[Nfbf-l] How Dining in the Dark is Covered by the Media

Sat Oct 20 01:24:12 UTC 2018

Bill,
Kathy Davis and Ronnie Silverman attend the Florida Outreach Center for the Blind Dining in the Dark event in 2012 to learn how to organize and run the event. I am sure that they will tell you how positive the dinner was and presented blind people and their abilities. Dr. Thomas Hartig's wife also attended the dinner and was a guest speaker along with Kathy Davis.
I am blind myself so why would I ever want to depick blind people in a negative way. The same goes for Kathy.
Please keep me posted on your research.

Carolyn
-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbf-l [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bill Outman via Nfbf-l
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2018 5:59 PM
To: 'NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List' <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Bill Outman <woutman at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] How Dining in the Dark is Covered by the Media

Thank you for your thoughtful comments.  I am reviewing your comments and those of others and am working on a comprehensive critique of the subject based on the items Marion referred us to.  I have already overviewed Mark Riccobono's article in my draft, and did a first read of Dr. Silverman's Braille Monitor follow up article this morning in which she opens with the thought that more research is needed on this simulation topic.  

Your local event sounds similar to the one held for CVI in Daytona Beach, and it seems not all these events are created equal, and that may be part of the problem.  I will say some of the concluding thrust of the Riccobono article seemed to be directed at organizations doing vision research and their particular fund raising methodology.  

Again, I'll have more to say on this later when I am ready.  

Bill Outman 

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbf-l [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brooke Evans via Nfbf-l
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2018 9:35 PM
To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List
Cc: Brooke Evans; NFB of Florida Tampa Chapter List
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] How Dining in the Dark is Covered by the Media

Thank you for posting an educational article which for me shed a strong light of encouragement into the cited community and, at the same time, builds my confidence knowing that I can now converse at another level about my walk in life to help others understand truly,blindness  does not define me therefore I can increasingly with support from my community. Blind and cited increase the life I want 

The same is true for the reason Southeastern guide dogs must engage   fundraising to   support guy dog training.

 Respect fully, given the policy issue here, personally, I sees  a need for greater collaboration among the diverse   opinions about   Any and all manner of fundraising, dining in the dark especially, to keep  crucial and vital training programs  available for the Blind.   

Having read all  posts and President Riccobono‘s  speech regarding simulation and positive and negative effects upon others. The data posted goes from about 1960 to 1993. Science and it’s philosophy, tenets, gather  empirical data daily from which we spring forward with new ideas from new findings from the data. 

To date, I have found only one updated document on positive versus negative simulation therapy beyond 1993.  The paper was published in      2004. In  this 2004 fox   I saw   more positive data regarding simulation effects.

Today’s posted  article says nothing about the clean plate club. Forgive my boldness, my comment in previous email regarding these self Play molding ideas, self deprecating comment, such as  tonight post about “the  clean  plate ” perpetuates and it keeps perpetuating, what I am trying to overcome Beyond my own dining room table. I do not even joke to family and/or friends about the mess I can leave after I have eaten.

 I just  do better next time when I pick up my knife and fork. To joke at the wrong time, in the wrong place, if to  demean my own self.

 I don’t want to keep perpetuating how I feel when I lay my hand down and half my salad is on the place mat. Etc. This is how I see this conversation about opposition to dining in the dark. 
    For me. this one word,opposition, so strong It keeps  “us away from them”.     and all these and them need always to be in tune with each other because we need each other.

Absolutely, when I say the pledge to support the policies and programs I absolutely do. I am grateful we are able to have an open conversation.

 I digress. My greatest talent.
 The article tells me people come into my world of darkness for several reasons, come to satisfy a personal commitment to serve others, to be a supporter of the organization and its mission , maybe simply having a desire to share  time together at a  dining in the dark event to  help themselves more fully understand a family member or friend losing vision, the list goes on and on.

     dining in the dark held in Palm Beach County every November  is literally and ‘equal opportunity’ for all. There are no sleep shades Only a Pitch black Hilton ballroom  so black I can feel it’s velvety blackness.  
The Sheriff swat team wearing night vision goggles lead us in to the  ballroom to  our table and these wonderful swat team volunteers also serve our food and clear the dining tables.

