[NFBMI-Talk] Washington post article

[Sanho Steele-Louchart]

Donna: 

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing. I look forward to Birding By Ear from afar. 

Warmth, 
Sanho 

> On Oct 29, 2024, at 11:08 PM, Donna Posont via NFBMI-Talk <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Inspired Life
> 
> Blind birders in tune with bird sounds, call themselves 'bird brains'
> 
> "The world is designed for sighted people, but nature is a place where it's
> okay to be blind," said Donna Posont, founder of Birding by Ear and Beyond.
> 
> 
> 
> By Cathy Free
> 
> October 27, 2024 at 8:10 a.m. EDT
> 
> Jerusalem Crawley grew up in Detroit, where he didn't have much contact with
> nature.
> 
> 
> 
> "I was a typical city kid and birds were the last thing on my mind," said
> Crawley, now 22, who is visually impaired. "I didn't know one bird from
> another. I thought they were all the same."
> 
> 
> 
> Then when Crawley was 8, his mom sent him to Camp Tuhsmeheta (short for
> touch, smell, hear and taste) where he met Donna Posont, who was leading a
> class about birding.
> 
> 
> 
> Posont, who is blind, introduced him and other blind and visually impaired
> summer campers to the sounds of American robins, blue jays, cardinals, birds
> of prey and woodpeckers.
> 
> 
> 
> "I was immediately fascinated and wanted to learn more," said Crawley,
> adding that he was surprised to learn there are more than 11,000 bird
> species.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Studies have shown that listening to birdsong is beneficial to mental
> health.
> 
> 
> 
> Fourteen years later, Crawley is still an avid birder with Posont's Birding
> by Ear and Beyond program at the University of Michigan at Dearborn. It
> allows people with low vision to study birds in a 120-acre natural area
> surrounding the university.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Posont, who was born with a genetic eye condition called retinitis
> pigmentosa and is blind (she does not like to use the term visually
> impaired), started her monthly birding outings in 2009, with the goal of
> teaching blind people to explore nature independently.
> 
> 
> 
> "Blindness doesn't need to limit anyone - you can learn about nature and
> identify trees and plants and birds using the other senses," said Posont,
> 67, who lives in Dearborn.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For example, participants in her outings might learn that red maple leaves
> have rough edges, while silver maple leaves have a soft undercoating.
> 
> 
> 
> Blind people usually have heightened senses of hearing, smell and touch,
> adding to the experience of the excursions. She and her group explore the
> trails of the university's nature reserve with their white canes, pausing to
> listen to the birds swooping overhead or nesting in the trees.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Donna Posont, the founder of Birding by Ear and Beyond, said her nature
> outings help blind people to develop confidence in life. (Judy Armstrong )
> 
> She has learned to identify individual bird songs and calls, she said,
> explaining that she plays audio recordings in a classroom before taking her
> group into the woods. Posont's efforts were recently featured by Audubon.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One month, her class might learn about red-winged blackbirds, she said,
> while another month, they might stand in the forest and listen for the
> chatter of American crows. A red-winged blackbird's song starts with an
> abrupt note that turns into a musical trill, while an American crow's call
> is a more common "caw, caw, caw."
> 
> 
> 
> "We call ourselves 'bird brains,'" she joked.
> 
> 
> 
> She said when she was growing up in the small town of West Liberty, West
> Virginia, she never imagined that one day she'd teach others about the avian
> world she hadn't seen since she lost her sight in the second grade.
> 
> 
> 
> Posont dreamed of studying biology in college, but said she couldn't find a
> school with the proper equipment to teach a blind person.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "In 1974, you had to use a microscope to study things," she said. "That's
> the only way they knew how to teach biology then. So instead, I earned a
> [bachelor's] degree in social work."
> 
> 
> 
> She and her former husband moved to Michigan, she said, where they raised
> five children and spent time outdoors whenever possible. In 2008, Posont
> decided to return to college and study the subjects she'd missed out on in
> her younger years when computers and high-tech audible devices in the lab
> didn't exist.
> 
> 
> 
> During summer breaks at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, she started
> passing along what she'd learned about birds and plants through touch, sound
> and smell to children at Camp Tuhsmeheta.
> 
> 
> 
> "You miss out on a lot in a sighted world if you have to depend on what
> someone else sees when you're learning," said Posont, who graduated from the
> University of Michigan at Dearborn in 2015 with a degree in environmental
> studies and a minor in biology.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Donna Posont, on a trail at the University of Michigan at Dearborn's
> Environmental Interpretive Center last month, said she always wanted to
> learn about nature and biology as a child. (Judy Armstrong)
> 
> After the university hired her as a part-time naturalist, Posont expanded
> the Birding by Ear program. Sighted people are welcome, she said, though
> they generally accompany friends who are blind.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fred Wurtzel, 73, has retinitis pigmentosa and completely lost his vision
> when he was in his 50s. While he's always loved birds, he'd never studied
> them or thought of making a birding a hobby until he met Posont, he said.
> 
> 
> 
> "Her approach to teaching is very creative, and she makes everyone want to
> learn more," Wurtzel said, explaining that Posont's focus is specifically
> geared toward touch and sound.
> 
> 
> 
> "My favorite birds are probably chickadees, and I also love house finches
> because they're beautiful singers," he said.
> 
> 
> 
> He said he also enjoys listening to blue jays, even though they're "raucous
> little guys."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Posont with Jenny Wing-Proctor, right, at an outing in Dearborn, Michigan,
> this year to learn about blue jays. (Michael Solomon)
> 
> Jenny Wing-Proctor, who lives in Lansing, said she was born blind and
> enjoyed listening to birds on tape when she was a girl, but she always
> wondered about their lives and where they lived.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "When I heard about Birding by Ear, I knew it would be a good thing for me
> to be involved in," she said. "I've always liked being out in nature,
> surrounded by bird sounds. My favorites are probably the robin or the
> cardinal because of their pretty songs."
> 
> 
> 
> With bird populations declining at an alarming rate due to habitat loss,
> pollution and climate change, Posont said it's more crucial than ever to
> hand down what she's learned.
> 
> 
> 
> "The world is designed for sighted people, but nature is a place where it's
> okay to be blind," she said. "You can use your other senses to learn why
> birds and nature are important and how it all works together. To me, that's
> the beauty of it."
> 
> 
> 
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