The Blind Canadian, Volume 10, September 2015


The Blind Canadian is the flagship publication of the Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB). It covers events and activities of the CFB, addresses issues we face as blind people, and highlights our members. The Blind Canadian:

  • Offers a positive philosophy about blindness to both blind readers and the public at large
  • Serves as a vehicle for advocacy and protection of human rights
  • Addresses social concerns affecting the blind
  • Discusses issues related to employment, education, legislation and rehabilitation
  • Provides news about products and technology used by the blind
  • Tells the stories of blind people
  • Archives historical documents

The Blind Canadian is published twice annually and comes in print and on CFB’s website at www.cfb.ca in both web and pdf versions.

EDITOR: Doris Belusic

Canadian Federation of the Blind
Mary Ellen Gabias, President
PO Box 8007
Victoria, BC, V8W 3R7
Phone: (250) 598-7154 Toll Free: 1-800-619-8789
Email: editor@cfb.ca or info@cfb.ca
Website: www.cfb.ca
Find us on Facebook
Twitter: @cfbdotca
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CFBdotCA


The Rough and Bumpy Road to Transit Accessibility

for the Blind in B.C.

By Doris Belusic (April 2015)

West coast weather — wet and windy,

drizzly, damp, dark and dreary —

Windshield wipers stroke and moan

as the bus wheels shoosh through puddles.

I sit in the first seat, grip my white cane,

hold my wet umbrella off my leg.

I reminisce
class today

about my

and hope the driver remembers my stop.

I ride the transit bus home on a rainy February evening after my University of Victoria

writing class. I anxiously grip my white cane and keep my mind focused on my

destination, because bus drivers all too often forget to call out a blind person’s

requested stop. Often I’ll stand near the driver for the entire trip, or at least sit close by,

so I can communicate with him and know where the bus is travelling. This diligence

helps, but even so, I don’t always manage to notice my stop.

***

On a snowy late afternoon in January this year, my friend, Dr. Paul Gabias, a blind

psychology professor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna, was

riding the bus home after work. He asked the driver to call out his stop, the one at the

post office before the bus turns right onto the highway. The driver assured him he

would.

“I can tell you from many experiences that a blind person can’t rely on that promise,”

said Gabias, recounting his trip. “Then, sure enough, we turned the corner and then I

knew that we had passed my stop. I yanked on the cord to ring the bell and he stopped

the bus right there and said, ‘Oh! I’m sorry!’”

The sidewalks were full of snow. Gabias uses a long white cane. He had arranged to

meet his son with their car at the specific bus stop. Pieces don’t always fall so nicely

into place, but that day they did. “Luckily, I had my cell phone and so did my son, and

we were able to communicate through my wife because I didn’t remember his number,”

said Gabias.

But, what if he did not have his cell phone? What if his wife had not been at home?

What if his son did not have his cell phone? It may be simple forgetfulness on a bus




driver’s part, but it’s not usually simple for a blind person who is let off at the wrong

place.

Drivers missing requested stops
commonplace and has been a source of

are

frustration for blind transit riders for decades. “Every blind person I’ve ever known can

tell stories about how they missed an important appointment, took hours longer than

planned to get to their destination. For years, blind people have ‘owned’ the

consequences of driver forgetfulness. More precisely, we’ve ‘owned’ the consequences

of being denied basic information readily available to sighted people looking out the

bus window,” says Mary Ellen Gabias, president of the Canadian Federation of the

Blind (CFB), a Victoria-based blindness advocacy organization.

This problem was supposed to end with the latest implementation of B.C. Transit’s

‘calling out all stops’ policy. In 2014, CFB took B.C. Transit to the B.C. Human Rights

Tribunal as a last ditch measure to have the public transit system be made accessible

to its blind riders too. Through the tribunal, CFB received a mediated settlement that

came into effect September 2014. As of Novenber 2014 in Victoria, and as of April 1,

2015 in Kelowna, bus drivers are required to call out all stops along a route.

CFB has been pushing accessibility with B.C. Transit since 2000, and so have blind

individuals before then. The CFB/ B.C. Transit management merry-go-round has been

going up and down and around for 15 years with correspondence, meetings, and two

cases filed before the human rights tribunal. Interestingly, some years ago, CFB

received a letter from B.C. Transit management agreeing that the inaccessibility

problems are “known at B.C. Transit” and are “recurring”. Back in May 2012, B.C.

Transit spokesperson, Meribeth Burton, publicly announced that drivers will call out

stops. This did not happen, even after a six-month driver training prgram. To date, blind

transit riders are no further ahead. It’s time to stop the merry-go-round and get off.

We’re getting queasy.

Ideally, what CFB wants, is not for drivers to verbally call out all stops, but for Transit to

install GPS systems on buses that automatically speak stops. This is known as

automated annunciation and it is used in many places in North America and worldwide.

