[nabs-l] NFB Philosophy

[nabs.president at gmail.com]

Tyler,

 

Fair question. And while I do not claim to speak for everybody, and, in
fact, believe that there is no one great truth or philosophy about
blindness, do believe that there is a positive and realistic way of thinking
about blindness and all that it entails that is referred to as NFB
philosophy. I happen to subscribe to it, though I, as I have stated before,
do not agree 100% with everything the NFB does or says. Claiming to embrace
this philosophy no more relinquishes my claim on independent thought than
does subscribing to any point of view on any other issue. So, to boil it
down into a few key points, here is my take on what the NFB philosophy on
blindness is:

 

1)      Blindness need not prohibit one from leading a meaningful,
productive and fulfilling life.

 

2)      While blindness surely presents certain difficulties, frustrations
and inconveniences, the perception of blind persons among the general public
and the associated chronic underestimation of the abilities of blind
individuals causes more problems than anything inherent to blindness itself.

 

3)      Blindness, rather than defining who I am, is but one characteristic
I possess. A characteristic with a greater impact on my life than the fact,
say, that I have brown hair, but a characteristic nonetheless.

 

4)      By employing blindness skills, and when given the opportunity to do
so, average blind folks can do the vast majority of jobs, and participate in
the vast majority of pastimes,  that average sighted folks can. By
extension, exceptionally bright, hard-working, or otherwise gifted blind
individuals can do the things that exceptional sighted folks can do.

 

And, though I wouldn't list it as a belief at the core of how I view
blindness, I think it's worth saying:

 

Sometimes, we, as blind people, need to be willing to go the extra mile to
get things done. Should things be designed for universal access? Absolutely.
Is it fair that I have to spend extra time scanning my books while my
sighted peers do not? No, it's not. However, in full recognition that there
are strong and persuasive moral, and probably practical, arguments for
remedying the status quo, we must recognize that the world and life are not
fair. Sometimes I'll have to work harder than the guy next to me to
accomplish the same thing. But, sometimes, the guy next to me will have to
work harder than me to compensate for some shortcoming of his own. That's
life, and we can choose to accept it and move on, or we can wallow and wine
that things aren't fair. We've all got obstacles to overcome, and, for me,
being blind happens to be one of them.

 

I hope that all makes some sense. I would be curious to hear what others
think about the question. It is a good one and worth reflection and
discussion.

 

Take care,

 

Sean