[Blindtlk] need some input?

[Aziza]

Hi guys, a friend of mine, who lives in India--we're penplas, wants to write a blog about his experiences with working with the blind, and what's he's learned about the blind through his corespondence with me... He wrote this draft.I remember it as though it were yesterday - I mean the time I had an
oppurtunity to work with the blind. It was four years ago, if my
memory is correct, that I got this opportunity when an organisation -
non government - calling itself 'Chrysallis' held a workshop for
'normal' people to work with the blindIn lay man's language, blindness
simply goes to the extent of being unable to see. But for the people
who are actually blind, its much more. Its something that segregates
them from 'normal' society, something that denies them the pleasure
that everyone has - in the USA, the blind and the sighted, are allowed
to attend the same school. Unfortunately, they are not given the right
material at the right time. I learnt this very recently, when I met a
blind girl named Aziza who has started a students group for promoting
their rights in a local school. My work with the blind people has left
me dazed. Like most others, I too used to pity their condition, and
sometimes jeer at it. I used to feel sick when I used to think about
it. But the Chrysallis workshop has changed all that. There, I saw
(unbelievable though it may seem) blind people dancing to a tune with
perfect coordination - something that even the item girl Rakhi Sawant
is unable to do sometimes. I heard (and saw) them read speeches
without any trouble, using their Braille script; I communicated with
them and I lost all the bad feelings I had. I understood that they
aren't very different from me, from us, from the 'normal' people,
except for their disability. This is something that I learnt from that
workshop and wish to spread to all I meet - God has His reasons for
creating the blind, but that doesn't make them less human. They are
just the same as everybody else, and should be treated so.

He asked me to make any changes I thought necessary. And below is my version... (While still trying to keep his tone and most of his words)

I remember it as though it were yesterday - I mean the time I had an
oppurtunity to work with the blind. It was four years ago, if my
memory is correct, that I got this opportunity when an organisation -
non government - calling itself 'Chrysallis' held a workshop for
'normal' people to work with the blindIn lay man's language, blindness
simply goes to the extent of being unable to see. But for the people
who are actually blind, its much more. Its something that segregates
them from 'normal' society, something that denies them the pleasure
that everyone has - in the USA, the blind and the sighted, are allowed
to attend the same school. Unfortunately, they are not always given the right
material at the right time. I learnt this very recently, when I met a
blind girl named Aziza who has started a students group for promoting
their rights in local schools within the community. My work with the blind people has left
me dazed. Like most others, I too used to pity their condition, and
sometimes jeer at it. I used to feel sick when I thought about
it. But the Chrysallis workshop has changed all that. There, I saw
(unbelievable though it may seem) blind people dancing to a tune with
perfect coordination - something that even the item girl Rakhi Sawant
is unable to do sometimes. I heard (and saw) them read speeches
without any trouble, using their Brailled materials; I communicated with
them and I lost all the bad feelings I had. I understood that they
aren't very different from me, from us, from the general sighted population,
except for their disability. This is something that I learnt from that
workshop and wish to spread to all I meet - God has His reasons for
creating the blind, but that doesn't make them less human. They are
just the same as everybody else, and should be treated as such. They have dreams and goals, and with a little accomidation, and a whole lot os support, they can make those dreams come true. "The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of information that exist. If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a physical
nuisance." (National Federation of the Blind Philosiphy)