[Nfbsatx] [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"

[Peter Donahue]

Good afternoon again everyone,

    The antics of the Foundation Fighting Blindness have come to the 
attention of others in the federation from around the country. I give you 
the comments below to consider:


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at icrc.IN.gov>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 2:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"


Why not? It is exactly the same type of prejudicial attitude. The only 
difference is that, when it is directed at the blind, it is disguised and 
dripping with pity and unwanted sympathy and patronization.

It is bias, prejudice, and discriminatory, No matter what the intent is. We 
should definitely go down the "race road." It is the same thing.


Diane Graves
Civil Rights Specialist
Indiana Civil Rights Commission
Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
317-232-2647

"It is service that measures success."
George Washington Carver

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-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
Behalf Of Steve P. Deeley
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 3:21 PM
To: Gary Wunder; Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"

I believe the writer of that letter sounds very angry.  That, also, turns
sighted individuals off.  Let's not go down the race road for our examples.
Steve
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>
To: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>; "Blind Talk Mailing List"
<blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:57 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"


> You should be able to get it mailed to your e-mail address on file by
> pressing pound 9.
>
> Gary
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
> To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>; "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 10:54 AM
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Letter to the Editor Concerning "Dining in the Dark"
>
>
>> Dear All,
>>    I tried to get a copy of the original article about which I wrote this
>> letter to the editor; however, it was not available without paying a fee.
>> The article can be accessed by going to NFB-Newsline and selecting the
>> St.Petersburg Times Metro section. If anyone can get access to this
>> article, please send it to the list. Pasted below is my letter to the
>> editor.
>>
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion Gwizdala
>>
>> March 11, 2010
>>
>>            I am writing to comment on the article "Awareness Was the Main
>> Course" by Laura Reiley that appeared in the March 10 Metro section of
>> the
>> St. Petersburg times. As a blind person, I often meet people who are
>> amazed by the fact that I can perform even the simplest of tasks.
>> Generally this attitude is based on their own experience attempting to
>> perform the same task without eyesight and failing at it miserably. It is
>> for this reason that most blind people are opposed to using the type of
>> simulation exercises featured in this article. Blindfolding a sighted
>> person and asking them to perform even a simple task does not, as the
>> article purports, give a person any awareness of what the life of a blind
>> person is like. In fact, such exercises only serve to reinforce the
>> misconceptions and promulgate the myths about blindness that create the
>> social, legal, and economic barriers that prevent us from achieving true
>> equality with our sighted peers. Those of us who are blind have developed
>> an array of non-visual techniques to perform activities of daily living,
>> such as eating, just as effectively as sighted people do using eyesight.
>> Blindfolding a sighted person and asking them to perform a task is like
>> putting someone in the cockpit of a jetliner and telling them to fly!
>> Lacking the proper skills, the results of both would be disastrous!
>>
>>            The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight;
>> rather it is the manner in which we are treated as the result of the
>> misconceptions people have about blindness. If one really wants to find
>> out what life is like for a blind person, there is no need to don a
>> blindfold! All one needs to do is carry a white cane, the international
>> symbol of blindness,  and go about their everyday life. Then they would
>> feel the crushing insults  of public misperception that blind people,
>> except for those few who are believed to be amazing and extraordinary,
>> are
>> innately ignorant and helpless. They would experience the waitress who
>> asks a five year old what the blind adult wants to drink. They would
>> encounter the librarian who admonishes them for going out alone, thus
>> exposing them to the hazards of opening a door. They would be confronted
>> by the Employer who inquires about who will bring them to work. They
>> would
>> learn that even well educated doctors are so ignorant as to ask them who
>> bathes them! Though you might want to minimize these incidents away, they
>> are examples of the type of ignorance I - and other blind people -
>> encounter on a regular, almost daily, basis!
>>
>>            I am not asserting that eyesight is not beneficial nor that
>> the
>> work of the Foundation Fighting Blindness is not valuable. What concerns
>> me is that organizations that assert they want to "serve the blind" do us
>> such a disservice by reinforcing the public misconceptions and fears that
>> create the problems we face. I am all for raising money to cure retinal
>> degenerative diseases, especially since the condition that has caused my
>> blindness, that of my 14-year-old nephew , and several other members of
>> my
>> family is retinitis Pigmentosa. I am, however, opposed to creating the
>> type of fear and pity that results from blindfolding people for the
>> purpose of raising money! Such a practice is as offensive to me as a
>> black-faced minstrel would be to an African American! These
>> misconceptions
>> are the reason fewer than 10% of blind children are learning to read and
>> write Braille, producing functionally illiterate blind adults. These
>> fears
>> and misconceptions are the reason that the unemployment rate among the
>> blind is more than 70%!
>>
>>            The veracity of my concerns are supported by the numerous
>> inaccurate statements made by the author who has bought into the false
>> perceptions of the blind. Does she really believe that "other senses are
>> heightened" by taking away one's sight or "; texture became paramount" as
>> the result of simulated blindness? Does she really believe that
>> blindfolding participants "gave all assembled a greater window into the
>> world of the sightless"? Does she really believe that blind people go
>> through life "bumbling" their ways around or did she just irresponsibly
>> promulgate the pitiful stereotype in an effort to sell your newspapers
>> like the Foundation Fighting Blindness did to sell themselves and
>> selfishly generate  revenue with no concern about the social consequences
>> of their actions?
>>
>>            The belief that blind people are endowed with heightened
>> senses
>> and special powers is a myth. Blind people simply learn to use their
>> other
>> senses and alternative techniques to perform the tasks sighted people do
>> with eyesight. Like any skill, these techniques are generally not
>> acquired
>> in a half-hour nor mysteriously and supernaturally endowed. However,
>> these
>> skills enable blind people to function independently, efficiently, and
>> effectively. In fact, the average blind person can perform the same tasks
>> as their sighted peers as well, if not better, by employing these
>> alternative techniques. Our blindness is not the problem. The real
>> problem
>> of blindness is the misunderstanding and lack of information that exists.
>> If a blind person is given proper training and opportunity, blindness is
>> only a physical nuisance.
>>
>>            In the future, when your paper is doing a story about
>> blindness, it would be helpful to get accurate information and the
>> perspective of a blind person who is qualified to speak to these issues
>> by
>> being chosen by the blind to speak on their behalf. The National
>> Federation of the Blind is the oldest and largest organization of the
>> blind in the United States. We are not an organization that speaks on
>> behalf of the blind; we are the blind speaking for ourselves. For
>> accurate
>> information about blindness or the blind, please feel free to get in
>> touch
>> with me or visit one of our websites at
>>
>>
>>
>> HTTP://WWW.NFB.ORG
>>
>> Or
>>
>> HTTP://WWW.NFB-NAGDU.ORG
>>
>>
>>
>> Respectfully yours,
>>
>> Marion Gwizdala, President
>>
>> National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind
>>
>> 813-598-7161
>>
>> President at NFB-NAGDU.ORG

Peter Donahue