[Ohio-talk] FEDERATION PHILOSOPHY

[Richard Payne]

FEDERATION PHILOSOPHY
You will probably hear conventioneers discussing what they call "Federation
Philosophy." What they are talking about is the Federation's positive belief
system about blindness. Members of the Federation realized the simple truth
many years ago that blind people are just people who cannot see-we are not
broken sighted people. Blind people are as different as sighted people are;
that is, we are a cross-section of the broader society and, therefore, are
not all alike as some assume. Blindness is a physical characteristic, but it
is not the characteristic that defines us or our future. It is low
expectations and misconceptions, not blindness itself, that stand between
blind people and our dreams.
Given proper training and opportunity, blind people can and do live the
lives we want. It is respectable to be blind, and, with the right tools and
techniques, blindness may be reduced to the level of a nuisance or
inconvenience. To combat the low expectations, misconceptions, and
stereotypes that are the true barriers to achieving our dreams, the blind
have organized for the same reasons other minorities have-to make positive
social change through collective action. The Federation philosophy provides
an overall framework for thinking about blindness, what it means, and what
it doesn't mean. However, it is not intended to be rigid or dogmatic. As we
just said, blind people are individuals, and we may disagree on any number
of things, including how to handle a given situation as blind people. What
our philosophy does do is give us a positive way of thinking about our
blindness, rather than the negative ways in which we have often been
conditioned to think about it by society. Rather than saying that we as
blind people can't do something, we try to find ways that we can, and to
challenge each other, in a loving way, to always push the envelope and
expand the limits of our independence. As you read further, you'll discover
that, to the extent we need to formulate specific positions about blindness
and the policies related to it, we use a democratic process to arrive at
these positions.
The National Federation of the Blind also provides encouragement and support
to families with blind children and to people who are losing vision or have
become blind later in life, by bringing them into a network of tens of
thousands of blind people who are living full lives and who can serve as
mentors and role models. Together, with love, hope, and determination, the
members of the National Federation of the Blind transform dreams into
reality.



Richard Payne,  President
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937-396-5573or 937/829/3368
Rchpay7 at gmail.com
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back


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