BLINDNESS AND THE USE OF PARTIAL VISION

BLINDNESS AND THE USE OF PARTIAL VISION

Future Reflections Fall 1991
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BLINDNESS AND THE USE OF PARTIAL VISION

by Alfred P. Maneki, Ph.D.

Editor's Note: Reprinted from the August, 1989, Braille Monitor, this article is

based on a speech Dr. Maneki, a leader in the National Federation of the Blind

of Maryland, gave at an NFB seminar for parents of blind children.

Despite what some have said about the National Federation of the Blind, we

are not opposed to the desire of blind people to use the vision they possess,

assuming that they employ it effectively and that they have acquired alternative

techniques which they can use when it is more efficient to do so. Braille, cane

travel, typing, and good listening habits are not inferior skills, and we should

be trained to use them when our sight is inadequate to do the job at hand. The

problems arise when the blind person who has not been properly trained is forced

to rely on clearly inadequate partial vision rather than the alternative

techniques of blindness which are more efficient.

The educational system, when I was a child as well as today, always does

what is easiest and will do more only when concerned and informed parents insist

on the most appropriate training for their children.

I grew up before the development of modern computer technology and before

Public Law 94-142 and IEP's. At that time most children, even the "partially

sighted," were sent to the school for the deaf and blind. I know now that this

was a typically repressive school in many ways with extremely negative attitudes

about blindness. We were neither instructed nor encouraged in cane travel. Shop

classes, cooking classes, and recreational activities were minimal. We were

never challenged intellectually. There was an emphasis on music, which did

nothing for my musical inabilities. I am sure that our teachers felt sorry for

us and did not think we would amount to much in our lives.

And yet all children in the "blind department" were taught to read Braille

and to write it with slate and stylus. We were admonished constantly: "Don't use

your eyes! They'll go bad!" It was easier back then for the system to teach

Braille to all of us. The school for the blind had to teach Braille anyway.

Braille books were available in relatively greater numbers than they are today.

All but a very few blind and visually impaired children were sent to the school

for the blind anyway. Who bother with large print?

Today, the situation has been reversed. Braille is the bother. "Why teach

Braille if you don't have to and if the parents will let you get away with not

doing so?" I am convinced that if I were a child growing up in Howard County,

Maryland, today, tests would show that I could read large print. Forget about

reading and writing efficiently! These tests would be used to convince my

parents that I really didn't need Braille after all. Here again, though, it

would never be acknowledged; the primary consideration would be the convenience

of the teachers and administrators. Video technology makes enlargement of print

much cheaper than Braille, and teaching print reading is more familiar, so never

mind the eyestrain, the slowness, or the relative lack of portability of the

equipment.

Inevitably, children grow up and must conduct their lives with whatever

training or lack of training they have received. I was very fortunate to have

learned Braille in my childhood and acquired other alternative techniques later.

I was able to take notes with slate and stylus in my college classes. I had

developed good listening habits and could use recorded materials and readers

effectively. I was able to prepare for graduate level exams, write a Ph.D.

dissertation in mathematics, teach college mathematics, and find rewarding

employment in government service, none of which could I have pulled off if I had

had only large print at my command.

Here is my advice to parents and partially-sighted students. Never let your

school system off the hook. Demand alternative techniques when they are not

offered. Insist upon large print if it would help. Make the system work to your

advantage by requesting as many alternative techniques as are really useful and

efficient. Do not allow yourselves to be convinced by the so-called "experts on

blindness" that it is simply beyond the capacity of the partially blind child to

learn both Braille and print. It isn't true. Most important, cultivate positive

attitudes about your child or yourself as a blind person, and develop

proficiency in the skills of blindness that will allow competent performance.

How does one use partial vision, and when is it useful? Every individual is

best able to answer these questions personally and should have the training and

good sense to know that relying entirely on vision when it is insufficient is

foolish. Here is a sample of instances when I find my eyesight useful:

* Writing on a blackboard. I learned delivering college lectures that I could

write on a blackboard even though I could not see what I had written. Here

earlier training with large print would have been most helpful.

* Traveling without using a cane. Although I do not always absolutely need to

use a cane, there are times when it is necessary. Some years ago I stopped

wasting time trying to anticipate when I might need it. I decided to use it all

the time, and I now have one less thing to worry about. With experience and

competence with a cane one outgrows self-consciousness about blindness.

* Identifying paper currency. Although I cannot do this rapidly, it is a

convenience when I am given change for a purchase.

* Reading labels. This is useful for identifying canned goods, but not much

more.

* Reading large print on a computer terminal. This is moderately useful when

working with computer program code, which tends to be concisely written.

* Distinguishing junk mail from bills and personal correspondence. This is

helpful, but not essential.

* Looking at my Braille watch, rather than reading it with my index finger.

The list could go on, but I think my point is clear.

My parents and teachers never really believed that Braille, the white cane,

using readers efficiently, and typing would enable me to be successful in life.

Nevertheless, I was taught these skills; and although they were started later

than was ideal, they have helped me more than the limited sight that I have and

use some of the time.

I owe whatever understanding I have of myself and of blindness largely to

my involvement in the National Federation of the Blind. Through its teachings

and in its practices, the NFB has given me a sense of well-being and

completeness that I could not have achieved alone. The NFB is not a cult, as

some misguidedly and ignorantly claim. Instead, the NFB represents a powerful

and effective effort by the blind to correct the ills and injustices of a

frequently misguided society, and all are invited to join in our quest for

freedom.
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