[nabs-l] Out of curiosity

Thu May 12 05:19:35 UTC 2011

Dear Antonio and others,

Yes, I have heard of Dialogue in the Dark and have been to their headquarter 
in Hamburg, Germany. I also attended their workshop both in Hong Kong and 
Germany. It's a very good educational event for sighted people. I introduced 
DID to some of my sighted friends and received positive feedback from them. 
DID also try to open franchizie in different countries.

Regards,
Crystal
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Antonio Guimaraes" <freethaught at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 5:56 AM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Out of curiosity

> Hello Patrick and others,
>
> I wonder if anyone has heard of Dialogue in the Dark?
>
>
> http://www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com/
>
> A friend in Brazil participated in one of their workshops, and They did 
> take take sighted people through a blindness experience in the dark. The 
> difference is they had discussions about life as a real blind person, not 
> a fabricated dinner experience.
>
> I thought the events to be educational and thought-provoking.
>
> Arielle's research reveals what many in the blindness field have thought 
> to be true. Giving an artificial blindness experience for some short 
> period only scares people into thinking they can never deal with being 
> blind.
>
> How many of you have heard "I wonder how he/she can do that." I bet some 
> have heard this even today.
>
> Dialogue in the Dark is lead by blind people who explain nuances we nabs 
> students might cover with a sighted friend over lunch.
>
> There isn't much opportunity for a full imersion into blindness there, but 
> the people I like to share a meal with are already open to blindness, and 
> understand some of my capabilities.
>
> I may want to hide my limitations from them, but they are smart enough to 
> figure them out too.
>
> Blanket statements are never good, and some times we tend to have a chip 
> on the sholder when it comes to the sighted.
>
> Most inteligent and educated sighted, socially adjusted people know a cool 
> blind person when they see one. Said blind person need not try to prove 
> himself to others. If others put barriers to interacting with, or having 
> no regard for a blind person, they will have no regard for other people 
> who are different from them.
>
> I tend to have mostly pleasant social contact these days. I snicker at the 
> ones that smack of ignorance or fear and move on.
>
> These come mostly from people in my subsidised housing building who tend 
> to be older, and from a limited background.
>
> I have molded to some of the NFb positions on many things, and I do not 
> believe an extensive search for curing blindness to be very useful. I am 
> glad for friends who will challenge current thought, and find a middle 
> ground. Yes, that's you Kirt.
>
> But there are many who hold religious dogma who think God created people 
> to be healthy, including the sightless. They are the ones who will stop a 
> group of 3 blind mice out in Boston, place a hand on each of their 
> sholders, and say "restore thy site," one prayer for each poor unfortunate 
> unseen creature.
>
> We, I was one of the mice, didn't get our sites restored, so the praying 
> person came back and repeated the ritual. We were all born blind, so no 
> site could be restored since none was ever lost.
>
> I once wrote a somewhat angry set of verse about this sort of thing, but 
> now I just refer the prayerer to Exodus 4, verses 11 and 12.
>
> God did create the seeing, and even the blind created he.
>
> I didn't mean to get carried away on religion, but this happens more often 
> than I care to admit, and is relevant to curing blindness from a 
> theological model.
>
> Best,
>
> Antonio Guimaraes
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Patrick Johnson" <pajohns1 at vt.edu>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 2:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Out of curiosity
>
>
>> Group,
>>
>>    It's a little absurd to compare the NFB with the Foundation Fighting 
>> Blindness.  The two have distinct missions and attract different 
>> memberships.  The FFB focuses on the medical and scientific aspects of 
>> blindness.  Take a look at their web site and the web site of their 
>> upcoming conference.
>>
>> http://www.blindness.org/
>> http://www.blindness.org/visions/
>>
>>    As for "Dining in the Dark", yes it is a fund raiser, but it is more 
>> than that.  The wait staff is completely blind and the food is served in 
>> the dark.  It is also an opportunity to educate the public.  The wait 
>> staff instructs the diners on how to orient themselves to their place 
>> setting, locate, and identify their food and drink.
>>
>>    To me this is educational and promotes the the vision that the blind 
>> are capable of living independent and productive lives.
>>
>>    It is wrong to make blanket comments about other blindness 
>> organizations such as the FFB.  The NFB, FFB, ACB, and dozens of other 
>> organizations whoo advocate for the blind are all striving to improve our 
>> lives.  Whether you or I disagree with a specific policy or goal of a 
>> blindness organization is completely understandable.  But by making a 
>> blanket statement about an entire organization makes the speaker  sound 
>> uninformed and could alienate the listener.
>>
>> $0.02 worth from someone who is afiliated with both the NFB and FFB.
>>
>> Patrick
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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