[nfbwatlk] tell me your thoughts, please.

[Mike Freeman]

Dan:

I suspect that in our zeal to correct the bias toward lowered 
expectations among O&M professionals, we have at times tended to almost 
overemphasize full-on structured discovery and attempted to impart 
spatial awareness even when the blind subjects of our ministrations were 
incapable of it; we have too often seen the detrimental results of 
lowered expectations. On the other hand, O&M professionals have too 
often gone the other way, assuming that simply by virtue of their 
blindness, blind persons as a class are incapable of spatial awareness 
and reasoning out problems while traveling.

Both extremes are, of course, not in accord with reality. Life is seldom 
that clear-cut. the trick is to recognize this truth and to apply it in 
particular instances while giving those whom we are attempting to help 
the chance to prove our expectations wrong.

Mike Freeman


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Frye, Dan
  To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
  Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:23 AM
  Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] tell me your thoughts, please.


  Carl:

  I tend to agree with your ultimate but reluctantly accepted conclusion
  that some blind people, like everybody in general, may have 
fundamental
  deficits with direction, spacial orientation, or something else
  entirely. It is comforting, however, to know that you have come to 
this
  conclusion reluctantly because it suggests that you acknowledge that
  teaching a tough subject can be challenging and that you are loath to
  set low expectations for your students when they are faced with
  something difficult to master. I'd urge you to continue working on 
this
  assumption as you teach, not foreclosing the possibility that some
  students may simply be slower than others to grasp a skill set or may
  simply be late bloomers.

  Once you have exhausted reasonable efforts to teach spacial 
orientation
  techniques (a skill set that does serve to enhance independence and
  personal efficiency for blind people in particular if they have it), 
the
  next step, it seems to me, is to identify what teachable compensating
  techniques may exist that you can share with such a student. Perhaps
  simple route training from destination-to-destination would be 
helpful.
  This technique is not ideal, of course, for cultivating personal
  flexibility, but might nevertheless enable somebody to support
  themselves through employment. Perhaps developing a network of friends
  and acquaintances to help the student when they become disoriented may
  be another. I certainly can't begin to generate a complete list of
  alternatives to not having good spacial orientation, but identifying 
and
  teaching these compensatory skills seems the only thing to do where 
one
  is unable to master a skill that most accept as being an important
  ability for independent blind people to possess.

  I do not think that a weakness or deficit in an area of particular 
value
  for general independence necessarily will render a person unable to 
live
  an independent life; I do think, though, that it will make it more
  difficult for somebody to be as independent as others who have such a
  skill. But independence levels and used alternative techniques vary 
for
  everybody, even among the most independent of us. While the analogy is
  not exactly comparable, it can be fairly said that one with Dyslexia
  would be able to achieve greater independence and learning with more
  ease if they could read, but being absolutely unable to overcome this
  deficit, use of other generated compensatory techniques will allow 
them
  to function with some significant degree of independence.

  Mostly, I think the blind community can be incredibly judgmental of 
one
  another, and I believe that we should all work harder to recognize the
  individual efforts that most of us take to represent ourselves and our
  community in the best light that we can, given our individual skill 
sets
  and access to blindness training. I am not interested in debating the
  incidental question of whether or not we have an obligation to worry
  about representing our community well as blind people; I simply 
believe
  that we do have such an obligation and that most responsible and 
mature
  blind people know and accept this fact as true and inevitable. We all
  succeed or fail in this obligation from time-to-time depending on our
  mood, day, and a variety of factors, but most people that I respect
  understand that being a good ambassador for blindness is important for
  the promotion of a positive image for themselves and others in our
  community.

  Being one who has limited spacial orientation, I thought I'd write to
  generally concur with your view. As I emphasized at the first, though,
  I'd stick to your general reluctance to give up too quickly on 
teaching
  spacial orientation skills or other hard subjects. Accepting that
  somebody simply has a deficit that absolutely cannot be overcome 
without
  considerable effort to teach it or investigate what the problem is may
  lead you down the road of resignation, low expectations, or less than
  optimal alternatives before it is necessary to take such a path.

  With Kind Regards,


  *******************
  Daniel B. Frye, JD.
  Manager of Affiliate Action--Advocacy and Training
  National Federation of the Blind
  Department of Affiliate Action
  1800 Johnson Street
  Baltimore, Maryland 21230
  Telephone: (410) 659-9314 Ext. 2208
  Cell: (410) 241-7006
  Fax: (410) 659-6893
  Email: dfrye at nfb.org
  Website Address: www.nfb.org
  "Voice of the Nation's Blind"

  -----Original Message-----
  From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
  On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
  Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:05 AM
  To: nfbw
  Subject: [nfbwatlk] tell me your thoughts, please.

