Blindness not an inhibiting factor
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- Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:31:09 -0400
The UCLA Daily Bruin, CA, USA
Monday, October 15, 2007
Blindness not an inhibiting factor
By Brett Noble
In most aspects, Deepa Goraya is just like any other successful UCLA student.
A fifth-year English student with a minor in classical civilization and
Afro-American studies, she is involved in her school and community - she has
worked for three years in the Undergraduate Students Association Council
president's office and has held two legal internships.
But there is one trait that sets her apart from every other undergraduate,
making her a member of one of UCLA's smallest minorities: She is completely
blind.
"Blindness is just a characteristic, not a disability. It's just a mere
inconvenience, and it doesn't define who I am," she said to me last week on the
Kerckhoff patio.
I sat down with Goraya in an interview to mark White Cane Safety Day, a holiday
celebrated every Oct. 15 since 1964. It aims to spread understanding about the
white canes used by the blind to navigate the seeing world.
"A white cane isn't just to let people know we're coming; it's a tool we use to
live independent lives. Blind people are members of the general public just
like everyone else," said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National
Federation of the Blind.
I've often seen Goraya on Bruin Walk over the past years, and I've even run
into her cane once, but I had never met her - or any blind person - until a
party a few weeks ago. Though I conceded this with embarrassment, she said she
welcomes such curiosity from students.
"A lot of times people come up to me with questions, and I like that," she
said. "It gives me a chance to explain the techniques I use."
Born three months premature, Goraya developed retinopathy of prematurity, which
resulted in the development of scar tissue that caused her retinas to detach.
While she could see light for a few years, she is now completely blind.
Raised in Diamond Bar, she learned Braille and excelled in academics, coming to
UCLA straight from high school.
"I never even visited campus before deciding to come," she said. "I'd heard
great things about the Westwood area and the Office for Students with
Disabilities."
When Goraya arrived on campus, she received mobility training from Ed
McCloskey, who is a coordinator for mobility assistance and note taking at OSD.
"(Blind students) can come during the summer, and I'll help them learn campus
routes before school starts. Once they know their class schedule we'll help
them find those too," said McCloskey.
His office also helps scan Goraya's textbooks so they can be read aloud to her
and transfers academic materials into Braille then back into English so
professors and teaching assistants can grade them.
After her second year, Goraya took a quarter off to pursue six months of
training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Designed to help the blind
acquire independent living skills and build confidence, the experience led
Goraya to confront new challenges, the scariest of which was learning how to
navigate busy streets with a cane, she said.
"You learn to listen to the traffic patterns and use the sun to navigate," she
said. "When I got back to UCLA, I started walking to class. I wasn't scared
anymore." She had previously taken a van to class.
Goraya plans to attend law school after graduation in hopes of becoming a civil
rights attorney. She would like to continue helping those who are marginalized
by society obtain equality while being productive members of society.
Although 70 percent of blind adults remain unemployed, being blind by no means
prevents people from engaging in the same activities and often exceeding the
standards set by seeing people. Blind student Therese McCabe graduated from
UCLA in 2006, currently attends Yale Law School and recently became engaged.
Considering the success of such students, I couldn't help but wonder why they
seem to be so underrepresented at UCLA. Goraya is, after all, the only
completely blind undergraduate.
"A lot of the time blind people are not pushed to succeed; they are babied,"
said Goraya, noting that before 2006, there were no Braille reading standards
or math standards set for blind students for the state of California in grades
K through 12.
McCloskey said that without special programs in place, blind students are not
given the extra help they need to understand subjects like math.
"When you can't see, it's hard to visualize certain math concepts. Yet students
are still expected to have the same range of math test scores as seeing
students," he said.
On the UC application, there is no place to note disabilities, including
blindness. Though students may choose to mention such qualities in their
essays, these factors would otherwise not be considered in the admissions
process.
UCLA administrators and alumni have recently taken steps toward increasing
certain types of diversity - particularly racial - on campus. This same
creativity could also be used to reach out further to increase representation
of other types of students, such as Goraya.
At the end of my interview, I asked Goraya if she thinks about the chance of
being able to see again. She said the adjustment would probably be just as
dramatic as if I were to suddenly go blind.
"People think I'd be so much happier if I had a cure, but I think I'd actually
be unhappier, at least for a while," she said.
Today, on White Cane Safety Day, let us remember that those who use a white
cane instead of eyes to get around are just as valuable members of the
community as those who do not.
E-mail Noble at bnoble@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/oct/15/emblindness-not-inhibiting-factorem/
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