Blindness & Visual
Impairment
UPDATED 2/15/06
“We are simply no longer willing to be
second-class citizens. They tell us that
there is no discrimination -- that the blind are not a minority. But we know who we are and we will never go
back.” – Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, President, National Federation of the Blind,
from the banquet address given at
the annual convention, July 8, 1976.
INTRODUCTION:
For some time, I have made it a kind of personal mission to educate the sighted
public concerning blindness and visual impairment issues; I have sought and
continue to seek, among other things, to correct the numerous stereotypes
associated with people with visual disabilities, to reveal to them the numerous
ways in which we are able to successfully integrate into and contribute to the
community as a whole via adaptation/accommodation and to improve environmental
and social conditions for those within the blind/visually impaired community.
Please feel free, whether you are
blind/visually impaired or sighted, to explore this page and to check out any
of the links that I have listed below. I
hope that you find this portion of my site educational and informative.
ABOUT MY VISUAL IMPAIRMENT:
TECHNICAL INFORMATION: I was born
with three eye conditions: Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, Optic Atrophy and
Color Deficiency and, about five years ago, I developed a condition known as
Eele’s Disease. So, what does this all
mean? A diagnosis of Leber’s Congenital
Amaurosis means that, while all of the patient’s retinal cells are present,
most, if not all of them are malformed.
The condition labeled Optic Atrophy is pretty well self-explanatory; it
occurs when the optic nerve is shorter and thinner than it should be. Color deficiency results when the patient
mistakes one color for another. For
instance, I might mistake a navy blue for black or a pink color for an orange
one. (Interestingly enough, this
condition occurs more often in males.) A
diagnosis of Eele’s Disease means that blood vessels are growing in the
patient’s eye(s) which seem to serve no purpose and are hemorrhaging.
SO, WHAT EXACTLY CAN I AND CAN
I NOT SEE?: When someone asks me what I can and cannot
see, I often respond by pointing out that that is a very complex question. I describe my ability to see as “case
dependent”, i.e., my ability to see varies depending on my surroundings. If I find myself in a brightly-lit room with
very little clutter in it, for instance, I may be able to see well enough to
navigate it independently. If, however,
I am in a dimly-lit room with a great deal of clutter, I may need assistance
getting around.
I am a “large print reader” and can
comfortably read 20-point computer fonts, though I also know Braille. I can see color and shapes/figures to some
degree of detail. but, even so, my Optic Atrophy may prevent my brain from
properly interpreting what I am seeing.
I walk with a white cane but, given optimal conditions, I can see
differences between, for example, streets and grass when outdoors. I only possess a 30-degree visual field and,
when reading, can only see 3-4 letters on a page at a time, thus significantly
decreasing my reading speed. When using
a computer, I utilize the “Accessibility” features included in Microsoft
Windows and a text-to-speech/screen magnification program known as ZoomText.
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT
BLINDNESS/VISUAL IMPAIRMENT:
INTRODUCTION: The fact that I need to address some of the
following points may seem, at first, utterly ridiculous and even a touch
patronizing to the sighted community.
However, they are well-grounded in my experience and the experiences
that the majority of other blind/vi people have had with the sighted. I must bluntly state that some sighted
people, when they interact with the blind/vi, don’t think or use common sense.
1)
ALL BLIND PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF
VISION AND, THUS, READ BRAILLE, USE TALKING DEVICES, ETC.: Blindness and visual impairment comes in
various degrees from total blindness to significant usable vision to everything
else in between.
2)
IF I MEET ONE BLIND PERSON, I AM
QUALIFIED IN BELIEVING THAT THE CHARACTER/ABILITIES OF THAT BLIND PERSON
REFLECTS THOSE OF ALL OTHER BLIND PERSONS.:
No. The character and abilities
reflected within the blind and visually impaired population are just as diverse
as those within the sighted community.
Some blind and visually impaired people are introverted while others are
quite outgoing. Some are a bit on the
“nerdy”/academic side, while others are more interested in more social and less
academic pursuits. Not all of us have
exceptional musical talents; I’ve met many a blind person who can’t carry a
tune in a paper bag, and I, myself, while I can play the piano, do not at all
consider myself virtuosic. Some are even
more independent and display more facility with “independent living” techniques
than others. In short, the best way to
approach this issue is to judge one blind person not based on the fact of
his/her blindness but based on the world population as a whole. Don’t look at him/her for his/her blindness,
but see him/her as a person.
