[stylist] Chris Kuell article in Braille Monitor

[Chris Kuell]

Thanks Lori, and others, for your kind words. I actually wrote that essay a 
decade ago and submitted it to the Monitor, but it was never published. So, 
when I saw the Minnesota NFB was holding an essay contest last fall, I 
dusted it off and sent it in.
Yes, I've spoken at various elementary schools about a dozen times over the 
years, and yes, I've had some great questions. One fourth grade boy asked if 
my cane could detect dog poop. I said no, but my shoes are very good at it. 
Once I spoke to a group of first graders in Greenwich, as they had a new 
blind student at the school. For those who don't know Greenwich, it is a 
very, very wealthy community. One six-year-old kid asked me--how do you know 
which credit card you are using? Then there was the time I was addressing 
the entire third grade of a school in Monroe. One girl asked if I had any 
idea what she looked like. She was obviously Caucasian, eight years old, so 
I held my hand up to what I guessed was the appropriate height and said, "I 
think you're about this tall, with medium blondish hair and brown eyes." The 
murmur that went through the crowd would have made you think I just shot 
fire out of my ears. For the next ten minutes I had to fight off requests to 
guess--what do I look like?!

chris