Why I Am a Federationist: by Tonia Valletta Trapp

Why I Am a Federationist: by Tonia Valletta Trapp

The Braille Monitor

July 2003

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Why

I Am a Federationist

by

Tonia Valletta Trapp

Tonia

Trapp

From

the Editor: Tonia Trapp is the secretary of the National Federation of the Blind

of New Mexico and president of the Albuquerque Chapter. She works as an advocate

for the New Mexico Protection and Advocacy System. At the 2002 convention of

the NFB of New Mexico Tonia delivered the following speech telling her audience

why she is a Federationist. This is what she said:

Before

I talk about why I am a Federationist, I would like to tell you a little about

myself. I have been totally blind since about the age of two, and I am almost

twenty-nine years old now. I was fortunate to grow up in northern Virginia,

where services for totally blind children were fairly good. So I attended public

schools from kindergarten through high school, college, and beyond. I know that

many blind children do not have that opportunity, so I consider myself blessed.

I

received a B.A. degree in religious studies from the College of William and

Mary in December of 1995, and I completed my master's degree in social work

at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May of 1998.

I

have been married for almost five years to Greg Trapp, the current director

of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind. Greg is also blind. For the past

three years I have worked as an advocate for the New Mexico Protection and Advocacy

System, a private, nonprofit agency devoted to protecting and securing the rights

of people with disabilities. I really enjoy the work that I do.

If

I were to describe myself in one word, it would be "driven." I set

goals, and I work hard until I achieve them. I take on challenges, and I strive

to conquer them. One of the challenges I have had the joy of taking on is my

recent election as president of the Albuquerque chapter of the NFB of New Mexico.

After I was elected, I started thinking hard about these questions: Why am I

a Federationist? Why should people come to our meetings? What are we trying

to accomplish?

The

NFB has a catch-phrase that expresses very clearly what the Federation is all

about. The phrase is, "Changing what it means to be blind." Now if

that isn't a challenge, I don't know what is. In fact, the challenge of changing

what it means to be blind is irresistible for me. I have to be part of it. I

want a piece of the action.

So

what does it mean to change what it means to be blind? Well, I look at it this

way. Society in general contains many myths about blind people. I am not saying

that everyone everywhere believes these myths, but in general many people do.

The Federation, on the other hand, teaches the truth about blindness. Let me

give you some examples.

Myth:

Being blind is a bad thing, a sad thing, and something to be ashamed of. Sometimes

this idea is expressed in words, such as when someone comes up to you and places

a hand on your shoulder and says, "I'm so sorry that you're blind."

Have some of you had that experience? Sometimes the idea is expressed more indirectly,

through attitudes. Consider the parents who say to their blind child, "It's

perfectly all right for you to use your cane at school, but you're with us now,

so you don't need it. Put the cane away." One is likely to acquire some

cuts, bruises, and scratches from following that advice. Or consider the teacher

of a blind child who says, "You don't need to learn Braille, because you

still have a little bit of sight. We'll have you read large-print books. What's

that you say? You have to put your nose to the book in order to read it? Well,

that's all right; you still don't need Braille."

The

truth: It is OK to be blind. There is no shame in being blind--no shame. And

as a fellow blind person, I encourage you to swing that cane. Your cane gives

you independence. Don't be ashamed to use your cane. Learn Braille, and use

it. Braille is your key to the world of printed material. Don't be ashamed to

use Braille.

Here's

another myth: Blind people are helpless and totally dependent. In fact, we are

so helpless that we cannot so much as tie our own shoes. And we certainly cannot

go anywhere by ourselves. We must always have someone with us.

The

truth: Blind people can do for ourselves. We can take care of ourselves. All

we need is confidence and good training in the skills of blindness. The Federation

says that blind people are not pitiful; we are powerful.

Another

myth: Blind people cannot work.

The

truth: Blind people can do just about any job--well, maybe not airplane pilot

or taxi driver. Blind people work as engineers, lawyers, scientists, receptionists,

mathematicians, social workers, writers, and just about anything else you can

imagine.

Many

of these myths about blindness pervade society, so I will mention just one more

before closing. This last one is one of the most tragic. The myth is that, if

you lose your sight, your life is over. You may as well throw in the towel because

it's all over.

The

truth is that, if you lose your sight, you can learn to do most or all of the

things that you used to do when you were not blind. You just learn to do things

differently. Becoming blind does not mean that your life is over.

The Federation is all about

destroying society's myths about blindness and instilling truth about the worth

and abilities of blind people. With every person we reach with the truth about

blindness, we are changing what it means to be blind. That is why I am a Federationist.

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