[Nfbo-linn-benton] Meeting reminder

[Kristen Jocums]

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Saturday meeting of the Linn-benton
Chapter of the NFB.  We’ll meet at 10 at the North Co-op Community Room.
Here’s the agenda highlights:

 

Welcome

Presidential release

Program Item 1:  The Other Side of Fear - Philosophy discussion of this
year’s National banquet address pasted below or at this link – read it
before you come!

 

https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/convent/banquet-speech-2016.html

Old Business – Dark Café updates

New business – planning next social

Program Item 2:  Tech Corner:  Hey Chef app – is it accessible and what are
the work arounds? Presented by Sally Utt

 

See you there!

 

The Understanding of Fear and the Power of Progress

An Address Delivered by
Mark A. Riccobono, President
At the Banquet of the Annual Convention
Of the National Federation of the Blind
Orlando, Florida
July 5, 2016

I am seven years old. I sit at the window of my bedroom in the early
evening. The Midwest air is a beautiful balance of refreshing and warm.
Listening to the sounds of summer, I contemplate my own hopes and dreams.
The uncertainty of life comes to mind, and it sends shivers through my
entire body. All I feel is fear. Do I run, or do I stay? Do I engage the
fear, or do I let it shut me down? Does fear own me, or do I own it?

American author H. P. Lovecraft said, "The oldest and strongest emotion of
mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the
unknown." President Franklin D. Roosevelt remarked that "the only thing we
have to fear is fear itself," while first lady Eleanor Roosevelt gave us the
more actionable advice, "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every
experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do
the thing which you think you cannot do." 

What is fear? Is it positive or negative? Why does fear matter and what, if
anything, does it have to do with blind people? At its basic level, fear is
a physical and emotional response to some external stimulus. Sometimes the
stimulus is known—like a loud, unexpected crash in the middle of the
night—but often the trigger for fear is subconscious and is not easily
traced. Science tells us that some aspects of fear are evolutionary, a
hardwired set of autonomic responses that have been critical to our
survival. There is debate about the number of evolutionary fears but two are
commonly referenced—the fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds.
Evolutionary fears may also be the root of other fears—consider, for
example, the fear of heights—but there are many fears that do not show
evidence of being hardwired into our brains.

Scientists categorize fears that are not evolutionary as conditional.
Conditional fears are developed through a complex set of interactions with
the world and often through observing the behaviors of others. One of the
best-known psychological projects producing empirical evidence of the
conditioning of fear is the “Little Albert” experiment that was performed by
John B. Watson and his graduate student, Rosalie Rayner, at Johns Hopkins
University. These researchers presented an infant child named Albert with
fuzzy things that would not have otherwise been scary and, at the same time,
they produced a loud sound triggering the evolutionary fear. The result was
that poor little Albert was conditioned to fear the fuzzy things every time
he saw them, even without the noise. While most of the conditional fears we
develop are not as explicitly established as were little Albert’s, you can
probably think of a number of circumstances in your own life that created
conditional fears. I am certain that you can also recall instances where
fear was used to alter your behavior. The biological fear response is most
often triggered by very stressful circumstances that create a negative
association with the feeling of fear.

Not all aspects of fear are negative. Nelson Mandela said, “The brave man is
not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Examining
the definitions of fear in the American Heritage College Dictionary, Fourth
Edition, we find another aspect of fear: “To be in awe of; (or) revere.”
Baltimore-born author and poet C. JoyBell C. advises, “Don't be afraid of
your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know
that something is worth it.” The other side of fear—the positive power to
stimulate action and unlock potential—is generally underestimated. If we
resolve ourselves to face our fears, respect the power within those fears,
and turn that power into action, we can take control of our own destiny,
diminish the negative fears of others, and raise our expectations.

