The letters we receive from parents reveal a pattern about the problems and progress of the blind.
We hear heartbreaking stories of how schools and professionals are failing our children. They are failing to teach them skills, such as Braille, mobility, even typing, that they need. They are failing to surround them with a positive attitude about blindness and the skills of blindness.
But we also hear from parents who are putting behind them the old myths of blindness and are beginning to believe that blindness really can be reduced to a physical nuisance.
We hear from parents who are coming to understand how public attitudes affect the future of their children, and who want to do something to change those attitudes.
There is some irony in the fact that while educational services are deteriorating, parents of blind children are becoming more knowledgeable about blindness and confident about what their child needs.
What will parents do about it? How will they use their new knowledge and confidence? What does any of this have to do with the adult blind or the National Federation of the Blind?
Here are some samples of letters from parents which speak to these very questions.
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May 19, 1986
Upon becoming the parent of a blind child I began sending for as much information as I could in regards to blindness from every source I could find. It has taken me some time to "weed out" the useful from the non-useful. Future Reflections and the Braille Monitor have done the most in educating me about blindness and my attitude regarding blindness....
Sincerely,
Kathy Frasier
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June 17, 1987
Dear Gentlemen:
My son has been blind since the age of 12 and has been receiving your magazine for about a year. He is now now fourteen. I have never listened to your magazine till now, but the other day I decided to hear what your magazine was all about. I was throughly appalled when I heard the story of Kevan and Debra Worley in your April, 1987 issue.
I realized my son's life would be difficult now, but I had no idea [of] the disrespect and humiliation some blind people are put through. The account of Kevan and Debra has made me fear for my son's future.
We live in a small town and as far as I know, my son is the only blind child here. It is very hard to get any information about services for the blind here. The people I have asked here (social service organizations and the like) don't seem to know of any organizations, services, or schools outside of this area. Would anyone at your magazine know where I could write to obtain a list of blind schools in the western states? We should like to move to an area where my son could get good training to prepare him for the future. Also, would it be possible to get a printed copy of your magazine each month?
Thank you for your help and for your enlightening publication. Keep up the good work.
Very truely yours,
Suzan Palmer
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February 14, 1987
Dear Friend,
Thank you for all of the interesting material which you have been sending us. My husband and I are especially interested in the current news article. We are gratified each time we read about the undying efforts of the National Federation members striving for a better understanding world for the blind; and especially [gratified] when new pathways have been opened [for the blind]. We truely admire and respect those who seek their rights and believe in standing up for them, even at the cost of suffering disrespect, humiliation, and prejudice. We say--"Fight on, brothers and sisters. Let perseverance be your reward!"
Our interest in the Federation, incidentally, is the wonderful privilege and experience we've enjoyed of having raised a daughter who was totally blind, almost from birth. Now that she is a grown woman--well educated, gainfully employed, and happily married--we have, as parents, resolved to spend the remainder of our lives trying to convince others about what we learned.
Our conclusion is that blind people are not "different" people, unless we make them so. The only possible way they could be regarded as different is their method of "seeing" and reading. We learned the real truth of this by witnessing life through our daughter's eyes--and she has none!
There will always be people in this world who prefer to remain ignorant and filled with useless sympathy towards the blind. We, as members of the National Federation of theBlind, should continue to uphold the rights, honors, and privileges of the blind in order to attain...a better understanding by the public.
Wishing you continued success!
I remain,
(Mrs.) Irene Gryskiewiez
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July 16, 1987
Dear Sir:
Could you please send me a cane for my daughter along with instructions on cane travel. I'm afraid our public school system is not going to be very cooperative with is on teaching our daughter...to travel by cane. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Linda Mors
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The following is a portion of a letter from a parent of an adopted, legally-blind child to the California affiliate of the NFB.
July 6, 1987
As my child is four and will be in an integrated preschool another year, our concerns over his education plan can stay on the backburner another year. However, we will be going through another "informal assessment" and I.E.P. in the fall.
...I met the resource teacher at the elementary school. Of the eight children involved in that program, all had come out of the preschool run by the city school who had "multi-handicaps and visual impairments." She did have a totally blind child who was classified autistic who was receiving Braille. The rest were learning print from her "marvelous machines." There is one kindergartener girl, diagnosed with 20/800 vision, she is teaching print to, as well as a visually impaired boy in third grade who is, "getting behind in his reading because he can only make out two letters in a word under magnification." I mentioned Braille and she said she received her graduate degree from the Michigan school [university program for teachers of the blind/visually impaired] and they said the only way a child with any vision will learn Braille is with a paper sack over their head. The itinerant teacher said she also has tried to teach children like our son Braille, and they (the children) always favor print.
Gee, I hear all these experts talk and figure, "maybe they are right." But my husband and I would always feel uncomfortable with their approach. Then the mobility/orientation specialist says, "Cane travel? Oh, he is too young. I always wait until they are Junior High school age to teach them." I asked the resource teacher and she says, "Oh, Mr. comes every Tuesday to our school and teaches cane to most of the children." We say, "wait a minute. Two 0 & M specialists teaching cane at different ages!"
When our son's ophthalmologist asked me two months ago when special education was going to start Braille and I told him their approach, he lost his usual controlled calm and asked what in the world they thought they were doing. "Don't they realize he has glaucoma and can't see the Allen cards preschool visual screening more than six inches from his face?"
Now my husband and I knew they all didn't think alike...
It finally took us to go to the NFB conventionn to finally have a hammer hit our heads to realize ... [our] reservations were correct and that these so-called professionals will have the interest of our child at heart--to a point. It will take an NFB advocate as well as our continual education to realize we're going to have to fight (diplomatically at first-- forcefully later) for a literate, independent education for our child. Also we know other parents are out there and [we need] to spread the word about the NFB.
Sincerely,
Carol Keir