[Nfb-editors] article feedback

[Blindhands at aol.com]

I think it was excellent.  
 
Joyce  Kane
_www.KraftersKorner.org_ (http://www.krafterskorner.org/) 
Blindhands at AOL.com   

 
In a message dated 5/2/2011 3:07:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
ckuell at comcast.net writes:

Hello,  editors. Below is an article I drafted a week ago for our state  
newsletter. While I stand by every word, my gut is warning me that it may  
be 
too harsh, too judgemental. Any thoughts? All comments, suggestions,  
criticisms are  welcome.

Thanks,

chris


Blindfolded

By    Ira Tating


You know what I hate? Granted, hate might be too strong  a word, and my 
mother did warn me dozens of times never to use it, but  'dislike' or 'find 
irritating' or 'have an aversion to' just aren't  powerful enough to convey 
how I feel about the following situation. You  are at a place, and the time 
is perfect for a teaching opportunity. Maybe  it's talking to a group of 
fourth graders, or a troop of boy scouts, or as  happened with me recently, 
waiting to testify before the Appropriations  Committee of the state's 
General Assembly. A well-meaning blind person  uses this opportunity to 
influence the public by saying something like-I  challenge you to wear a 
blindfold for 24 hours. Go ahead-I dare you. Put  yourselves in our shoes 
and 
see what it's like to be blind, the challenges  we face every single day, 
and 
so on.

We've all heard it done, maybe  even done it ourselves. The speaker wants 
the 
listeners to appreciate what  their life is like, to simulate blindness 
even 
if only for a few minutes,  and gain the listener's sympathy. And it drives 
me nuts. Because while you  may get their sympathy, what you are really 
going 
for, either consciously  or subconsciously, is their pity. It is painfully 
revealing about the  speakers attitude and acceptance of their vision loss. 
Whenever I hear the  "wear a blindfold" speech, I think to myself-there's a 
person that's  really saying, "Poor, pitiful, blind me. Feel sorry for me."

My  reaction at this point is two-fold. First and foremost, it's a lie. Of  
course putting on a blindfold will make life difficult for a sighted  
person, 
just like taking away any sense would. But it's not a realistic  portrayal 
of 
blindness. Very few people are struck instantly blind, and  even when it 
happens, they can change their life paradigm and learn the  skills that all 
successful blind people have. They can learn how to travel  independently 
with a cane, to read Braille, to use technology, to do all  the things they 
used to do but in new ways. Obviously that doesn't happen  within the first 
24 hours-it takes time, practice and  persistence.

The truth is, blindness is not a tragedy, and no pity is  required or even 
desired. I know I sound like a broken record at times (do  people even know 
what those are anymore? Maybe I should say a CD with a  dust particle on 
it) 
but I know that with proper training, a positive  attitude, and equal 
opportunity, nothing can get in the way of what a  blind person can achieve.

Which brings me to the second reason I cringe  when somebody talks about a 
blindfold. It is always done as a teaching  tool, at what I think of as a 
learning moment, when the speaker has that  rare opportunity to change the 
misconceptions held by the sighted public.  When they could be saying that 
blind people can do anything, that we know  blind doctors and lawyers and 
artists and computer programmers and  teachers and trainers and scientists 
and writers, that blind people travel  independently all over the world, 
have 
families, do volunteer work and  contribute to their communities-they 
choose 
instead to say "It's so-o-o  hard being blind. Pity me."

There are two major obstacles which face  every blind person. The first is 
themselves-their attitude, their life  philosophy, their determination and 
belief in what they can accomplish.  The second is the sighted public who 
hasn't had positive interactions with  a blind person before, and holds the 
common misconceptions that to be  blind is equivalent to being completely 
helpless, lost, less capable than  a child. Pitiful.

The first obstacle is best addressed by spending time  with capable, 
competent blind people like those in the NFB. Learn from the  things they 
say 
and do, and push yourself to reach further. With each  success, you will 
gain 
confidence and start to believe.

Changing  society's misconceptions is far more daunting. The only way to 
accomplish  this is to take advantage of those teaching moments when they 
come your  way. Throw away that useless blindfold and reach out with your 
cane. Put  out your hand proudly and teach the truth about blindness. Make 
the  listener rethink everything that movies and books and cartoons and  
comedians have impressed on them regarding blind people. Only then can we  
affect the change we want in the  world.






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