Blindness persists as being one of the most feared situations in the world.
It is a fear as old as mankind. It has been passed down through centuries of
tragic stories and by self-appointed caretakers who have utilized the fear
of blindness to generate funding for their sheltering programs. Despite the
conditioned fear associated with blindness, blind people have come to face
the fear and have proved it to be unfounded. Not just one, or two, or ten
extraordinary blind people but thousands of blind people from diverse
backgrounds and with varied talents have made the case for seventy-six years
that it is not blindness that is to be feared but rather the low
expectations and misconceptions about blindness. We have walked alone and
marched together; we have tested the possibilities and we have not found the
limits; we have faced the fear and we have transformed it to hope—we are the
National Federation of the Blind.

One of the significant ways that people have been conditioned to fear
blindness is through literature that perpetuates misconceptions about the
blind. In his 1974 banquet address to the National Federation of the Blind,
President Kenneth Jernigan examines the nine blindness-related themes in
literature, which he describes as "blindness as compensatory or miraculous
power, blindness as total tragedy, blindness as foolishness and
helplessness, blindness as unrelieved wickedness and evil, blindness as
perfect virtue, blindness as punishment for sin, blindness as abnormality or
dehumanization, blindness as purification, and blindness as symbol or
parable.” These themes can be further collapsed into the two sides of
fear—creating a sense of anxiety or a sense of awe. It does not matter which
side of fear is triggered, as the biological reaction cannot be
differentiated by most individuals. Most sighted people do not have
experience with the blind and this feeds the fear of the unknown. For these
individuals the conditioned fear of blindness is based on the perceived
difference between the sighted and the blind. The themes of blindness in
literature gain their power through the biological triggers that take place
when the fear instinct is evoked. In our current society we have many forms
of media that can be used to exploit these themes and trigger fear. Consider
the pending release of a new thriller by Sony Pictures, Don’t Breathe, in
which a blind man—who is assumed to be an easy target, always locked away in
his house—terrorizes some would-be burglars who seek to take advantage of
his perceived limitations. While playing on the conditioned fear of
blindness might be a good plot for a horror film, it only works because of
the low expectations that exist. The filmmakers are betting that the
audience will understand that a blind person will not be able to perceive
the threat coming, will certainly not be able to put up a fight, will not
have much need for his fortune, and will not be expected to be evil. When
things get really tense, we can predict that the plot twist will turn to
total darkness—that mysterious land where the blind, through their super
sensitivity (don’t even breathe or we will hear you), are perceived to have
a slight advantage. The impact of this film on society will be to perpetuate
the perceived differences between the sighted and the blind and deepen the
conditioned fear—even if it does make this Halloween really interesting for
us.

It is easy to imagine how blindness has come to be such a powerful trigger
for fear. Any sighted person at any time can create the mental illusion that
they know the experience of being blind. I would assert that blindness above
any other characteristic is so easily simulated in those who do not live
with it daily—a sighted person need only close their eyes—that many sighted
people establish a subconscious view of blindness without much intentional
effort. In fact the temptation is so subconscious that I suspect a number of
sighted people in the room tonight just closed their eyes for a brief
moment. How many times have you been told by someone that they tried to
spend an hour with their eyes closed or they were temporarily blinded by
something, and how it resulted in fear? Although those of us who understand
the truth about blindness and live with it every day recognize that those
brief experiences do not reflect our lives, we can appreciate how easy it is
to establish the link between fear and blindness. The perceived knowledge of
what it is like to be blind and the link to the fear trigger is what makes
the conditioned image of blindness a powerful literary and marketing tool,
and it is the formula that perpetuates the myths generation after
generation.

Although we in the National Federation of the Blind have made tremendous
progress in breaking down the misconceptions about blindness, much of the
society around us continues to fall for the trap of conditioned fear.
Unfortunately, some of the most harmful contributions to the fear come from
individuals and organizations closely associated with the blind—often
packaged as an attempt to validate the need for greater funding and
research. The combination of the perceived expertise of individuals working
with the blind and the use of triggers for the conditioned fear of blindness
is one of our greatest barriers to full integration into society.

