Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

Betty Woodward and an

April Fool's Day snowman made by husband Bruce

Questions and NFB Answers

by Betty Woodward

From the Editor: Betty Woodward is

a member of the NFB of Connecticut Board of Directors and President of the

Greater Hartford Chapter. She takes every opportunity she can to educate the

public about blindness and the work of the National Federation of the Blind.

This is what she says

One cold winter morning a fifth grader

from a nearby town called me at our National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut

Community Outreach Office. We have received many calls from students looking

for information about blindness and Braille. Somehow Kristyn seemed different.

She asked if she could come to our community outreach office and talk to me.

Of course I said she certainly could.

A few days later Kristyn and her mom

arrived at our office. She took out a notebook and pencil and, while her mother

took a back seat, Kristyn asked me several questions about blindness, about

Braille, about me, and about the National Federation of the Blind. She left

our office armed with flyers, Kernel Books, and an offer from me to visit her

school.

Early in May I found myself sitting in

a classroom of first graders, their teacher, Kristyn, and my driver. To the

best of my knowledge, these kids had never met a blind person before. They

asked all of the usual how-do-you questions. But the question that topped them

all that day was one addressed to my driver, "How did you get her into

the car?"

"I didn't," my friend said.

"She got in by herself."

What an opportunity we Federationists

have to set an

example, to teach and to show, yes—even

first graders--(or most especially first graders) that it is respectable to

be blind, that being blind doesn't mean being unable to do all the things everyone

else does or go everywhere everyone else goes.

I can talk to first graders or senior

citizens and let them know by my attitude, abilities, and actions that I am

living a full and complete life even though I am blind. These encounters give

me the opportunity to let people know what the National Federation of the Blind

means to me and how it has changed my life.

By the way, Kristyn has been diabetic

most of her young life. I hope she will always remember the things we talked

about.