[nabs-l] Out of curiosity

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all,

I personally don't have any objection to research on curing blindness
as long as it isn't backed by the kind of depressing and insulting
rhetoric that paints a tragic picture of the lives of blind people. If
organizations like the FFB showcased real blind people who were happy
and well-adjusted, but who were looking forward to the possibility of
having sight as a way of increasing their avenues of access and
opportunity, I would be behind that all the way. For example, Mike May
was a blind man who I believe was one of the first corneal-transplant
recipients who managed to gain a good deal of usable vision despite
being blind since age three. I always liked how he talked about his
rationale for gaining sight: he was happy as a blind person, had a
good job and family life, but he thought that becoming sighted would
be a fun adventure. I wish FFB would feature more people like him.
But, obviously, that perspective doesn't pull on people's heartstrings
and motivate them to give money as much as the tragic one does. Ah
well.

As for blindness "awareness" activities like the Dinners in the Dark:
As I posted on this list a few months ago, I did a research project
this year examining the effects of blindness simulations on people's
attitudes toward the blind. In two experiments, we had people put on
sleepshades for a short period of time (about 15 min in the first
study, about 30 min in the second) and we had them do some menial
tasks like walking around (they walked with a cane in the second
study, but received no instruction on how to use it), pouring a glass
of water, and sorting coins. Then we asked them to compare blind and
sighted people on several dimensions. In both experiments, we got some
stunning results. People who had been blindfolded rated the blind as
less competent (compared with the sighted) than did people who had not
been blindfolded. The blindfolded subjects also said they thought
blind people were less capable of living on their own and doing
certain manual jobs (again, as compared to the sighted) than the
subjects who weren't blindfolded. I think these data support an
intuition many of us have about these blindness simulation exercises.
Yes, they build sympathy for the blind, but at the expense of making
people think the blind are less capable, which is the last thing we
need at this point. I'm hoping to show in a later study that giving
blindfolded subjects a little bit of real blindness skills training
undoes these negative effects.

Arielle

On 5/7/11, Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> wrote:
> Mark,
>   I remember a speech, either by dr. Jernigan or dr. Ten Broek (I
> think it was Ten Broek), where he mentioned that the aspiration to
> fight blindness was "no doubt a worthy goal", or something along those
> lines.  But, as we've seen on other discussions on-list, opinions of
> individual Federationists would probably vary considerably.
>   Warmest regards,
> Kirt
>
> On 5/7/11, Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net> wrote:
>> I can't speak for the NFB, but I'll tell you what I think.
>>
>> I think it's unfortunate that the FFB uses fear to raise funds for
>> ophthalmological research. For example, they do these dining in the
>> dark experiences where sighted people have to try to eat without
>> seeing. You can imagine what a disaster that is, so they then equate
>> their experience with that of blind people and give money because, oh,
>> isn't it aweful to be blind? From what I gather, they don't talk at all
>> to people about the things that the blind are doing to live
>> productively. It's all based in this medical model that sees us as sick
>> or broken. I certainly don't see myself as that way, and I imagine that
>> many of you all don't, either. But from what I gather, the blind guys
>> that do participate at the FFB do think of themselves as sick or
>> broken. On the other hand, I've heard rumors that some NFB guys have
>> recently gotten involved for one reason or another.
>>
>> Respectfully,
>> Jedi
>>
>> Original message:
>>
>>
>>> What is the NFB's view of the work being dun by the Foundation Fighting
>>> Blindness, and there philosophy?
>>
>>
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-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org