Consider a recent study commissioned by the Association for Research and
Vision in Ophthalmology (ARVO), which says it is the largest eye and vision
research organization in the world. In September 2014 they held a press
conference detailing the findings of a poll that was conducted to examine
the attitudes of people about blindness and the perceived value of research
funding. Among their findings they show that blindness ranks among the top
four "worst things that could happen to you" for all of their respondents.
Although this research illuminates how powerful the fear factor of blindness
continues to be today, it also exploits that misunderstanding to promote the
need for more funding for prevent-blindness research. The public message is
that blindness is most feared but the actual data collected tell a slightly
different story. The poll administrators asked the question, “Which of the
following diseases or ailments is the worst that could happen to you?”
Respondents were given five choices and the order of the choices is notable:
blindness, cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, and not sure. While the
public spin is that blindness was most often selected, the researchers do
not emphasize that “not sure” ranked higher than blindness for every
subgroup of individuals sampled. Since the selection of blindness fits the
desired result, there was no attempt to explore whether the selection of
“not sure” told us anything different about the understanding of blindness.
To further emphasize the fear factor, the respondents were asked—presumably
regardless of how they answered the previous question—“Which of the
following would concern you as a consequence of losing your vision?” The
choices of response were limited to independence, productivity, quality of
life, other, and not sure. Not surprisingly, independence and quality of
life were top responses in the face of an existing fear about blindness and
no information about the tools and techniques that blind people use to live
the lives we want. The researchers then predictably turned their questions
to the importance of funding for research to prevent blindness. Responses
were collected to the statement: “The federal government spends an average
of $2.10 per person each year on eye and vision research, would you say that
is
” and the respondents could choose, “not enough, enough, too much, or not
sure.” The reported finding—that illuminates further the fear of
blindness—is that the majority of people feel that there is not enough money
spent on research. The insightful finding that is not emphasized is that
among the subgroup that was least likely to choose blindness as their top
concern, only 35 percent said that the funding amount was not enough. It
seems like common sense that those who fear blindness will want more
research to be a priority, but why do the researchers fail to highlight the
priority of those less likely to fear blindness? The entire poll is designed
to amplify the conditioned fear of blindness for a political purpose. No
discussion of rehabilitation training is included in this survey. No
examination of misconceptions about the capacity of the blind is explored.
No data is collected about experience with successful blind people. The
entire promotional package of the survey findings serves to further deepen
the conditioned fear of blindness. Fear has the power to generate action,
and the researchers want to mobilize support for more funding.

The conditioned fear of blindness goes well beyond surveys. Many people have
internalized the fear and project it onto blind people in ways that
significantly limit our lives. This most often surfaces in the form of
safety concerns. How many times have you been walking down the street using
a long white cane, when suddenly a kind and mysterious stranger takes it
upon themselves to be the guardian angel that makes sure your cane touches
nothing in the environment, because that would simply put you too close to
danger? “There is a pole ahead.” “You are coming up to a street.” Or my
personal favorite: “You are getting ready to run into a wall.” Although most
of these incidents are annoying, they can be shrugged off or used as
opportunities to educate our fellow citizens and demystify blindness. The
problem comes when the conditioned fear of blindness results in actions that
have far more painful consequences. What impact is there on the blind mother
who is denied custody of her child because there will not be a person with
vision to protect the child in the home? What options are there for the
blind young man who is let go from a job installing technology in an
environment where his presence is perceived as a safety issue? What message
is sent to the military veteran who goes blind later in life and is advised
to retreat to a care facility rather than live in his own home? How painful
is it when every career dream a blind person has is extinguished by an
unimaginative rehabilitation counselor? Where are the opportunities for the
blind student who is barred from physical education, math, or dozens of
other academic activities? And, how does a blind child build independence
when she is told she cannot use a cane without supervision because she has
not yet perfected the technique and might get hurt? 

Often the limits placed on us are expressed through products and services.
Dozens of products in the marketplace, solutions under research, and best
practice guidelines for making the world safe for the blind attempt to
emphasize the differences and play on conditioned fear. A simple Google
search reveals many pages with guidelines for making a home or business safe
for the blind, especially the newly blind older adult. Although many of the
safety tips are useful reminders for all people, the guidelines gain power
when amplified by the conditioned fear of blindness and they strengthen the
perceived difference between the blind and the sighted. The fear trigger is
initiated by common statements such as, “Often, it is our homes that can
pose the greatest risks to our safety especially if you are blind or
visually impaired.” 