  Following is an article published in both the WCB Newsline and the
  Braille Forum.  I post it here to ask for reactions...positive or
  negative...but honest.
  Thanks.
  Carl
  *****

  LOST IN SPACE

  by Carl Jarvis

              Have you ever wondered how it is that one blind person can
  be dropped off in the middle of a strange city and find his way home,
  while another blind person can't find his way out of a broom closet if
  he has both hands on the doorknob?  For more than 32 years I have been
  working with blind people of all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities.
  During those years I have compiled a pile of mostly unscientific,
  useless information. But one most puzzling question keeps recurring. 
Why
  is it that some blind people get lost in their own shoes, while others
  seem to have a built-in sonar system?

              It appears to have nothing to do with when they became
  blind, their age or education or whether they are left-brain,
  right-brain or no-brain. So, for many years I concluded that it was a
  matter of developing the correct teaching technique.  My early
  indoctrination was straightforward. The average blind person, with
  proper training and attitudes, could do just about anything.

              So, when I applied my magic to my students and nothing
  happened, I considered that it was my failure, not theirs. I just had
  not found the right combination of teaching tools to successfully
  complete the training.  Remember the old saying, "A doctor buries
  his/her mistakes"?  Not so for the rehab teacher. Our 
mistakes/failures
  keep bumping into us at meetings, conventions, and knocking at our 
doors
  requesting more training.  Since many of us rehab teachers are 
rescuers
  by nature, we roll up our sleeves and try, try again, invariably 
ending
  up with the same results.  People were coming to us, lost in space and
  seeking help. And our inability to resolve this problem began to 
impact
  all phases of their rehabilitation training.  Instead of aiming them
  toward success, we were pointing them to the door marked, 
"Destination:
  Failure."

              Over the years I was absolutely certain that somewhere,
  somehow, there existed the right approach for teaching spatial 
awareness
  to blind people.  My wife, and fellow rehab teacher, had never shared 
my
  belief. Despite discussing and debating this issue many times, my mind
  was made up. I simply could not accept that there are some skills that
  cannot be taught.  Finally the light clicked on when Cathy, trying to
  illustrate her point, said, "You know, Carl, you have no sense of
  rhythm. And despite all these years of trying, you still can't follow
  the beat. You sing just fine but you're totally lost in the song, 
which
  is better, and safer, than turning you loose on the dance floor." 
This
  brought to mind my mother. She was tone-deaf. We always said that 
Mother
  sang the tune the old cow died on. She had about three notes, and yet
  she loved music. And I loved music, too. How was it that Mother and I
  could be serious music lovers but not be able to hum or dance to the
  tune?

              Of course the answer is that humming and dancing are not
  central to music appreciation. And then it hit me: I was focused on 
the
  wrong goal. Regardless of whether it could be taught, spatial 
awareness
  is not central to leading a successful, independent life. Not only was 
I
  busy trying to teach people to develop a skill which they did not
  possess, but worse yet, I was implying that without this skill they
  could not be successful, independent people.  Just because a kangaroo
  can hop doesn't mean I can teach him to fly. Nor does he need to fly 
to
  reach his goal.  And just because a blind person can get from point A 
to
  point B does not mean that I can teach him spatial awareness. Some of
  our brains are simply not set up to work that way.

              This was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. 
Over
  the years I watched many blind people travel about and arrive at their
  destination. Some did it with ease, while others did it by trial and
  error. I figured that the trial and error folks just needed to 
practice
  harder and pay closer attention to what they were doing. It never
  occurred to me that just getting there was a major success for the
  spatially challenged.  The truth is I had no clue as to what these 
folks
  were struggling with. Think of trying to teach a blind man to see. We
  could put him through the same drills that we use for all sighted 
folks.
  Over and over we could force him to peer and strain, finally giving up
  in frustration. We might feel that we had not pushed him hard enough. 
He
  would be left with the feeling that he was incompetent.  In the end, 
we
  had programmed him for a life of failure.

              But of course we know that a blind man cannot be taught to
  see. Even if his eyes move, and he blinks and sheds tears, he is 
missing
  something that cannot be taught. This absence must be accommodated if 
he
  is to function independently in life.  This is exactly the same course
  of action needed for the spatially challenged. Trying to teach them
  techniques that work for the spatially aware will only frustrate them.
  What is needed is a set of alternative techniques that will assist 
them
  in accommodating their different approach to space.