3)
GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND KNOW EXACTLY
WHERE THEY ARE GOING, E.G., WHERE STORE X OR CLINIC Y IS.:
“BLIND-SIGHTED” INTERACTION:
INTRODUCTION: Blind and visually impaired people often find
it difficult to interact socially
with the sighted world and generally place the blame for this squarely on the
sighted world. They claim that many
“sighties” are ignorant and that they treat us as blind and visually impaired
people as social second-class citizens.
We as blind and visually impaired persons claim that they will only
learn that we are and should be treated as normal people whose only problem is
our lack of sight through education and enlightenment. While this may be true, at least a little of
the onus rests on the blind and visually impaired themselves; we must let the
sighted community know precisely what
we expect from them and we must behave in a way that is as “normal” as
possible, i.e., a way that is free from “blindisms” such as rocking or poking
of the eyes.
PLEASE NOTE THAT EVEN SOME BLIND/VI PEOPLE MAY DISAGREE WITH SOME OF MY
RESPONSES TO THESE MISCONCEPTIONS. WHEN
THIS IS THE CASE, MY RESPONSE WILL BE FOLLOWED BY AN ASTERISK (*).
“INDIRECT ADDRESS”:
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION: On more than one
occasion, I have been sitting in a restaurant with a sighted friend as our
waitress arrived. She first asked my
sighted friend what he wanted to order.
She then proceeded to ask my sighted friend, “What does she want?” in reference to me. This kind of thing tends to happen at various
times and in various contexts to blind/vi people when a sighted person is
present with us. Many of us consider
this an insult to our very humanity.
For, we are not children, we are not stupid. We’re only blind. Consider for a moment that you are an African-American
(whether you are or not). Would you
expect a waitress to ask a white person who is accompanying you what you wanted to eat? I dare say not! You would be most offended.
SOLLUTION: If put
yourself in the position of the sighted waitress mentioned above, you might
object, “Well, I didn’t know the blind person’s name and I don’t think he’d
know it, even if I were to address him directly, because he can’t see me
looking at him.” This is a reasonable
objection and, depending on the level of vision of the blind/vi person with
whom you are dealing, this observation holds true. However, many of us, being much more aware of
our other senses, can recognize when a person’s voice is directed toward us. So, it can be, indeed, quite helpful if you do look at us when addressing us. If there are other people present and near
the blind person, however, he may think, if you do not use his name, that you
are addressing one of the other people.
Furthermore, some blind/vi people, however, may not be so aware. (As I said earlier, we have varying abilities
just like members of the sighted community.)
In this case, I would recommend that you lightly tap the blind/vi person
on the shoulder and then address your question to him.*
“SEE YA! WOULDN’T WANNA BE
YA!”: I have run across many sighted people who seem to have an utter fear of
using any visually-related terms around blind/vi people. For instance, have had people ask me whether
I have “heard” any good movies lately.
It must be noted that “seeing” or “watching” movies does not just
involve looking at the screen with one’s eyes; it involves experiencing all
aspects of the movie – both visual and auditory. I have also noticed that the sighted are
often afraid to say, “See you later,” for fear that they will offend us. Again, it must be noted that “seeing someone
later” does not simply involve looking at the physical attributes of a person;
it involves experiencing the person’s presence.
The sighted may be surprised to learn that even blind/vi people use
these terms freely and without reservation!
SOLLUTION: The sighted should also feel free to use these
colloquial expressions around us, for the very reasons stated above. The sighted should speak to the blind/vi as
if they are “normal” human beings, because we are “normal” human beings who happen to have visual
impairments. It is usually more
offensive to us if the sighted refrain from using these expressions than if
they use them without hesitation.
“I’M BLIND, BUT AM I DEAF,
TOO?”: There is a rather peculiar behavior that occurs with many of the
sighted when they interact with people who are blind or visually impaired: They
seem to raise their voices to twice their normal volume as we are not only
blind, but deaf also. I understand that
other people with disabilities and even first-generation immigrants to this
country experience a great deal of this as well, though I am unsure as to
whether the motivation for this action is the same in these other
instances. In the case of the disabled,
it seems that able-bodied persons have a rather interesting tendency to
associate the presence of one disability with another. In fact, one of my teachers at the
SOLLUTION: Whatever the case may be, I would ever-so-politely ask
the able-bodied community to refrain from such abnormal behavior. It is utterly illogical. Just because we are blind doesn’t necessarily
mean we are deaf (or that we have other disabilities). We are quite aware of what we are hearing
around us and, therefore, likely have even less of a need to be spoken to in
this way than do sighted individuals.
When speaking to a blind/vi person, please speak at your normal volume.
