Why a Sighted Person Would Dedicate So Much of Her Energy to the National Federation of the Blind

Why a Sighted Person Would Dedicate So Much of Her Energy to the National Federation of the Blind

Braille MonitorApril 2019

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Why a Sighted Person Would Dedicate So Much of Her Energy to the
National Federation of the Blind
by Carlton Walker
From the Editor: Carlton Walker is one of the most inspirational people I know. Yes, I know the word inspirational is too often used to describe blind people, whether we’re making a bed or climbing Mount Everest. Carlton isn’t blind, but I find her inspirational because she knows how to take when she needs and then to give back what she has taken when she can. It doesn’t matter whether you say she is giving back or giving it forward. What is important is that she doesn’t take it for granted when she is helped and doesn’t just assume it is her due. She takes the time to say thank you and then sets to work doing something that shows that in her mind thank you is not a phrase but a chance to act. Here is what she says about being a member of the National Federation of the Blind:
Gary Wunder, a wonderful friend and the stalwart editor of the Braille Monitor, asked me to write an article about membership in the National Federation of the Blind. In other words, “Why am I a Federationist?” What a terrific question, and one I love to answer!

Growing up, I did not think much about blindness. I didn’t know any blind people; I’d never even seen a blind person in real life. In fact, until 2004, I would have laughed if anyone had told me that I would be a proud, committed, and unwavering member of the National Federation of the Blind—that I would be a Federationist. Back then, I could not have imagined how or why any organization could become an essential part of my life.

In 2001, my husband and I were thrilled to welcome a wonderful little person we named Anna Catherine into our lives. Her first two years of life were filled with surgeries and hospitalizations, but she grew into a healthy and happy toddler. Then, doctors told us she was “legally blind.” We didn’t really understand what that meant. In fact, at that time we did not even consider Anna Catherine—blind.

As she got older, we understood that her lack of good vision was affecting her. We knew that she got close to the television, a toy, or anything she wanted to see. We knew that she had to get within just a few inches of very-enlarged print to make it out. We knew that our little four-year-old wouldn’t walk outside without holding an adult’s hand. Anna Catherine was not as independent as her peers, and we knew that something had to change.

After many phone calls and dead ends, I found information about a conference called Beginnings and Blueprints at a place in Baltimore named the National Center for the Blind. While we still didn’t consider our daughter blind, after work on Thursday, May 5, 2005, we packed up the minivan and Anna Catherine and headed down to Baltimore. We thought we would learn how Anna Catherine could “maximize” her remaining vision; at that time, we truly believed that Anna Catherine’s success was directly tied to her amount of residual vision. However, we weren’t at the national center very long before we found out how wrong we were.

We learned so very much in such a short time. We heard from and talked with several blind adults who proceeded to blow our previous misconceptions out of the water. We met blind adults with and without functional vision, but we couldn’t tell the difference. What we did notice was that everyone at the conference, blind and sighted, were professional, knowledgeable, and in control of the conference. They were not separated by physical attributes; they were united in a common purpose to educate the conference attendees, teachers, and parents about blindness.

We returned home and tried to put some of what we learned into practice. Unfortunately, we lived too far away to go back to Baltimore easily. Moreover, the blind women and men we met in Baltimore were accomplished people, including past NFB president Marc Maurer; Mark Riccobono, the current president of the National Federation of the Blind; Dr. Betsy Zaborowski; Carla McQuillan; Chris Danielsen; Brigid Doherty; and Heather Field. They had talent, jobs, and busy lives. (These folks are heavy-hitters; just Google these names and you’ll see.) While they encouraged us to reach out anytime, we didn’t feel like we could bother them. Who were we that they would take the time and energy necessary to re-teach us and support us from a distance?

Luckily, the members of this organization don’t always wait to be asked. These fabulous people stayed in touch. They asked about Anna Catherine, and they kept providing me information and tools to support her. In 2006 we attended the National Federation of the Blind annual convention in Dallas, Texas. Wow! Not only did I meet talented blind adults wanting to help Anna Catherine and our family, I met sighted parents of blind children who were members of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC). I learned that the NOPBC is a proud division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). I learned that members of the NOPBC are members of the NFB—even if they are sighted--and that many remain NFB members long after their children reach adulthood. I learned that the NOPBC’s strength comes directly from the NFB—because it is the NFB that provides the guidance, support, and love needed to allow a blind child (with or without residual vision) to build the skills, confidence, and fortitude necessary to grow into the independent adult that child has a right to become.

When we left Dallas, I was exhausted, but I was invigorated as well. At the airport I noticed that something seemed off. It took me a few seconds to identify the problem: no canes. Over the course of the week in Dallas, the steady and confident tapping of thousands of long white canes became a part of me, and I missed it. That sound represented, to my mind, the beating of a heart of the amazing organization called the National Federation of the Blind. Before the trip, I wanted to start getting more involved with the organization. When I arrived home, I knew that I needed to become a member of the Federation. I no longer viewed the NFB as an “organization.” I knew that it was and is a family, and I knew that this family would welcome me with open arms.

We did become members, and we did start attending NFB events on the state and national level. In 2007 we attended the NFB convention in Atlanta, and our state affiliate president, Jim Antonacci, invited Anna Catherine to carry the Pennsylvania banner in the March for Independence. In 2008 Harriet Go, a member of our state affiliate, took time out of her convention experience to teach Anna Catherine how to safely and confidently use an escalator—a task at which neither my husband nor I had succeeded for more than a year. At the same convention we ran into Dr. Abraham Nemeth (inventor of the Nemeth Code—Braille math) at the hotel elevators. I timidly introduced myself and Anna Catherine to him. He greeted us warmly and was so pleased to hear that Anna Catherine loved math that he began quizzing her and was delighted with her (correct) answers. This giant of a man treated two strangers like family—because we were. We were all members of the Federation Family.

The only other organization in which I have felt a connection so strong that I call it a family is church. As much as I do love my church family, I must honestly share that those relationships took more time to develop—even though I am with members of my church far more regularly than I am with members of the NFB. This is not an indictment of any church; it is simply the truth. Becoming involved with the NFB will provide you great information and tools. Becoming a member of the NFB will change your life and your child’s life for the better.

Before I joined the NFB, I could never have imagined how wholly and completely fellow members help and support one another. When others freely give of themselves to you, you want to give back and to pay it forward. It really is a feeling you have to experience to fully comprehend. These lines from Tim McGraw’s 2016 award-winning song, “Humble and Kind” display the ethos of Federationists and may encourage you to become a member of the National Federation of the Blind:
“Don't take for granted the love this life gives you
When you get where you're goin'
Don't forget turn back around
Help the next one in line
Always stay humble and kind”
Please come to meet us. Please share with us your struggles, your pain, and your needs. Please let us share our knowledge, our hearts, and ourselves. We welcome you to join us as members of the National Federation of the Blind.

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