[nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"

David Baker david at bakerinet.com
Fri Mar 12 01:09:37 UTC 2010


In using the Dining in the Dark project for fundraising, the FFB in Tampa has
followed a pattern that I have noticed before.  Stereotyping of those who are
losing vision as tragic figures in the name of fundraising is not uncommon.  In
my experience, the visually impaired are often infantilized more than the public
understanding of blindness and low vision is informed.   It's not unlike like
the Jimmy Fund and other poster child fund raising techniques, I suppose.  I
once worked for a voc rehab agency that dressed their 'disabled/impaired'
employees in elf costumes at Christmas to serve lunch to the Junior League.
Since they gave the employees turkeys and food to take home, the practice was
sanctioned with statements like:   "See how nice we are to these people?  ...
and they just love doing this every year.  It is so special for them.  Aren't
they cute?"

David Baker
davidbaker at bellsouth.net 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Mark J. Cadigan
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 2:48 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"

Well, go look at the homepage. It is http://www.darkdiningprojects.com/ it is
interesting. I don't think it mentions anything about the blind in any manner
that could be considered derogatory.





----- Original Message -----
From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:43 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"


> If you all go to tampabay.com and put in the search dining in the dark. 
> This may help as well.
>
> Cheryl Echevarria
> Independent Travel Consultant
> http://Echevarriatravel.com
> 1-866-580-5574
>
> http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel 
> CST-1018299-10
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:36 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
>
>
>> Mind sending the article to the list and providing a video link?
>> Marian, great rebuttal letter, btw.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of cheryl echevarria
>> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:10 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the
>> Dark"
>>
>> Marion I just forwarded it to you. on the website they also have a video
>> how
>> nice.
>>
>> Cheryl Echevarria
>> Independent Travel Consultant
>> http://Echevarriatravel.com
>> 1-866-580-5574
>>
>> http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
>> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
>> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel
>> CST-1018299-10
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
>> To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>; "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:54 AM
>> Subject: [nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
>>
>>
>> > Dear All,
>> >     I tried to get a copy of the original article about which I wrote
>> this
>> > letter to the editor; however, it was not available without paying a
>> fee.
>> > The article can be accessed by going to NFB-Newsline and selecting the
>>
>> > St.Petersburg Times Metro section. If anyone can get access to this
>> > article, please send it to the list. Pasted below is my letter to the
>> > editor.
>> >
>> > Fraternally yours,
>> > Marion Gwizdala
>> >
>> > March 11, 2010
>> >
>> >             I am writing to comment on the article "Awareness Was the
>> Main
>> > Course" by Laura Reiley that appeared in the March 10 Metro section of
>> the
>> > St. Petersburg times. As a blind person, I often meet people who are
>> > amazed by the fact that I can perform even the simplest of tasks.
>> > Generally this attitude is based on their own experience attempting to
>>
>> > perform the same task without eyesight and failing at it miserably. It
>> is
>> > for this reason that most blind people are opposed to using the type
>> of
>> > simulation exercises featured in this article. Blindfolding a sighted
>> > person and asking them to perform even a simple task does not, as the
>> > article purports, give a person any awareness of what the life of a
>> blind
>> > person is like. In fact, such exercises only serve to reinforce the
>> > misconceptions and promulgate the myths about blindness that create
>> the
>> > social, legal, and economic barriers that prevent us from achieving
>> true
>> > equality with our sighted peers. Those of us who are blind have
>> developed
>> > an array of non-visual techniques to perform activities of daily
>> living,
>> > such as eating, just as effectively as sighted people do using
>> eyesight.
>> > Blindfolding a sighted person and asking them to perform a task is
>> like
>> > putting someone in the cockpit of a jetliner and telling them to fly!
>> > Lacking the proper skills, the results of both would be disastrous!
>> >
>> >             The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight;
>>
>> > rather it is the manner in which we are treated as the result of the
>> > misconceptions people have about blindness. If one really wants to
>> find
>> > out what life is like for a blind person, there is no need to don a
>> > blindfold! All one needs to do is carry a white cane, the
>> international
>> > symbol of blindness,  and go about their everyday life. Then they
>> would
>> > feel the crushing insults  of public misperception that blind people,
>> > except for those few who are believed to be amazing and extraordinary,
>> are
>> > innately ignorant and helpless. They would experience the waitress who
>>
>> > asks a five year old what the blind adult wants to drink. They would
>> > encounter the librarian who admonishes them for going out alone, thus
>> > exposing them to the hazards of opening a door. They would be
>> confronted
>> > by the Employer who inquires about who will bring them to work. They
>> would
>> > learn that even well educated doctors are so ignorant as to ask them
>> who
>> > bathes them! Though you might want to minimize these incidents away,
>> they
>> > are examples of the type of ignorance I - and other blind people -
>> > encounter on a regular, almost daily, basis!
>> >
>> >             I am not asserting that eyesight is not beneficial nor
>> that
>> > the work of the Foundation Fighting Blindness is not valuable. What
>> > concerns me is that organizations that assert they want to "serve the
>> > blind" do us such a disservice by reinforcing the public
>> misconceptions
>> > and fears that create the problems we face. I am all for raising money
>> to
>> > cure retinal degenerative diseases, especially since the condition
>> that
>> > has caused my blindness, that of my 14-year-old nephew , and several
>> other
>> > members of my family is retinitis Pigmentosa. I am, however, opposed
>> to
>> > creating the type of fear and pity that results from blindfolding
>> people
>> > for the purpose of raising money! Such a practice is as offensive to
>> me as
>> > a black-faced minstrel would be to an African American! These
>> > misconceptions are the reason fewer than 10% of blind children are
>> > learning to read and write Braille, producing functionally illiterate
>> > blind adults. These fears and misconceptions are the reason that the
>> > unemployment rate among the blind is more than 70%!
>> >
>> >             The veracity of my concerns are supported by the numerous
>> > inaccurate statements made by the author who has bought into the false
>>
>> > perceptions of the blind. Does she really believe that "other senses
>> are
>> > heightened" by taking away one's sight or "; texture became paramount"
>> as
>> > the result of simulated blindness? Does she really believe that
>> > blindfolding participants "gave all assembled a greater window into
>> the
>> > world of the sightless"? Does she really believe that blind people go
>> > through life "bumbling" their ways around or did she just
>> irresponsibly
>> > promulgate the pitiful stereotype in an effort to sell your newspapers
>>
>> > like the Foundation Fighting Blindness did to sell themselves and
>> > selfishly generate  revenue with no concern about the social
>> consequences
>> > of their actions?
>> >
>> >             The belief that blind people are endowed with heightened
>> > senses and special powers is a myth. Blind people simply learn to use
>> > their other senses and alternative techniques to perform the tasks
>> sighted
>> > people do with eyesight. Like any skill, these techniques are
>> generally
>> > not acquired in a half-hour nor mysteriously and supernaturally
>> endowed.
>> > However, these skills enable blind people to function independently,
>> > efficiently, and effectively. In fact, the average blind person can
>> > perform the same tasks as their sighted peers as well, if not better,
>> by
>> > employing these alternative techniques. Our blindness is not the
>> problem.
>> > The real problem of blindness is the misunderstanding and lack of
>> > information that exists. If a blind person is given proper training
>> and
>> > opportunity, blindness is only a physical nuisance.
>> >
>> >             In the future, when your paper is doing a story about
>> > blindness, it would be helpful to get accurate information and the
>> > perspective of a blind person who is qualified to speak to these
>> issues by
>> > being chosen by the blind to speak on their behalf. The National
>> > Federation of the Blind is the oldest and largest organization of the
>> > blind in the United States. We are not an organization that speaks on
>> > behalf of the blind; we are the blind speaking for ourselves. For
>> accurate
>> > information about blindness or the blind, please feel free to get in
>> touch
>> > with me or visit one of our websites at
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > HTTP://WWW.NFB.ORG
>> >
>> > Or
>> >
>> > HTTP://WWW.NFB-NAGDU.ORG
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Respectfully yours,
>> >
>> > Marion Gwizdala, President
>> >
>> > National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> >
>> > National Federation of the Blind
>> >
>> > 813-598-7161
>> >
>> > President at NFB-NAGDU.ORG
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > nagdu mailing list
>> > nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> > nagdu:
>> >
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>> otmail.com
>> >
>>
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