Personally, I am very aware of the Federation policy concerning it’s resolution opposing the event call dining in the dark.

 I also signed The National Federation of  the Blind Code of Conduct.

 To paraphrase some of it I will say what prompted me to write the first email was the manner, very public, and which attack upon a Federationist for an announcement concerning the lighthouse for the blind and it’s dining in the dark fundraising event b came from another federationist.

I am grateful to NFBF for allowing the freedom to speak openly. 

Brooke Evans
NFB Palm Beach Chapter
2018  Outstanding member award
NFB Florida Deaf lind Division
2nd Vice President
Member since 2011

Ask yourself: do I dare shake up the universe? 
~T.S. Eliot 

On Oct 18, 2018, at 4:01 PM, Marion Gwizdala via Nfbf-l <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

Dear Fellow Federationists,

               For those asserting how the Dining in the Dark experience is so positive, here is what the media tells the world about us as the result of these sort of events! Read on to learn about, as the reporter shares “the perils of blind dining”! Oh, and let’s not forget that we, the blind, do not belong to the “clean plate club” because it is just too frustrating to eat all the food on your plate! 

Dining in the Dark

A fun event for Southeastern Guide Dogs.

By 

Hannah Wallace

Here’s one challenge about eating blindfolded: green beans. Difficult to locate on the plate, difficult to get on your fork, and harder still to fit in

your mouth without, y’know, poking yourself in the eye or something. 

Consider this among the many lessons learned at 

Southeastern Guide Dogs’  Dining in the Dark event this past weekend, which, in addition to introducing a roomful of sighted supporters to the perils of blind dining, also included

a lovely talk by retired U.S. Marine Michael Jernigan, as well as the revelation of a fun new art project coming soon to the streets of Sarasota. 

After the salad course (the event was catered by Kona Grill), the room full of Southeastern supporters at the Grande Clubhouse at the Lake Club was asked to don their blindfolds and await the entrée. As they set the plates down, servers told each diner that the Chilean sea bass was paired with rice, and the steak was paired with green beans. And then, we just had at it. 

group start Ruth Lando and I, in a not-so-centered selfie.  

Selfie blx5ap

group end

Though I wasn’t above using my fingers to locate various items on the plate, I proudly relied on my flatware to carve and serve my food. (Though many, many disappointing times I brought the fork to my mouth only to discover it was empty.) 

I went mostly for a straight up-and-down approach, stabbing things from above and hoping they’d stick. To my right, Ruth Lando, media relations manager

for Southeastern Guide Dogs, was apparently employing more of a side-to-side scooping method. At the end of the meal, she discovered most of her green beans had fled her plate and landed on the table (or the floor). 

I even managed to treat myself to a few sips of wine—slowly sliding my hand on the table, past the plate to find the glass, as we’d been instructed (stemware being yet another tricky part of the experience). 

Another interesting lesson: Because you can’t see your plate (and also, perhaps, your frustration may mount), you don’t feel obligated to eat everything in front of you. 

This is the sort of mile-in-your-shoes experience that surpasses an organization’s usual information sessions and provides fresh insight into its mission and its clientele. 

That being said, Jernigan, a St. Pete native and the first U.S.
servicemember to lose both eyes in combat in Iraq, is a true asset to the cause. An easy and charismatic speaker in dress blues, he gave an overview of his life before, during and after service, illustrating the irreplaceable importance of his guide dog—both for mobility and emotional support. 

Lastly, Southeastern Guide Dogs announced its 

“Superheroes on Parade” campaign,

which will feature 50 life-size statues of guide dogs in capes, all to be decorated by local artists and publicly on display around town. No word on when and where to spot them just yet, but the project will culminate a little over a year from now with an event on Palm Avenue.

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