Ontario, and many places in Alberta and B.C., including Vancouver, have this system.

If you’ve ever been on Sky Train in Vancouver or the C-trains in Calgary, you know how

valuable automated annunciation is for riders. You hear your stop called in plenty of

time, and every time. Even water taxis in Venice, Italy, use this technology.

In 2008, CFB received a letter from B.C. Transit stating that automated annunciation

would be implemented within five years, but this didn’t happen either. All along, B.C.

Transit management has been unwilling to install automated annunciation systems,

they say, due to cost. Instead, their drivers are required to do the job. But, most drivers

are resisting. They say it’s asking too much of them, that it’s distracting and unsafe,

even though WorkSafe B.C. investigations “show it’s not an undue hazard,” according

to a
article on April 2, 2015. Their union supports its drivers not

Victoria Times Colonist




to call out all stops and is pushing for automated annunciation. Ben Williams, union

leader of Unifor 333, said publicly that B.C. Transit has $10-million for such projects.

B.C. Transit has reprimanded some of its drivers for not calling out all stops.

B.C. Transit management has chosen to take the confrontational path with the union

and the blind. Ultimately, it’s management that needs to decide to install the automated

annunciation systems; then both drivers and the blind will be happy. Even so, on

occasion when the system is down, bus drivers will need to fill in the gaps. Everyone

s

involved knows an automated system is the answer. And, we also know there are now

inexpensive solutions, since some annunciation systems involve using advertisement

on the buses, instead of a high price tag up front.

“Given the current state of GPS technology, surely B.C. Transit can implement a low-

cost automated call-out system that not only relieves the drivers of the task but also

meets the needs of visually-impaired passengers,” states a letter to the Victoria Times

Colonist on January 16, 2015. “Both the drivers and the blind transit users are on the

same side of this issue and have requested an automated system. They should not be

pitted against each other by an ill-conceived and shortsighted management decision.”

Buses have been made accessible in many ways already. We have respected

wheelchair users and bought buses with ramps and wheelchair space. We have

respected the disabled and seniors using walkers and carts, and mothers with strollers

and bought kneeling buses. We’ve respected cyclists and attached bike racks to bus

fronts. Blind riders are still left behind, even though transit is the primary means of

transportation for most blind people.

People often still suggest, “Why don’t you just ask the driver to call your stop?” The

simple answer is that drivers forget. And, even when blind riders are let off at a wrong

stop, they often don’t like to complain because the driver was nice or was helpful. But

as Brent McBride, a blind Victoria transit user says, “Good intentions and helpful

attitudes are nice, warm and fuzzy but do me no good when I am being let off at the

wrong side of a highway and I have no idea where the next safe crosswalk is.”

CFB has filed with B.C. Transit results of three driver compliance surveys. The results

aren’t great. In November
December 2014, drivers who called out stops were 20

and

percent out of a total of 55 reported rides; and in January 2015, those who did were 10

percent out of 40 reported rides. If you take January’s statistic as an example, it means

only four drivers called out stops out of 40 reported rides, which is dismal service.

Mary Ellen Gabias says, “We’ve demonstrated that the ‘please call out my stop’

method isn’t reliable. Are we just supposed to suck it up and hope the next driver

remembers? If requesting drivers to let us off where we want and reminding them

periodically had worked, the CFB would never have filed a human rights complaint in

the first place.”




Imagine riding in a windowless bus. Sometimes, if you know a route well enough, you

might be able to guess the location of the bus by the twists and turns and inclines and

declines of the roads. But, that’s a guessing game. “Do you think (sighted) passengers

would be willing to ride (in a windowless bus) without some reliable system for knowing

where the bus was travelling?” asks Mary Ellen Gabias. “I don’t. An automated system

would have been installed before a windowless bus ever made it to the streets. When

the automated system broke down, you can bet that all drivers would call out stops

without hesitation. There would be no talk about how calling stops is unsafe and

distracting.”

You’d think common sense would say, yes, automated annunciation is the way to make

transit as accessible as possible for all transit users, even tourists. But, common sense

sometimes seems to come with a fight. Although many communities in B.C., Alberta,

Ontario and elsewhere have automated annunciation, it hasn’t always come easy for

them either.

It took a blind lawyer, David Lepofsky, 12 years to win accessible bus transit with

Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 2007. TTC was just as happy to spend hundreds

of thousands of dollars in two court appeal cases to get off the hook for calling out all

stops, rather than make its transit fleet accessible to the blind. Lepofsky, in a 2007

Toronto Star article said, “I hope, given our city’s budget problems, the TTC won’t

spend any more of the taxpayers’ dollars fighting this or appealing, and that they put

their effort instead into properly serving TTC patrons with disabilities like mine.”

His article continues to say that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal heard that drivers

are already required to call all stops when their buses are extremely crowded or bad

weather makes it difficult for everyone to see out the windows. “By giving these

instructions it is clear that the TTC is prepared to accommodate sighted people who

have ‘some’ difficulties but not blind people with ‘severe’ difficulties.”

