We Have Just Begun to Fight

We Have Just Begun to Fight

Future Reflections Spring/ Summer 1986, Vol. 5 No. 2
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"WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT"
by Ramona Walhof
(Editor's Note: Mrs. Walhof is the
blind mother of two teenage children.
She is now a businesswoman but has an
extensive background in the rehabilitation
and education of blind persons.)
Most kids come across John Paul Jones
in junior history or before. His
bravery and determination as his ship is sinking and he says, "We have just begun
to fight," are admirable and inspiring.
But how many of us can really understand
how he felt and why? The soldiers and
the revolutionary army knew that they
were fighting for their freedom, for
their lives in a very real sense--the
kind of lives they wanted to live.
Not long ago I came to understand better how it must have been.
I was working with a blind five-year
old and his father. We met during a
crowded meeting in a large hotel. The
father brought his son (we will call him
Jake) to meet me and to show me some of
the things he was learning. Jake knew
the Braille alphabet and numbers. He
was beginning to learn words, he was
right where a five-year-old should be in
learning to read--far ahead of most of
us a generation ago. Both Jake and his
father enjoyed working with the Braille
cards they brought with them.
Independent travel was a different
story. Jake was intelligent and observant.
He was full of energy and excitement.
As we walked through crowded
corridors, he literally bounced up and
down. The adult conversation was too
far above his head for him to hear, so
Jake made his own observations. He told
me when the air conditioner turned on
and off. When we passed an open
balcony, Jake thought the movement of
the air was a fan, but was most interested
to know that there might be an
open door on the upper floor of the
building. He, knew better than to let go
of my hand. He would have been lost or
knocked down. It was clear to me that
this child needed some independence and
a tool with which to explore.
I offered to let him try a child's
white cane. While we waited for the
cane, Jake did not run around as other
children his age would have done, although
we were no longer in a crowd.
Jake rocked back and forth and talked
about the hotel and the people he was
meeting, a good five-year-old conversation,
but it was again plain that he was
restricted, not by his lack of vision,
but by his lack of skill to explore and
move about. One could imagine the many
experiences Jake must have had that made
him cautious and kept him close to his
chair. A large playground would have
been frightening. The combination of
adult fears around him and no tool with
which to find landmarks or explore had
already limited Jake seriously. He
needed to be turned loose and encouraged
to walk and run and learn and think.
Jake used his senses and his mind. I
thought of some children I have worked
with who developed more and more bad
habits (rolling their heads, ignoring
what other people were doing and saying,
daydreaming beyond the point of reasonableness).
Jake showed signs that he
might withdraw into some of those things. But it was not too late for him
to go a different way.
When we gave Jake the cane, he was
cautious but ready to go. He followed
the wall with the cane and his hand;
then with the cane alone. He listened
to the sound of the cane against the
carpet, against the paneled wall,
against the solid wood door, and against
the metal table leg. he walked across
the hallway by himself with a little
fear and plenty of satisfaction. I told
Jake he must not rock while using the
cane for the motion would confuse him.
He stopped rocking, he was concentrating
and learning.
What a good thing it seemed to me for
Jake to have that cane for the summer to
explore and learn. He could gain both
discipline and freedom. I said to the
father, "You may take this cane home and
let Jake practice using it around your
neighborhood." The father wanted to say
yes, but he didn't. He hesitated. Then
the answer came apologetically. "I am
afraid I can't," he said. "Jake's teacher thinks I ask for things before
he is ready. She wants to teach him
pre-cane techniques. I am afraid it
will hurt Jake in school if I do something
she doesn't like."
I couldn't argue with him--not then.
It wouldn't have done any good. And I
knew from personal experience (perhaps
better than he) how children can be
punished when they or their parents do
not follow the PLAN of the "expert".
In time some blind adults can make
friends with Jake and his father and
gradually help them take advantage of
the cane and other things they need. We
must hope and pray it is not too late.
Jake needs that cane! In another year
there will be more bad habits to break
and eroded confidence to restore and a
lack of social progress. And Jake is
only one of thousands of children who is
not receiving what we know how to give.
Yes, Jake helped me understand how
John Paul Jones must have felt when he
said, "We have just begun to fight!"
That is why we must be able to sit in
the exit rows of airplanes and fight the
agencies that try to run the lives of
the blind. It is for Jake and thousands
of children and adults who will sink
like the ship under enemy fire, albeit
charitable enemy fire, if the members of
the National Federation of the Blind do
not do things which are unpleasant and
rock the boat over and over again.
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