<div dir="ltr">I was board and decided to write a paper on this topic. Plus, I was asked to do so by someone where I used to work. I've attached as a Word document and also pasted it here in the email. Feedback welcome and even further discussion on the topic!<br><br><br>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Reflections
on the “How I see It” Campaign</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Robert
Spangler</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">11/5/2016</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Most
recently, the Foundation Fighting Blindness ran a campaign to raise funds
towards the research of retinal degenerative diseases.<span> </span>In order to portray the “difficulties and
challenges experienced by those with vision loss,” This campaign featured
individuals with sight attempting to do their favorite daily activities wearing
a blindfold.<span> </span>“We hope it will give
people a better understanding of what it is like to live with a blinding
disease and ultimately inspire them to join us in the fight to find a cure,”
said Bill Schmidt, the organization’s Chief Executive Officer (<a href="http://blindness.org">blindness.org</a>).<span> </span>The campaign concluded on World Sight Day,
October 13</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Many blind
people as well as the National Federation of the Blind were upset by what they
saw as the Foundation Fighting Blindness playing on common fears and the
misunderstanding of blindness to raise funds for its coffers.<span> </span>Of course, the campaign participants were
frustrated by not being able to use sight and ultimately failed at the
task.<span> </span>They attempted such things as
cooking, cleaning and eating. <span> </span>One particularly
harmful suggestion was that people put on a blindfold and attempt to care for
their child for one minute.<span> </span>Mark
Riccobono, President of The National Federation of the Blind, which has been
working tirelessly since 1940 towards the full acceptance of blind people as
working, contributing members of our society, immediately sent a letter to the
CEO of the Foundation denouncing the campaign for playing on the fears and misconceptions
surrounding blindness.<span> </span>President
Riccobono concluded his letter by inviting the CEO of the Foundation to meet
with him to discuss the campaign on a leadership level.<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">The
campaign also under minds the fact that, with proper training, blindness can be
rendered to merely a nuisance.<span> </span>The
individuals participating in the campaign, who had never been trained in the
skills that independent blind people use every day to go about their lives,
were unable to do the things that they did with sight.<span> </span>In addition, with respects to childcare, this
campaign could seriously harm the rights of blind parents.<span> </span>President Riccobono wrote in his letter,
“That even one family might be harmed because a social worker or neighbor
watches your video and begins to question the competency of a blind parent is
unconscionable” (<a href="http://nfb.org">nfb.org</a>).<span> </span>In fact, there
have been several examples in which caseworkers have removed children from
their homes, just because they could not imagine how someone who is blind could
possibly raise a child.<span> </span>The federation
has had to fight alongside blind parents in court for the return of their
children, who were taken from them by uninformed Children Services caseworkers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">In hopes
of combating the perpetuation of the fears and misconceptions about blindness,
the NFB also asked its members to write about or video themselves doing the
things they do every day and to share it on social media.<span> </span>Mr. Riccobono wrote in his letter about how
he and his wife Melissa, also blind, are independently and competently raising
their three young children by knowing well the techniques that blind parents
use to care for and play with their children.<span>
</span>I also know two blind parents who face discriminatory behavior when they
go out in public.<span> </span>For example, their
little girl is often asked, “Do you take good care of your mommy?”<span> </span>This campaign will further damage the lives
and opportunities of blind people by reinforcing the false belief that blind
people cannot possibly take care of themselves, let alone a child.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Anyone
who spends a lot of time around a competent blind person knows that, with the
proper training of nonvisual techniques, a blind person can live a truly
productive life and contribute to their society, just like anyone else.<span> </span>I am completely aware of this, having learned
many nonvisual techniques to manage my life as someone who is blind.<span> </span>As a successful blind person, I find the
publics’ misconceptions about blindness to be frustrating and that they are
being encouraged extremely insulting.<span> </span>Every
time someone suggests that I take the elevator instead of the stairs or talks
down to me like I am a child is a reminder that I will always have to fight the
obstacle of ignorance in working towards my goals.<span> </span>I work hard to maintain my image as someone
who is independent and successful and it just sickens me that an organization
would play into these fears to raise support.<span>
</span>It is also harmful to the campaign participants.<span> </span>Should any of them ever experience severe
vision loss, which is more and more likely with age or in an accident, they are
driving home their belief that they could never make it without sight. This, of
course, is false.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">The NFB
does not oppose medical research to help cure or prevent blindness, but playing
on the misinformation of blindness as a vehicle to raise support is
unacceptable and is nowhere near the truth of what it is like to be blind.<span> </span>I cook, clean and work, along with thousands
of other blind people, accomplishing all by utilizing nonvisual
techniques.<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">I have
been asked to write about when it is appropriate to use a blindfold.<span> </span>While it is foolish to believe that you can
experience the true meaning of blindness just by wearing a blindfold for a
minute, they are useful in blindness skills training programs.<span> </span>Several blindness training centers around the
country, including the Colorado Center for the Blind in Denver and Blind, Inc.
