Hi Miriam and All,
Right. Initially I was heavily influenced by the NFB philosophy. As
time passed and I became convinced that the NFB's approach was too
heavily weighted toward teaching every student to behave as if they
were totally blind, I began to modify how our OTC incorporated
residual vision into the total training package. Our Commission
director, Ken Hopkins, and our OTC director, Don Brown, were both
mentored by Ken Jernigan. While I had been influenced initially by
Jacobus tenBroek's speeches in the collection, "The Man and the
Movement", I became fast friends with Hopkins, and while he was
Commission Director, I followed his lead.
Ken Hopkins was, and still is, a keen mind. Both he and I have come
some distance from that old hard nosed party line. But after saying
that, I hasten to remind you that societal conditions are some
different today for blind people than they were fifty and more years
ago. Nonetheless, my position continues to be that eyesight is such a
dominant sense that if we don't initially remove it, and its
temptations, we will have a significant reduction in assisting low
vision people to become as independent and competent as they need to
become in order to compete with the sighted population.
But in discussing this with prospective students, I would stress that
the end result must include all of our senses. I do believe that in
the long run the NFB's focus on teaching "Blindness Skills", and
ignoring how to incorporate all of our senses, was a road block to
large numbers of low vision people who could have had a far more
successful experience. Still, I feel some need to remind you that the
hard nosed approach was appropriate under the conditions in the 30's,
40's, 50's, and even through the 70's. With more understanding
teachers, students are not measured by how much sight they have.
Techniques are much more insightful. Honesty is the best policy, and
those teachers understanding that are developing some amazing
students. As far as I am concerned, there will still be great chasms
between the Blind and the Sighted Worlds, but there continues to be an
ever growing understanding toward those of us who do not conform.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/13/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sounds like the NFB line. But when you have a bit of vision, setting it
aside during a period of the day for training purposes is, I think,
artificial because the natural response is to use vision when you have it
and that's what you'll do for the remainder of the day. So I would hel
people use their tiny bit of vision to its great advantage while, at the
same time, providing all the other skills as enhancements and backup. When
the time comes that your vision doesn't do the job, you turn to those other
skills and sharpen them. I never would have been motivated to learn braille
until I really needed it to make reading books and writing notes to myself,
easier. I remember being in Spearfish South Dakota at that University's VIP
Program for two weeks one summer in the early 90's. It was like a blind
version of the Elder Hostel Program. Anyway, there were people there with
partial vision equivalent to mine, and some whose vision was better than
mine. And what was shocking to me was that they had never been encouraged to
use the vision they had. They functioned as if they had much less, or none
at all. I remember a social worker, much younger than I. We were at an
American Indian Center, and a sacred mountain was being described to us
where people went to worship. It was right outside a huge picture window
where we were standing. This social worker, a member of our group, was
turned somewhat away from the window. I knew she had some vision, enough to
see that mountain so I asked her if she wanted to see the mountain that was
being described. "Oh yes", she said. Could I see it? I just told her to turn
around and where to look and she was so delighted. But had I not told her
where to look, she wouldn't have tried. That sort of thing kept happening
throughout that two weeks. The staff, just lovely faculty from the
University, always acted as if none of us could see anything.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2017 3:48 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Blind Man in a Hotel Room
Vision loss is a very personal thing. Each of us come with different
personalities, different sorts of vision loss, different points in our lives
when it occurs, different expectations, different support...or lack of
support, different health concerns, different skills, and very different
abilities to adapt to blindness or severe vision loss.
For many folk, when they first lose vision, it is important to them to tell
everyone exactly what is going on in their eyes. When I taught an Attitude
Class in the orientation and training center, at some point early on, I
would suggest that we go around the room and tell the class whatever we
wanted to share regarding our eyes and how we felt it impacted our lives.
When we were finally finished, I would say something like, "Okay, you can
see how we are quite different in how much we see, and how we feel about it.
But one thing we do have in common. We have lost enough vision that the
world will look upon us as Blind. And since the world, the sighted world,
is not informed enough to understand just what we can do, and not do, it
falls upon us to be their teachers." I would continue...as is my long
winded habit, and tell the students, "You may have the flu, or a diabetic
reaction, and I might excuse you from class or some specific task, but
never, never, never use your vision loss as an excuse. Since most blind
people have some usable sight, be thankful for what you are able to see.
But we are going to set aside your remaining sight and learn to trust your
other senses. Especially those senses that are still fully up and running.
Today you are all depending upon eyesight that is iffy at best, and could
get you into a real jam. But by sharpening your remaining senses, learning
to rely on them, you will find that at the end of this program you will use
whatever sight you have, as an enhancement."
Without training, without positive direction, suddenly going from decent
vision to drastically altered vision can be immobilizing.
Reminding them that anything worth having is worth working for, these new
students roll up their sleeves and begin upon a journey of hard work,
lasting from 6 to 9 months.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/13/17, Bonnie L. Sherrell <blslarner@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have been seeing better in my left eye than my right eye for years,
and often what I see with my right eye simply gets totally overwritten
by what's seen by the left one.
If Mr. Keillor has deteriorating vision in the eye that didn't get
operated upon, then I find myself wondering if they didn't operate on
the proper eye!
By the way--am going to collect my new glasses prescription today.
Was told the glasses would be ready next Monday, so the optician must
have worked his behind off to get these done to return to Costco
yesterday afternoon! I'll see how well I see out of my right eye now,
although the prescription is becoming so strong what I see through the
right lens tends to make things look VERY small anymore.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the
very wise cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
We gave the Goblin King control of our nation!
