[nabs-l] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

[Brandon Keith Biggs]

Hello,
True, the sighted people in engineering often want to develop things for 
blind people to use, but very few of them know blind people to ask, or know 
of any professionals on blind people that could answer their questions. I 
think the root of the problem is that there aren’t enough of us to go around 
and the professionals or people informed about blindness are even more rare 
than we are.
I have often brought up to my college that they should start a TVI program 
and they kind of chuckle and ask me where I'll find the teachers... But 
there are so many students who are going in to special Ed that have heard of 
being a teacher of the blind, but they know nothing about it. There is one 
or two places in the special Ed program that talk about blindness related 
subjects in passing, but that is often very small and obscure.
I wonder if there could be a project/class system  or something that could 
be developed that a blind student could take to their college that teaches 
people a little about what it's like working with blind people. That way 
colleges may start taking notice of this important field and make it a part 
of the class catalogue. The information just needs to get out there to the 
public.
The best way for myths about blindness to be dispelled is for a TV show with 
a blind person as the lead, acting as a blind person, to go on the air. But 
idk of very many directors who would be able to find someone who could write 
a good pilot script or direct the movie to show a blind person as they 
really are.
Blindness is like Opera, people truly just don't know about it! (Les Miz and 
Phantom are NOT OPERA and Dare devil and all those other blind movie 
characters aren’t blind!
Thank you,

Brandon Keith Biggs
-----Original Message----- 
From: Justin Salisbury
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 12:41 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

I think some of you are focusing on the technology and its possible uses. 
What made me want to post this article were the philosophies on blindness 
expressed in the article and news story.

In no connection to the previous discussion of cancer on this thread, I feel 
like the researchers think their discovery is analogous to finding a cure 
for cancer when they come up with this technology.  They appear to me to be 
trying to tackle tasks that any graduate of an NFB training center can 
already handle.  If I don't know what is on the counter in front of me, I 
reach out and touch it.  Let them research whatever they want to research, 
but I think these people are marked by a profound misunderstanding of 
blindness.

I don't try to fix the fact that I'm blind (as if it's something wrong with 
me); I try to fix the misunderstandings about blindness.

Justin

Justin M. Salisbury
Class of 2012
B.A. in Mathematics
East Carolina University
president at alumni.ecu.edu

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change 
the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”    —MARGARET MEAD


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