[Nfbf-l] Sight is Required

[craig kiser]

Matt, Kenneth Jernigan once said to me back in 1968 that he was 
asked what he would be willing to pay to become sighted.  He 
said, after thinking about it, that he thought he would probably 
be willing to pay about $5000 to have sight.  Remember, this was 
in 1968, so in today's money it might be as much as $1,000 to 
$20,000.  What he was saying is that sight is valuable, but not 
priceless.  At the time, he was probably earning about $30,000 
per year.  If he were sighted, would he have greater earning 
capacity?  Probably not.  He loved his job and was at the top of 
his field with recognition nationwide, including a Presidential 
Citation.
  I've often thought about what he said to me and tried to answer 
the question myself.  I've come to realize that sight hasn't held 
me back financially or in self-satisfaction.  I realized that I'm 
prone to be lazy.  In school, I only did what I had to for a 
passing grade.  If I hadn't lost my sight, I probably would have 
continued to just work enough to get by.  However, being blind I 
had to work harder to get by.  After a hile, I was able to 
overcome my inate laziness.  Would that have happened if I hadn't 
become blind?  I
can't say for certain, but there wouldn't have been the same need 
to work harder.  In his book The Adversity Advantage Erik 
Weihenmayer talks about how adversity, including having a 
disability motivates us to do more.
  Kenneth Jernigan once gave a speech about how everyone has some 
disability-too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny, left handed 
or needing glasses.  How we deal with our disability has more to 
do with success and self esteem than the disability itself.  
Spending our lives waiting for a miracle cure for height, weight 
or sight is a far greater waste of time than watching television 
or social networking on a computer.  In my case, I've had a 
successful career as an attorney, as Deputy Comptroller of 
Florida and as Director of the Division of Blind Services-all as 
a blind person.  I've fished, hiked, camped and climbed 
mountains-again, all as a blind person.  I have thoroughly 
enjoyed every job I've had  These were the same goals in life I 
had before becoming blind at age 20.  I can honestly say that 
blindness did not hold me back in any way.
  Would I like to be able to see?  Of course.  I would also like 
to be better looking, taller and stronger.  Does that mean I'm 
willing to spend myself into bankrupsy on cosmetic surgery, body 
building or surgery to make me taller?  No, it isn't worth it to 
me.  More and more, I wish I were younger.  Will I spend my life 
searching for the Fountain of Youth?
No, I'm too busy living.  What I'm saying is, yes, we should 
support research into sight restoration, but not to the exclusion 
of efforts to educate the public about blindness and the myths of 
blindness.  As Kenneth Jernigan and I both concluded, we need to 
put our desire for sight into proper perspective.
 ----- Original Message -----
From: Matt Roberts <blindbiker at yahoo.com
To: Nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:13:43 -0400
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Sight is Required

I have been doing a lot of soul searching.  Sadly I have come up 
with a realization that will be foreign to most of you, but feel 
I should share it anyway.
We can create all the artificial things we want to allow us to be 
like everyone else, but it won't do it.  Most things I ike to do 
require sight, and there is no getting around it! The only way to 
be able to fully enjoy my life is if I get full vision, or enough 
to allow me to not appear blind.  Blindness is the most feared 
thing most people "see" and nothing we can do will change that!
Instead of worrying about a small aspect of society such as 
driving, we need to focus on seeing.
That's my goal, to see! We will see ways eye conditions can be 
reversed.  It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen.  When 
mine is reversed, I'll be able to enjoy all the things which are 
closed off to me right now.  I don't choose to live my life as a 
blind person.  Why? All blind people do is sit home and live on 
the phone and computer or watch TV all day.  Very few of us are 
working, and are relying on the government to support us.  That's 
not the kind of life I choose to live!
Before you tell me I'm not fully adjusted to my disability, I'd 
ask you are you fully adjusted? You never fully adjust to not 
being able to do things you once did or want to do.  Anyone who 
tells you they are fully adjusted to being blind is not telling 
the truth.
I can't predict exactly when , but in a few years, when eye 
conditions are being reversed, I hope you'll take advantage it 
this.  A few cases of blindness have been reversed.  It can 
openly get better!


Matt Roberts blindbiker at yahoo.com





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