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, train their students the techniques of blindness by
requiring that they all wear blindfolds, to ensure that they are not able to
use any remaining sight to complete their work at the centers.<span> </span>These centers instruct both people who have
been blind for a very long time and those who have just become blind on daily
living skills, travel/mobility, Braille, carpentry and other things.<span> </span>To achieve mastery of these skills as someone
who is totally blind, it is necessary to do them without using any sight. <span> </span>Blindfolds are also used for training future
teachers of the blind, so that they, too, can gain the full experience of
learning and utilizing nonvisual techniques.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Utilizing
blindfolds to train people to use nonvisual techniques is completely
acceptable; however, it is a completely different story to ask a fully sighted
individual, who has no idea of what it is like to be blind, to attempt
completing a task without their sight.<span>
</span>This will have the effect of reversing years of work done by competent
blind individuals and the National Federation of the Blind to fight these
misconceptions.<span> </span>For some groups, such as
blind parents, these misconceptions can even be damaging.<span> </span>To the sighted reader, I hope that this paper
has been educational.<span> </span>To the blind
reader, please go about your life and be patient with those you encounter.<span> </span>Every day provides us with a myriad of
opportunities to educate our sighted counterparts.<span> </span>There are many, many misunderstandings about
blindness circulating and it is our job to combat them.</span></p>
<span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"><br style="page-break-before:always" clear="all">
</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:200%" align="center"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Works Cited</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">"Foundation Fighting Blindness Launches
#HowEyeSeeIt Campaign to Raise Awareness, Funds <span> </span>for Retinal Degenerative Disease Research." <i>Blindness.org</i>. Foundation Fighting
Blindness, 23 Aug. 2016. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.
<<a href="http://www.blindness.org/foundation-news/foundation-fighting-blindness-launches-howeyeseeit-campaign-raise-awareness-funds">http://www.blindness.org/foundation-news/foundation-fighting-blindness-launches-howeyeseeit-campaign-raise-awareness-funds</a>>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">National Federation of the Blind. Public Relations. <i>National Federation of the Blind Comments on
Foundation Fighting Blindness #HowEyeSeeIt Campaign</i>. <i>National Federation of the Blind</i>. N.p., 26 Sept. 2016. Web. 05 Nov.
2016.
<<a href="https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-comments-foundation-fighting-blindness-howeyeseeit-campaign">https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-comments-foundation-fighting-blindness-howeyeseeit-campaign</a>>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif">Riccobono, Mark A. "From President Mark
Riccobono: Letter Regarding #HowEyeSeeIt Campaign." Letter to William
Schmidt. 22 Sept. 2016. <i>National
Federation of the Blind</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.
<<a href="https://nfb.org/president-mark-riccobono-letter-regarding-howeyeseeit-campaign">https://nfb.org/president-mark-riccobono-letter-regarding-howeyeseeit-campaign</a>>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"times new roman",serif"> </span></p>
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