Apparently, blindness also limits our ability to use our arms. Consider the
PUSHUP GRID™. The manufacturer tells us, “Some of the common fitness
activities in which individuals who are Blind/Visually Impaired participate
include yoga, stationary bike riding, aerobics, basketball, jumping rope,
and weight training. With the introduction of the PUSHUP GRID™ Pushup
Training and Assessment Mat, the pushup exercise can now be added to this
list with very little modification.” The video demonstrating this tactile
mat tells us that “after a few instructional sessions some individuals may
be able to execute pushups independently.” Upon further investigation, we
find that this mat simply happens to have tactile features and that the real
innovation is making it easy for everyone to perform proper pushups with
each hand at the same distance from the center of the body. Products that
include a broad set of features for a diverse range of individuals should be
celebrated for being well designed. Why must the marketers give the
appearance that blind people have special difficulty performing pushups?
Whether it is because they truly believe that we require special treatment
to perform pushups or they recognize that a convenient marketing angle to
drive sales is to play on the misconceptions, the underlying root of the
problem is the conditioned fear of blindness and the action that the fear
inspires.

Another popular method for triggering the conditioned fear of blindness is
through the topic of food. The horrors faced by blind people in dealing with
eating are discussed in podcasts, perpetuated through specialized products,
and celebrated in “Dining in the Dark” activities. The Blind Abilities
podcast recently shared the suggestion that one solution to eating out is to
develop the courage to ask your waiter to cut your meat for you. Is that
really the way we want to engage with the world? Fear feeds fear. The
harmful messages sometimes reach broader than we think. Two months ago I was
at a restaurant in Chicago with some leaders of the Federation, enjoying a
nice meal when—without our asking—our steaks were presented already cut for
our convenience. Needless to say, that steakhouse is one cut below the rest.
Despite the myths, I suspect that the assembled crowd here tonight prepared
for our banquet with joyful anticipation rather than fearful anxiety.

When the product inventors are blind, we face an additional challenge. Take,
for example, the Stress Less Drink Holder™ for the blind. The drink
holder—which consists of a plastic tray with a safety cup holder and raised
edges to contain spills—was created by a retired engineer who went blind.
Here is a talented man who has had a successful career and who has absorbed
all of the conditioned messages of fear about blindness. He faces a real
problem of embarrassment as he adjusts to his own vision loss and he has
created a product that he believes will give blind people greater
independence and hope. If the product were built out of meanness or to make
fun of blind people, we should be outraged. However, this product was built
to solve what one person has been conditioned to perceive as a significant
problem. It was built by a blind person who has not yet faced the fear with
the understanding that tens of thousands of us have come to know through our
active participation in the National Federation of the Blind. It was built
by a man who needs us. The challenge for us is how we help this blind person
channel his innate talent and potential, and similarly to help the thousands
of others out there who have not yet come to understand the true impact of
the conditioned fear of blindness in our lives.

We reject the persistent feeding of this fear and the real harmful impact it
has on the lives of blind people every day. While there is value in medical
research and the development of meaningful accessible products and best
practices, they fail to provide value to society when they are built upon
fear. The real value to our society comes from giving blind people access to
quality training and the confidence to meet the conditioned fear of
blindness and disarm its false limits. Some want the fear to own us, but we
know the truth, and we own our own lives. We have walked alone and marched
together; we have tested the possibilities, and we have not found the
limits; we have faced the fear, and we have transformed it to hope—we are
the National Federation of the Blind.

The greatest opportunity for changing the conditioned fear of blindness
rests within each of us as blind people. We must challenge ourselves to
recognize that we all, blind and sighted, have fears, can face those fears,
and must turn those fears into a source of power. This requires each of us
to have the courage and humility to go beyond the limits of the conditioned
fear of blindness. It also requires us to face the fear that comes from
pursuing the untapped power within us to test our own assumptions, reach for
new heights, and do the things we believe we cannot do.