“BRAIN WORKS, EYES DON’T”:
“OOOOH,
BABY!...FEELS…NICE…”:
“I’M BLIND – THAT MEANS I CAN’T SEE!”:
QUESTIONS SIGHTED PEOPLE ASK ABOUT
BLINDNESS AND THE BLIND:
Here,
I will post question that I believe are of interest to sighted individuals who
want to know more about blindness and the blind/vi. Please feel free to submit your own questions to me via e-mail, and I may post the answers
to them in this section of my web site!
Q:
BLINDNESS/VISION IMPAIRMENT LINKS
I highly
encourage both the the sighted to take a look at even those sites which are
directed exclusively toward the blind so that they can get a better idea of
what we are doing to better our own lives.
GENERAL INTEREST
1.
The National Federation of the Blind – an
organization OF the blind speaking for THEMSELVES
2.
The American Council of the Blind
3.
The Association of Blind
Citizens
5.
ACB (American Council of the Blind) Radio Home
Page – This page features a number of online radio stations produced BY the
blind, for the WORLD.
6.
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic –
provides a considerable quantity of books on audio cassette tape for persons
with the inability to read normal print – caters particularly to students
7.
The Braille Authority of North America
(BANA)
8.
Art Beyond Sight – a site devoted to
art education for the blind/vi
INDEPENDENT LIVING AND ADAPTIVE
TECHNOLOGY
1.
MaxiAids – This site
provides “adaptive technology” to people with disabilities including
blindness/visual impairment.
2.
Clarity Solutions – provides a variety of
Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) that allow persons with low vision to
magnify and otherwise alter texts so that they can be comfortably read.
3.
TALKS Cellular Phone
Software by Cingular – This program for the Nokia 6620 and 6680 cellular
phones gives blind/vi users nearly complete access to visual features included
with the phone, e.g., menus and text messaging. – Used and Highly Recommended
by Yours Truly
EDUCATION
1.
The Indiana School for the Blind and
Visually Impaired – The school of which I am a proud alumna! This state-funded school provides education
to blind/vi students from K-12 from throughout the state of
1.
Web Accessibility Guidelines – standard
guidelines for making web sites accessible to persons with disabilities issued
by the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Access Initiative
2.
Watchfire WebXACT – a free tool which
analyzes web sites for their accessibility to persons with disabilities
PERSONAL PAGES OF THE BLIND
GENERAL DISABILITY-RELATED
LINKS
1.
The Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) Home Page
2.
American Association of People with Disabilities
MAILING
LISTS
LISTS I MODERATE
·
BlindBBS -- The purpose of this
list is to educate the general public about the blind and visually impaired by
promoting friendly dialogue between those in the blind/VI and sighted
“communities”. Anyone (blind/VI or "sighted") who is
interested in learning about the blind and visually impaired may join.
Also, those with visual impairments who are willing to answer questions and
openly discuss their disability are encouraged to join.
·
BlindRant – Everyone needs to rant once in a while. This group has been established as a place for
blind and visually impaired people to essentially "let off steam" to
one another about issues and challenges that effect their everyday lives.
Discuss anything from lacking accessibility to social issues to tripping over
wet floor signs.
·
Braille – a list for those (blind,
vi, or sighted) wishing to learn or who are in the process of learning any form
of Braille
·
Blindschools – a list for
students who are attending or have ever attended schools for the blind
·
ViIndpLiving – a list for
blind/vi people themselves (as opposed to the so-called “blindness agencies”)
to share and discuss “independent living” strategies both within and outside of
the home
·
DisabledUnity -- This group is for those
with physical disabilities (e.g. the deaf/hearing impiared, blind/visually
impaired, mute/speech impaired, paralyzed/mobility impaired) who wish to unite
in the common cause of making society better for themselves. We shall discuss
common challenges, strategies of advocacy, and strategies by which to educate
the able-bodied public.
·
RightsfortheBlind
-- This group has been established for blind and visually impaired persons to
discuss the rights to which they are entitled as citizens of the
·
The-artsy-blind --
This is a group for blind and visually impaired persons who are
"artsy": those who are interested in, for instance,
classical/"art" music/opera, fine art, "classic" literature
and/or non-fiction works and the theatre. Feel free to discuss any related
topics or even simply to chat.
OTHER LISTS
·
Blind-friends – a general chat
list for blind/vi people
·
Blindwebbers – a list for
blind/vi webmasters
·
Bcu – a Blind Computer Users list
·
LCA – a list for those who have Leber’s
Congenital Amaurosis and their family/friends