
> permanent, and instead of wallowing in self-pity and refusing to move
> forward, why not adopt a positive attitude and learn what is currently
> available to the blind to live active, productive lives?
>
> When I discovered the NFB and studied its foundational philosophy, I
> thought, finally, others who get it.  I'm a complete human being with an
> emotional landscape- thoughts, feelings, desires, and my entire life is
> not wrapped up in blindness.  During my first national convention,
> during Dr. Mauer's banquet speech, his theme revolved around the concept
> that blind people are not broken sighted people.  I cried as he spoke
> because I knew this, felt it, for years.  It was comforting to be around
> people who agreed.
>
> Yes, I miss visually seeing at times, and I don't like that we are still
> fighting for equal rights, and I wish more was accessible to us allowing
> for the ease most sighted people experience in terms of information, but
> usually, blindness itself has nothing to do with this other than because
> people believe sight is so instrumental to doing the most mundane task,
> they don't consider how simple being blind can be if certain things
> changed.
>
> I miss sight, but not the way I miss my grandma who passed away years
> ago.  It's a different loss, and for me, no way near the magnitude of
> loss experienced with true death.
>
> Left to my own devices, life truly isn't that huge of a challenge.  I
> don't struggle mentally with blindness, nor is it a physical challenge
> in terms of doing things.  I've found alternative techniques equal to
> using sight most of the time, and should these techniques be recognized
> as equal to sight and adopted on a large scale, most blind people would
> have very few, if any, issues.
>
> I'm not saying I'm happy to be blind, but I'm not unhappy either.  And I
> don't pretend life is super easy, but again, more than half the time,
> the difficulty is related to attitudes and perceptions and unwillingness
> to change that creates the difficulty in blindness.  I still make
> mistakes and I have my own personal limitations, but I don't feel my
> blindness contributes to intellectual or physical limitations I have.
> As a person who was once sighted, I don't think much has changed in my
> life.  I enjoy the same things, I do most of the same things- blindness
> isn't stopping me.  I should probably mention I'm also stubborn and
> rebellious, so when I'm told I can't do something, I more likely to do
> it.  LOL
>
> So do I think all blind people require therapy?  No.  And should
> training centers provide therapy?  No, and if a person feels therapy
> would be beneficial, it is up to an individual to seek that care out.
> It's no different than any other medical concern.  If you need a doctor,
> you find one and go to their clinic.  The world does not bring you
> medical help.  So why should a training center provide it?  As a
> diabetic, I wouldn't expect an on-staff endocrinologist.  People seeking
> therapy shouldn't be ostracized and made to feel bad for doing so.
> What's right for me, may not be so for others, but an individual need,
> or desire, does not mean training centers should invest in a therapist.
>
> People need therapy and psychiatric help for many reasons, and if a
> person believes this would help them deal with blindness, that's okay,
> and they should seek that help out.  I don't think it is necessary for
> an institution to provide that care though.  At the end of the day, it
> does not contribute to the program.
>
> While losing a sense after once having had it, it is a loss to an
> extent.  And there is an adjustment period since you learn to do things
> in a new way.  I understand I'm in a minority with my view when it comes
> to sighted people becoming blind later in life and how we address this
> fact, but I didn't find blindness to be as emotionally challenging as
> some believe, nor did it take me long to adjust to being blind.  I'm not
> the brightest crayon in the box, so if this is possible for me, I know
> it is possible for various crayons- all shapes, sizes and colors!
>
> Sincerely,
> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
> Read my blog for Live Well Nebraska.com at
> http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>
>
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-- 
Chris Nusbaum

"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real
problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that exists. If
a blind person has the proper training and opportunity, blindness can
be reduced to a mere physical nuissence." -- Kenneth Jernigan

Visit the I C.A.N. Foundation online at: www.icanfoundation.info for
information on our foundation and how it helps blind and visually
impaired children in MD say "I can!"