No blind person is immune from the conditioned fear of blindness. In the
National Federation of the Blind we know that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines us or our future. We also know that in order to
make this statement true, we, as blind individuals, need to develop the
understanding and utilize the nonvisual techniques that will allow us to
take control of our lives. More importantly, we recognize that we need to
face the conditioned fears and challenge them on a daily basis. For those
blind people who may still be immobilized by their conditioned fears, now is
the time to act. It likely means standing at a street corner for a long time
until you decide to take that first step. It might mean building a hot fire
and learning to grill your favorite summer meal and, like all new chefs,
potentially burning it. And it almost always means talking with blind people
who have fought through the frustration and anger that comes with breaking
down those conditioned fears about blindness. Regardless of where you are in
that process, there are thousands of others who have been there before you
who are ready to support you in that journey. And once you have begun to
face those conditioned fears, we need you to help teach others to do the
same.

Regardless of how much training, experience, and confidence any blind person
has accumulated, each of us encounters the negative impact of conditioned
fears on a daily basis. By working together, we continue to remind each
other that this space—the space that we create together—where we raise
expectations, challenge our fears, and encourage each other to go further is
the normal experience in a world where we minimize the unfounded fears about
blindness. The challenge for us is neither the training nor our own internal
confidence; it is the continued struggle against the impact of the
conditioned fears of others. When we go out in the world, there is no way to
avoid encountering the impact of the misconceptions about blindness. We must
recognize the fear exists, prevent others from using it to control our
lives, and find new ways to overturn those fears. This demands us to be firm
but also loving with those who act with sincerity. It also demands that we
face outright cases of discrimination with action. We must have the courage
and the maturity to be honest about the difference. We must also guard
against accepting second-class treatment out of convenience to ourselves.
For example, each of us knows that the airport is one of the places where
the conditioned fear of blindness is going to be in evidence. It is
sometimes tempting, especially after a long and intense convention, to
simply go along and not challenge the low expectations that others wish to
force upon us—constantly asking us where we are going, trying to get us to
ride the electric cart or not to ride the escalator, pushing and pulling us,
insisting that we pre-board, offering to walk us down the jet way so we do
not get lost, attempting to take our canes away, inviting us to stay seated
in an emergency until someone comes to help, serving us drinks with a lid
and a straw, and the list goes on. The decision for us is whether we choose
to contribute to the conditioned fear of blindness by giving up control, or
to work actively to eliminate the fears by using our full capacity. Each of
us has the opportunity, and I would argue the responsibility, to take the
unrestricted view of blindness and to spread it broadly through our actions.
If we do not take control of it, over time it will slowly gain more and more
power over us. This requires us to constantly review our own actions,
challenge our own assumptions, carry our portion of the responsibility, and
never settle for second best.

We cannot stop there. If we truly desire to live the lives we want there is
one more powerful step we must take. We need to learn to positively harness
the power of fear in our lives. Those who claim that they have no fear in
their life are failing to utilize their potential to live their life fully.
Consider love for example, which I believe to be more powerful than any
other influence. It is impossible to love without feeling some degree of
fear. That is the fear my wife and I faced when we held our first child, our
second child, and our third child, and the fear that we continue to face
when considering their future. Positive situations also create uncertainty
and trigger the fear emotion. If we act in awe of fear rather than acting in
fear of fear, we can unlock the power that fear gives us. Fear gives us the
awareness that we are getting outside of our comfort zone and challenging
ourselves to go beyond the previous limits. When we choose to face fear and
recognize that fear represents our own power to act, we take greater control
over our own lives. As individuals we can choose to own the power and
command our destiny; as a movement we must dare to focus the power and use
it to create hope and opportunity.

