[PHOTO/CAPTION: Dr

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Dr

Braille Monitor

November

2004

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Freedom and Individual

Choice

by

C. Edwin Vaughan

Dr.

Ed Vaughan

From the Editor: Dr.

Ed Vaughan is a frequent contributor to these pages. He is professor emeritus

of sociology at the University of Missouri and currently dean of international

programs and adult education programs at Menlo College in Atherton, California.

In the following article he shares his thoughts about two currently fashionable

terms in the rehabilitation field. This is what he says:

You can look at the experience

of freedom in several ways. Freedom can be analyzed theologically, philosophically,

and as a social experience. Each of us feels that we make choices, but our lives

are somewhat determined by the cards we have been dealt, by the social world

we have been born into, and by the array of opportunities that unfold as our

lives develop.

Usually,

when we think of freedom, our focus is on the individual person. In this article

we will briefly talk about how we may think of freedom in terms of the choices

we consider--freedom in its social context.

These

fairly abstract ideas sometimes spill over into the world of rehabilitation

and education. What does freedom of choice mean to an individual receiving rehabilitation

services? How does the individual learn to choose? Who determines the choices

that are available? Current expressions of this issue revolve around whether

or not sleepshades and the long white cane should be a required part of an educational

program aimed at teaching independent living. Some argue that independent choice

means that students can pick and choose the parts of the training program that

appeal to them. Or consider how much your choices may be limited if you encounter

a counselor or teacher with a limited vision of what blind people can accomplish

and who may have limited knowledge of the training programs that produce graduates

who actually do live independently. We will analyze this debate referring to

the concept of freedom.

We

all have the experience of thinking. We consider the relationship between various

things happening to us. Humans are biologically active and always interacting

with their environments. When we encounter an obstacle, we consider ways to

remove or get around the blockage. When we need to deal with blindness, we consider

obstacles to be overcome. We have learned from our own experience or from the

words of others that some behaviors work better than others for solving a problem.

When we weigh and consider the various alternatives to help us reach a desired

goal, we are being what John Dewey called "intelligent."

You

are being intelligent when you weigh and consider the relationship of available

means to desired goals. Your goal might be to live as independently as possible

or to prepare yourself to enter the working world. To reach these goals, you

would consider all of the choices reasonably available to you. By "reasonably"

we mean actually available in the world you live in and know about. You would

consider the amount of work it will take and the cost to you in time and resources.

Do you take the easy way, or are you willing to enter a more demanding program?

From whom will you learn about the choices available to you?

Traditionally

the model used by professionals in rehabilitation and special education has

been to focus on the individual and the kinds of problems he or she presents.

The professional has learned what is best practice for this particular problem.

An example of this appears in a series of articles and books by Dean and Naomi

Tuttle. As a psychologist Dean Tuttle frequently writes about self-concept and

adjusting to blindness. His first book dealing with these issues was Self-Esteem

and Adjusting to Blindness (1984). A second edition of this book appeared

in 1996, followed by a chapter with Naomi Tuttle in Foundations of Education:

History and Theory of Teaching Children and Youths with Visual Impairments

(Holbrook and Koenig, 2000).

In

discussing significant others and reference groups, Tuttle advises that a blind

person should be introduced to a teacher, school superintendent, counselor,

or friend, and at one point he goes so far as to suggest that one meet another

blind person to learn some practical strategies:

However,

there is a time when the credibility of a message is much stronger coming from

another blind person. The professional may want to arrange for a competent blind

person to meet with the individual who is mourning. Areas of concern to be discussed

with the recently blinded might include some "tricks of the trade"

or some quickly and easily learned adaptive techniques. (Tuttle, 1984, pp.179-180)

This

is an example of the way the educator or professional can limit the freedom

of the individual by limiting or not being aware of choices that are available.

He makes no mention of the organized blind movement as a resource for the counselor

or for the blind individual.

Counselors

or teachers communicate the emotions and ideas learned from their professional

experience. They tend to reflect the negative notions about blindness that pervade

society. Since the broader society holds these mistaken views, the rehabilitation

customers--mirroring the attitudes of the broader society--will have internalized

these same views. Something or someone must intervene and direct the customer

toward healthier and more positive thinking. VR counselors and rehab teachers

should, as a regular practice, refer new blind customers or students to local

organizations of the blind.

We

recommend that graduate students studying rehabilitation and special education

be required to learn about and participate in consumer organizations. Theses

internships should include experiencing the world as a blind person experiences

it. Likewise college teachers and rehab professionals should be continually

involved in local and national consumer organizations. Staying aloof or uninvolved

to avoid taking sides is no longer acceptable. Professionals can understand

the rapidly developing improvements in the world of the organized blind only

by becoming involved. Likewise educators should encourage parents of blind children

to involve themselves and their children in organizations as early as possible.

Through

such experiences the counselor or teacher is in a position to help students

become aware of more choices. By becoming so involved, students themselves will

continually be learning about new opportunities and options. In fact they may

become involved in creating new possibilities for the next generation.

The

above discussion of being intelligent, making rational choices, and then acting

on them focuses heavily upon cognitive or mental processes. Unfortunately knowing

is not always doing. Overcoming the obstacles presented by blindness is not

easy. It involves confronting all of the negative images about blindness that

we, our parents, and our teachers have learned. This is why the National Federation

of the Blind has so long stressed not only positive attitudes but the contagion

and excitement that come from being surrounded by people who are inspired about

the possibilities of life and who are actively involved in creating new choices.

In this approach freedom

does not come from solving your own problems and going it alone; it comes from

immersing yourself in a social world that is full of excitement and full of

promise and in which you are continually supported by a network of friends who

have already been there and done that. Instead of passively accepting the world

as defined by others, you will actively be in control of your own energy and

your own life as you help change ideas about what it means to be blind. Both

freedom and informed choice come from knowing what is possible and having the

strength and courage to embrace it.

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