              Whether we are blind or sighted, I believe that there are
  great differences in how our brains process spatial information.
  Sighted people accommodate this difference, unaware that it even 
exists.
  But without sight, this difference becomes a major problem for the
  spatially challenged. It is essential that we develop positive
  alternative techniques which will enable people to function 
successfully
  in their environment, allowing them to fulfill their goals to live
  productive, independent lives.



  *****
  _______________________________________________
  nfbwatlk mailing list
  nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
  http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
-------------- next part --------------
Dan:
 
I suspect that in our zeal to correct the bias toward lowered expectations among O&M professionals, we have at times tended to almost overemphasize full-on structured discovery and attempted to impart spatial awareness even when the blind subjects of our ministrations were incapable of it; we have too often seen the detrimental results of lowered expectations. On the other hand, O&M professionals have too often gone the other way, assuming that simply by virtue of their blindness, blind persons as a class are incapable of spatial awareness and reasoning out problems while traveling.
 
Both extremes are, of course, not in accord with reality. Life is seldom that clear-cut. the trick is to recognize this truth and to apply it in particular instances while giving those whom we are attempting to help the chance to prove our expectations wrong.
 
Mike Freeman
 
----- Original Message -----
From:
mailto:DFrye at nfb.org Frye, Dan
To:
mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Sent:
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:23 AM
Subject:
Re: [nfbwatlk] tell me your thoughts, please.
Carl:
I tend to agree with your ultimate but reluctantly accepted conclusion
that some blind people, like everybody in general, may have fundamental
deficits with direction, spacial orientation, or something else
entirely. It is comforting, however, to know that you have come to this
conclusion reluctantly because it suggests that you acknowledge that
teaching a tough subject can be challenging and that you are loath to
set low expectations for your students when they are faced with
something difficult to master. I'd urge you to continue working on this
assumption as you teach, not foreclosing the possibility that some
students may simply be slower than others to grasp a skill set or may
simply be late bloomers.
Once you have exhausted reasonable efforts to teach spacial orientation
techniques (a skill set that does serve to enhance independence and
personal efficiency for blind people in particular if they have it), the
next step, it seems to me, is to identify what teachable compensating
techniques may exist that you can share with such a student. Perhaps
simple route training from destination-to-destination would be helpful.
This technique is not ideal, of course, for cultivating personal
flexibility, but might nevertheless enable somebody to support
themselves through employment. Perhaps developing a network of friends
and acquaintances to help the student when they become disoriented may
be another. I certainly can't begin to generate a complete list of
alternatives to not having good spacial orientation, but identifying and
teaching these compensatory skills seems the only thing to do where one
is unable to master a skill that most accept as being an important
ability for independent blind people to possess.
I do not think that a weakness or deficit in an area of particular value
for general independence necessarily will render a person unable to live
an independent life; I do think, though, that it will make it more
difficult for somebody to be as independent as others who have such a
skill. But independence levels and used alternative techniques vary for
everybody, even among the most independent of us. While the analogy is
not exactly comparable, it can be fairly said that one with Dyslexia
would be able to achieve greater independence and learning with more
ease if they could read, but being absolutely unable to overcome this
deficit, use of other generated compensatory techniques will allow them
to function with some significant degree of independence.
Mostly, I think the blind community can be incredibly judgmental of one
another, and I believe that we should all work harder to recognize the
individual efforts that most of us take to represent ourselves and our
community in the best light that we can, given our individual skill sets
and access to blindness training. I am not interested in debating the
incidental question of whether or not we have an obligation to worry
about representing our community well as blind people; I simply believe
that we do have such an obligation and that most responsible and mature
blind people know and accept this fact as true and inevitable. We all
succeed or fail in this obligation from time-to-time depending on our
mood, day, and a variety of factors, but most people that I respect
understand that being a good ambassador for blindness is important for
the promotion of a positive image for themselves and others in our
community.
Being one who has limited spacial orientation, I thought I'd write to
generally concur with your view. As I emphasized at the first, though,
I'd stick to your general reluctance to give up too quickly on teaching
spacial orientation skills or other hard subjects. Accepting that
somebody simply has a deficit that absolutely cannot be overcome without
considerable effort to teach it or investigate what the problem is may
lead you down the road of resignation, low expectations, or less than
optimal alternatives before it is necessary to take such a path.
With Kind Regards,
*******************
Daniel B. Frye, JD.
Manager of Affiliate Action--Advocacy and Training
National Federation of the Blind
Department of Affiliate Action
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Telephone: (410) 659-9314 Ext. 2208
Cell: (410) 241-7006
Fax: (410) 659-6893