Imagine how the world will be different because the blind resolve to conquer
fear. Imagine what we can do for society in a world where the conditioned
fear of blindness does not exist. Imagine a world where the conditioned fear
of blindness is so diminished that it no longer ranks in the surveys,
generates the sales, or captivates the filmmakers. Imagine not just the
impact on you and me; imagine the enormous benefit to every individual on
this planet in the future. The conditioned fear of blindness and so many
other conditioned fears significantly and artificially limit the human race.
When we succeed in lifting one more fear from the consciousness of humanity,
there will be more space for the power of potential that exists among us.
Imagine the hope that grows when fear no longer flows.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Blindness Learning in New Dimensions
(BLIND, Inc.)—a training center affiliated with the National Federation of
the Blind. At BLIND, Incorporated, blind individuals are challenged daily to
break down their conditioned fears about blindness and to face the fears
they will have from pursuing their dreams. During a seminar that I was
honored to lead with the students and staff, I was asked to describe my top
fear for the National Federation of the Blind. I answered by saying that my
greatest fear is that we as blind people will get too comfortable with the
progress we have made. Today is the best time in history to be a blind
person. We have made tremendous progress. We have more opportunities than at
any time before. Some might be tempted to get comfortable with the illusion
that we have equality in society. Some might fear that we cannot reach any
higher for blind people. Some might have bought into enough of the
conditioned fear of blindness to believe that we no longer need the National
Federation of the Blind. However, our experience over seventy-six years
gives us the perspective to know that we have not reached the top of our
climb, and an honest assessment of our lives reveals that we are not yet
fully accepted in society without the artificial conditions that others
place upon us. The society around us is advancing and our failure to
continue our march for independence would result in our steadily losing some
of the ground we have gained. My fear for our organization is that our
success will condition us to believe that the benchmark is based on how far
we have come rather than on where we can go. My fear is that we will get
comfortable, we will fail to face the fear that comes from testing the
limits, and we will settle for second best.

When I was seven and sat at the window contemplating my future, I was afraid
of the life questions that did not have answers. The fear was not related to
blindness but to the uncertainties and struggles that come with the human
experience. I am now thirty-nine and even though I better understand how to
confront fear, certain things remain true. The emotion is uncomfortable, the
uncertainty pushes me toward feeling powerless, and my hardwired instinct is
to run. But I have found there is value in that fear, and the opportunity
comes in the chance to stay to face the fear and reveal its other side. The
other side of fear is power, and the truth of our power generates hope. When
I face the fear of what we might be in the future, I think about a gathering
of Federationists like we share here tonight. The thought fills me with
hope, energy, and love, and I am in awe of what we will do together. For
seventy-six years we have continued to raise expectations for the blind. We
have diminished the false limits that the conditioned fear of blindness have
artificially placed upon us. Despite my fear that we might get comfortable
and the many opportunities for our power to be displaced by complacence, we
demonstrate only forward progress at an increasing pace. We have not settled
for second best, and we will never be conditioned to do so. We have faced
our own fears, and we will never give control of our lives to others.
Although we have fears, they do not come from blindness but from the power
of our desire to complete our march to first-class status. Although we have
challenges, they do not come from within us, and they are no match for the
love, hope, and determination that keep us together in the National
Federation of the Blind. We will not be defined by the prevent-blindness
researchers and their agenda to expand the conditioned fear of blindness. We
will not be defined by the unfounded safety concerns of others who do not
know the real, lived experience of blind people. We will not be defined by
the marketing experts who seek to trigger the fear response in order to sell
products that create obstacles between blind people and our dreams.

My brothers and my sisters, we are the masters of our own future. The power
to make change and to cultivate hope is within each of us. We bond together
in the National Federation of the Blind to face the uncertainty of the
future, to challenge ourselves to expand the horizons, and to take ownership
of living the lives we want. Society’s fears of blindness will not stop us.
Facing our own fears will make us stronger. And the power of our unwavering
love, hope, and determination will lead us through uncertainty to new
heights. Let us break down the conditioned fears of others. Let us challenge
ourselves to conquer the fears that stand in our way. Let us overwhelm fear
with our unstoppable engine of hope. Let us build the National Federation of
the Blind.

 

 

 

 

Kristen Jocums, JD

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