[stylist] Low expectations of the blind; RE: New Book, blindness on TV

[Brad Dunse]

Robert,

My son, who is sighted, had a preemie son. My first grandson... yeah baby...
proud GrandPappy here! 

Hang with me for a couple seconds there is a point.

My grandson is home now after three months preemie and they did the usual
tests to release him. They said they found a marker in the genes. They
weren't concerned about it though. As my son said...

"Yeah they checked for stuff like Down's and other syndromes, and I'm
thinking it's just the RP, nothing major."

When we get to where Retinitis Pigmentosa is viewed as nothing major, we've
at least made some progress. 

If my boy's boy winds up with Rp at some point, I expect he'll be unhappy to
find that out, that is natural, no one purposefully wants to lose an asset
in life; but we come from a strong line of fighters and it won't be a show
stopper for long or at all.

I will be the first to tell you, if I could get sight back, I'd take it back
yesterday, but not having it is not a life road block... unless I let it be.

The best and I think only way to change the view of it by the on looking
public is for blind folks to not dwell on it themselves, not use it as an
excuse, to get out and do stuff... stretch themselves a little even. Get out
there and live life right next to their sighted compatriots as an example
that it's just a different way of life, but it's a good quality life.

You don't even have to tell anyone, just let them see it.  People will
believe something 100% more if they see it and come to that conclusion
themselves rather than being told something.

There is one major point I think worth mentioning that is tantamount to
public perception. I've seen one common denominator with folks having issues
with public perception. I won't claim this is the absolute, but it is
absolutely huge.

I've seen it come out as the issue on blind forums, discussion lists, in
person with other blind folks, and in the past my own personal experience.

It boils down to one word: confidence.

If one is confident, and you carry the body language sighted people look
for, you might get the odd, "Boy you do that good," comments from the less
secure sighted person. However,  mostly they look, see you're blind, see you
are handling it without issue, and then look at their watch to see if they
are on schedule with their day not even recalling at the end of that day,
they encountered a blind person.

Confidence is birthed from good effective alternative techniques and an
attitude of "Let me get the door for you," not waiting for someone to open
it for you.

This is why good training such as Blind Inc. and others is so important.

Confidence is a foundational quality within a person which tells everyone
around them we are okay and just blending in the crowd.

I service a rest area with vending  needs, and at times there are many
people around when I'm pulling a cart of soda in or pulling it back to the
truck with totes and crates on it. Very rarely will I get any comments from
kids like, "Hey, there's a blind guy over there," or the patronizing, "You
pull that cart pretty good," kind of thing. I bet I could count them on one
hand in the past year.

If I were to look like I'm lost, carry my cane and body in an unsure whimpy
way, I'll surely cop attention and an air of unsureness and need. 

It comes down to what perception we give them, not what they strive to find
in us as they look on.

Brad