[Jobs] [nagdu] Writer Researching Blindness

[Peter Donahue]

Hi guys,

I think many here might want to get in touch with this author writing about
the blind.One thing I'll say to Beth is that the perceptions of guide dogs
being,"Miracle workers" often perpetrated by none other than the guide dog
schools themselves. The dribble these organizations tend to put out
perpetuates the myth of the blind being so helpless that they need to be,
"Drug everywhere:" by their guide dog. The notion that cane users are more
independent than dog users is an attitude we in the National Association of
Guide Dog Users are working hard to change. Guide dog users can be just as
independent as cane users and that the decision to use a cane or a dog is a
personal choice; not unlike the choice to drive or take the bus when
traveling. The car and the bus are different modes of transportation to
permit you to get from one place to another. The methods for using each
transportation mode are different, but both will allow you to accomplish the
same thing. So it is with dog and cane use. There are many guide dog users
who have achieved many notable accomplishments and whose dogs allowed them
to navigate environments under crisis conditions. Some have taken
round-the-World trips. They are just as independent as blind persons who use
canes. I will admit that your perceptions about guide dog use are very
telling and remind us of the work we must do to change this image of guide
dogs and their use. Others on the lists to which I'm forwarding your message
will share additional comments with you. Perhaps the best way to learn about
blindness and what blind people are really like is to attend the annual
convention of the National Federation of the Blind to be held in Dallas
Texas this summer. You can get more information by visiting:
http://www.nfb.org

 *****   **********          **********     *****

  My name is Beth Ward, from the Blue Ridge area of North Carolina.

  I am a writer, and I joined a few of these "blindness" lists to get better
insight on how to properly create a character in my book.  Yes, you guessed
it, he's going to be blind.  I hope this is not insulting to anyone, but
I've often heard (and read recently on some of these lists) that sighted
people assume too much when it comes to disabilities, and if we want
information on blind people, we should ask blind people.  So here I am.

  As a little bit of background on me, I have been a professional writer for
many years in the corporate capacity.  Companies hire me to make their
products sound more desirable, or sometimes to write controlled press
releases, and quite often to take care of any damage that's been done to
their reputations for one reason or another.  On the lighter side, I make
extra money writing for discount greeting card wholesalers.  In all, it's
been a fun and lucrative career, but I've always been writing this book in
my head, working out the characters and events and finally I'm ready to
start putting it on paper, well, documents for now.

  Since the blind person in the book is going to be one of the main
characters, I want to get it right.  I don't want him to come across as some
super-human who has the ability to hear a fish jump in an ocean miles away,
or who can tell how long ago someone left a room by smell.  Yes, he's going
to be heroic, but it has to be in a realistic way.

  Most blind people portrayed in movies, television and books manage to get
from point A to point B with no trouble at all, and always remember exactly
where something is, never having to feel around.  Is that a true portrayal?
I don't think so, because from what I understand, blind people see with
their hands as well as incorporating other senses, and now and then struggle
to find doors or entrances to buildings or finding something they've
dropped.  If I'm wrong, please tell me, because I want to be accurate.  My
character won't have been blind for long, so it's something he's still
getting used to.  Can anyone give me any feedback on their own experiences,
especially when blindness was new to them?

  I'm also having trouble giving this guy a job, because I just don't see
very many blind people employed in any workplaces, well, none, actually.  I
know that there are training centers for newly blinded people to go and
learn career skills, but what career skills?  I never see any graduates of
these learning centers.  I have an acquaintance who's blind and living in
New England, and I contacted him to ask about this.  Unfortunately, although
he took several college courses and went to quite a few centers for the
blind to acquire career skills, he's happier collecting Social Security
checks and whatever else our Government hands out and spends his days on the
computer, which is how I originally met him.  I don't want my character to
be like this, but I don't want to be unrealistic, either, so that's why I
decided to join a few of these groups and ask directly.  It seems as if most
of the people on these lists are online a lot, making me wonder if any of
you are working.  I must say, I joined about a week and a half ago, and
already have thousands of emails!  Do you work, and if so, how do you have
the time to write so many messages?  Granted, a lot of them are one or two
lines to a message, at most, but still, I know it's time consuming.  Does
this communication take the place of going out with your friends, or
telephone conversations? I'm just trying to understand. Any ideas, any input
at all, would be gratefully appreciated.

  Finally, this character is not going to be using a dog, because he's
supposed to be a very independent man, and I've noticed that dog users on
these lists don't seem to be as free as those who don't.  People seem to
sign their dog's names with their own and talk about their animals as if
they are people, and while that's probably not a bad thing for the most
part, I don't want that image for this character.  He's going to be a
strong, important part of the book, and I don't want to project the image of
someone following behind a dog, but rather being more in control of his
surroundings. My unemployed blind friend was given a dog in the hopes that
he would work, so he has first-hand knowledge of the dog experience.  He
told me that a dog would lead a person past a lot of things that they won't
even realize are there, while a person using a cane encounters everything in
and along his way and has to have the wits to figure it out for himself.  I
think that's what the hero in my book is going to be - a  brave,
intelligent, self-reliant, employed person who just happens to see the world
without the benefit of his eyes.  I want it to be beautiful and touching,
but more than anything, true to form.

  Thank you for reading this, and I hope I'll hear from many of you with
your own true-life experiences or opinions.  I'm looking forward to getting
to know some of you through your responses, and learning what you want
people to know of yourself.  Anonymous replies are fine, as the information
is important to me, and will be greatly appreciated.

  By the way, if the book is published and does well, I will be back in
touch to ask which charities are most important to all of you, blindness
related or not, and will make a huge donation in your honor for the help
you'll have given me.

  Thanks again!

  Beth

bethawkward at yahoo.com


    Hope to see you in Dallas this summer.

Peter Donahue


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