Email: mailto:dfrye at nfb.org dfrye at nfb.org
Website Address: http://www.nfb.org www.nfb.org
"Voice of the Nation's Blind" 
-----Original Message-----
From: mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:05 AM
To: nfbw
Subject: [nfbwatlk] tell me your thoughts, please.
Following is an article published in both the WCB Newsline and the
Braille Forum.  I post it here to ask for reactions...positive or
negative...but honest. 
Thanks. 
Carl
*****
LOST IN SPACE
by Carl Jarvis
            Have you ever wondered how it is that one blind person can
be dropped off in the middle of a strange city and find his way home,
while another blind person can't find his way out of a broom closet if
he has both hands on the doorknob?  For more than 32 years I have been
working with blind people of all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities.
During those years I have compiled a pile of mostly unscientific,
useless information. But one most puzzling question keeps recurring. Why
is it that some blind people get lost in their own shoes, while others
seem to have a built-in sonar system?
            It appears to have nothing to do with when they became
blind, their age or education or whether they are left-brain,
right-brain or no-brain. So, for many years I concluded that it was a
matter of developing the correct teaching technique.  My early
indoctrination was straightforward. The average blind person, with
proper training and attitudes, could do just about anything.
            So, when I applied my magic to my students and nothing
happened, I considered that it was my failure, not theirs. I just had
not found the right combination of teaching tools to successfully
complete the training.  Remember the old saying, "A doctor buries
his/her mistakes"?  Not so for the rehab teacher. Our mistakes/failures
keep bumping into us at meetings, conventions, and knocking at our doors
requesting more training.  Since many of us rehab teachers are rescuers
by nature, we roll up our sleeves and try, try again, invariably ending
up with the same results.  People were coming to us, lost in space and
seeking help. And our inability to resolve this problem began to impact
all phases of their rehabilitation training.  Instead of aiming them
toward success, we were pointing them to the door marked, "Destination:
Failure."
            Over the years I was absolutely certain that somewhere,
somehow, there existed the right approach for teaching spatial awareness
to blind people.  My wife, and fellow rehab teacher, had never shared my
belief. Despite discussing and debating this issue many times, my mind
was made up. I simply could not accept that there are some skills that
cannot be taught.  Finally the light clicked on when Cathy, trying to
illustrate her point, said, "You know, Carl, you have no sense of
rhythm. And despite all these years of trying, you still can't follow
the beat. You sing just fine but you're totally lost in the song, which
is better, and safer, than turning you loose on the dance floor."  This
brought to mind my mother. She was tone-deaf. We always said that Mother
sang the tune the old cow died on. She had about three notes, and yet
she loved music. And I loved music, too. How was it that Mother and I
could be serious music lovers but not be able to hum or dance to the
tune?
            Of course the answer is that humming and dancing are not
central to music appreciation. And then it hit me: I was focused on the
wrong goal. Regardless of whether it could be taught, spatial awareness
is not central to leading a successful, independent life. Not only was I
busy trying to teach people to develop a skill which they did not
possess, but worse yet, I was implying that without this skill they
could not be successful, independent people.  Just because a kangaroo
can hop doesn't mean I can teach him to fly. Nor does he need to fly to
reach his goal.  And just because a blind person can get from point A to
point B does not mean that I can teach him spatial awareness. Some of
our brains are simply not set up to work that way. 
            This was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. Over
the years I watched many blind people travel about and arrive at their
destination. Some did it with ease, while others did it by trial and
error. I figured that the trial and error folks just needed to practice
harder and pay closer attention to what they were doing. It never
occurred to me that just getting there was a major success for the
spatially challenged.  The truth is I had no clue as to what these folks
were struggling with. Think of trying to teach a blind man to see. We
could put him through the same drills that we use for all sighted folks.
Over and over we could force him to peer and strain, finally giving up
in frustration. We might feel that we had not pushed him hard enough. He
would be left with the feeling that he was incompetent.  In the end, we
had programmed him for a life of failure.
            But of course we know that a blind man cannot be taught to
see. Even if his eyes move, and he blinks and sheds tears, he is missing
something that cannot be taught. This absence must be accommodated if he
is to function independently in life.  This is exactly the same course
of action needed for the spatially challenged. Trying to teach them
techniques that work for the spatially aware will only frustrate them.
What is needed is a set of alternative techniques that will assist them
in accommodating their different approach to space.
            Whether we are blind or sighted, I believe that there are
great differences in how our brains process spatial information.
Sighted people accommodate this difference, unaware that it even exists.
But without sight, this difference becomes a major problem for the
spatially challenged. It is essential that we develop positive
alternative techniques which will enable people to function successfully
in their environment, allowing them to fulfill their goals to live
productive, independent lives.
 
*****
_______________________________________________
nfbwatlk mailing list
mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk