[nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
Tamara Smith-Kinney
tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Fri Mar 12 17:01:18 UTC 2010
Er... Um... Huh. Excuse me while I bumble off and lob something.
Tami Smith-Kinney
-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Allison Nastoff
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:04 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
Hi List,
Here is the article from nfbnewsline.
Allison and Gilbert
?Awareness was the main course. By LAURA Reiley Times Staff
Writer ST. PETERSBURG You knew your plate had been set before
you only by sense of smell. It smelled like beef, something
braised and hearty. On your right a voice asked what you do for
a living. You turned and lobbed an answer in that direction.
Tuesday night was the Foundation Fighting Blindness's first Tampa
Bay Dining in the Dark event at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort
& Golf Club. More than 200 people, dressed fancy and sipping
cocktails, took seats in the main ballroom and eventually donned
something called a Mindfold face mask, impervious to light and
lined with foam. The lights dimmed and as emcee Dick Crippen of
the Tampa Bay Rays goaded the crowd, the group endeavored to
enjoy "the first meal you will never see. Other senses were
heightened, texture became paramount. But more important, it
gave all of the assembled a greater window into the world of the
sightless. Many had come because their lives had already been
touched by degenerative retinal diseases. Briana Pompilus , 24,
was there as a volunteer with her mother Veronica Floyd, 44, who
was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at age 22. Still
driving now, eventually her vision will close up as if looking
through two drinking straws. One of the evening's speakers,
April Lufriu, a former Mrs. Florida America pageant winner and
president of the Tampa Bay area chapter of the foundation, spoke
of her sister's retinal disease and, more haltingly, about her
two children's recent diagnosis. Degenerative retinal diseases
affect more than 10 million Americans. As keynote speaker James
Minow described it, the foundation's aim is to put an end to
retinal disease by replacing defective cells in the retina,
replacing defective genes and by developing new treatments to
protect degenerating retinas. The obstacle? As is so often the
case, it's money. According to Kim Marlow, regional director of
development for the foundation, the evening in St. Petersburg
will raise $100,000 for the cause. The most successful Dining in
the Dark event to date, in New York, raised $500,000 in a single
evening. The evening's honorees, doctors James Gill and Stephen
Klasko, were feverishly optimistic about conceivable cures for
blindness. For those assembled, a half hour in the dark was a
humbling, and bumbling, reminder of the magnitude of the gift of
sight..
> ----- 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
>Date sent: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:36:19 -0500
>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
>> _______________________________________________
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