NFB Conventions: Just Informative Or Something More?

NFB Conventions: Just Informative Or Something More?

Future Reflections Sept./ Oct./ Nov.1984, Vol. 3 No. 4
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NFB CONVENTIONS:
JUST INFORMATIVE --
OR SOMETHING MORE?
By Barbara Cheadle
For some reason I always find ordinary convention
reports hard to make. There's always the
problem of making the long list of speakers and
topics be something more than a blur of names
and titles. Then you have to find a way to
condense the important -- often momentous -- information, actions and results that come out
of the convention into mere sentences and paragraphs.
But the really hard part is trying to
convey something of what an NFB national
convention means to blind people, to blind
youngsters and to parents of blind children.
Yes, you can get good information about blindness
and about current events that affect the
blind from an NFB convention. In fact, I can't
think of any gathering, anywhere where you
can learn more about all facets of blindness. But
there's more, much more, to an NFB convention.
At convention, a teen-ager would for the first
time in her life, be around more blind people
than sighted. Think of the implications and
possibilities? She could see for herself competent,
well-adjusted blind people; observe them
traveling independently, hear them talk of their
homes, families and jobs. She would also see
others who are not so successful; who have been
put down and kept out of the mainstream of life
by public attitudes, prejudices and discrimination.
She could learn to respect them for their
valiant struggle to make life better and easier for
her generation. She would quickly discover that
the problems and frustrations brought about by
her blindness are not unique, but experienced by
thousands of other blind persons. She could
learn how others use alternative techniques to
cope with the physical loss of sight. She would
also learn that most blind people no longer
consider that the most important or the most
difficult problem to solve. Public attitudes about
blindness, she would learn, is the biggest
problem all blind people face today. And that,
she will learn, is what the NFB is all about. It's
not a group of blind people coming together to
commiserate with each other about their misfortune
nor is it and escape from an ignorant
though well-meaning "sighted world."
The goal of the National Federation of the Blind
is to bring about the complete integration of the
blind into society on a basis of equality. That's
what the NFB is all about. That's what the
annual convention is all about.
Well, perhaps that tells something of what an
NFB convention can mean to a blind youngster.
What about parents? This year, we had several
first-time parents attend the convention. When I
asked one parent what she thought of it, she
responded, "I'm overwhelmed. My mind can't
register it all." Another parent, about halfway
through the convention said, "I don't understand
or agree with all the issues, but if you (the
NFB) don't speak up for yourselves and what
you believe in, nobody else will." (It's too bad
some agencies can't understand that principle.)
One parent, who was back for her second convention,
commented that, "All those canes don't
bother me this year like they did last year." She
was obviously more at ease with blindness and
blind people.
There was evidence of a growing sense of partnership,
unity and common purpose among the
blind and the parents of blind children. One
couple stated that, "Last year, we felt like observers,
but this year we really feel like part of the convention. We can't stay for the rest of the
convention, but we're going to register anyway.
Next year, we'll be part of our state NFB
delegation."
In the next issue of Future Reflections, we will
print portions of the 1984 NFB convention
agenda. It will give you some idea of what you
could expect at the 1985 convention coming up
in July in Louisville, Kentucky. Convention
activities will begin Saturday, July 1 and extend
right through to the following weekend. Room
reservations are now being taken at The Gait
House Motel, 4th and River, Louisville, KY
40202. Toll-free number 1-800-626-1814. A $20.00
non-refundable deposit is required. A seminar
for parents and educators of blind children will
again be scheduled. The Parents of Blind Children
Division will also be meeting at this time.
More information about the 1985 convention
and seminars will be in forthcoming issues of Future Reflections.
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