In the end, Lepofsky won and now rides the full Toronto transit system, including

subway and buses, without constant worry of missing stops. Blind transit riders are

advocating for this in Victoria and Kelowna. Accessibility is a human right. We all want

independence.

There’s a sidebar to this accessibility issue: some blind people are now saying that

although automated annunciation systems are installed in their community, the drivers

sometimes turn them off. Maria Kovacs, a blind transit user in Maple Ridge, B.C. says,,

“All our buses are equipped to announce the stops. Bus drivers ‘never’ have them on.

Also at times the volume is so low, one cannot hear what the stop is. I do confront the

,

drivers who do not have the system on, and the reply is, ‘the others riding the bus do

not want it on’. Then I proceed to tell them I want the system on at level six, which is

the level I was advised by Translink. This has been going on for the past two years.”

Mary Ellen Gabias responds, “Why do drivers have the capacity to turn the system off?

It shouldn’t be possible for them to do so. How many of these complainers would be

willing to ride blindfolded? If we were asking to be put at a greater advantage than others, I could understand the push back. When all we’re requesting is clear

information presented respectfully, some individuals feel we’re acting unduly

demanding. How dare they!”

Even in the ‘old days’ drivers called out stops in some form.
on May 6,

,

Victoria News

2012 noted, “There hasn’t been a policy in place to call out major stops on transit

routes in Greater Victoria since electric streetcars trundled through Victoria, Esquimalt

and Oak Bay, from the early 1890s to 1948.”

***

According to the April 2, 2015
article

Victoria Times Colonist

, the latest news is that

B.C. Transit has posted an invitation for vendors to provide quotes on automated voice

technology. B.C. Transit, the article
, is “now in favour of a technological solution”

states

and is taking bids until May 5 . They will then determine “if there is a suitable

th

technology, at a reasonable cost.” In the article, Ben Williams of Unifor 333, said it

seems like a positive step. But, he questions why B.C. Transit does not simply use the

technology proven elsewhere, including Vancouver. And, he points out that the

invitation to vendors is not a commitment to fund an automated system.

As a blind transit rider who has seen failed Transit promises, I am hopeful with this

latest news, but I will believe it and rejoice when it happens.

It’s challenging to be dispassionate about an issue you have fought over for 15 long

years – while receiving the same shallow responses that come from the ever-changing

faces of the ‘current’ transit staff. It’s challenging to be dispassionate when your human

rights are disrespected – when there are solutions available. And, it’s challenging to be

dispassionate when you’re on the bus — passing by your stop.

Editor’s Note:

Given this publication documents historical

happenings over a six-month period or more, make

sure to read all of the articles in the issue on a given

topic for a full understanding of the current status.

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Automated Transit Call-Out Stops Needed

Letter to the Editor, Victoria Times Colonist, January 16, 2015, reprinted

Re: “Stops not called, drivers disciplined”Jan 11, 2015

By Daryl Jones

Following a human rights complaint by the Canadian Federation of the Blind, BC

Transit agreed to provide a “call-out” system for visually impaired transit users.

However, rather than implement an automated system, Transit’s management issued a

directive that its drivers should manually call out all of the bus stops.

This is an ill-conceived and failed policy response to a legitimate accommodation

request from the blind community.

First, management’s directive has upset many drivers, as they believe that calling out

stops is an unnecessary distraction and could result in more accidents.

Second, it has led to additional labour problems at BC Transit as the union is

challenging the legitimacy of the directive and will grieve disciplinary actions taken

against drivers who fail to comply with it.

Third, it has failed to meet BC Transit’s commitment to provide a reliable call-out

system for visually impaired users. What is even worse is that it has put the blind in the

unenviable position of having to police the system and report non-compliance.

Given the current state of GPS technology, surely BC Transit can implement a low cost

automated call-out system that not only relieves the drivers of the task but also meets

the needs of visually impaired passengers.

Both the drivers and the blind transit users are on the same side of this issue and have

requested an automated system. They should not be pitted against each other by an ill-

conceived and shortsighted management decision.

Back to top




Photo of Mary Ellen Gabias
Mary Ellen Gabias, CFB President

Little Has Changed For Blind Transit Users

Op-ed, Victoria Times Colonist, January 25, 2015, reprinted

By Mary Ellen Gabias

Recently, there has been a number of letters to the editor

about bus drivers not calling out the stops. Numerous

commentators expressed the opinion that this was a trivial

issue and visually-impaired riders should simply ask the bus

driver to let them off at their desired stop.

The blind have been using the “ask the driver” approach for

decades. While most drivers are good at remembering such

requests, a good number of them are not. Even when drivers have good intentions,

blind passengers cannot count on them to have good memories. All the blind transit

users I have ever met have had the unfortunate experience of having to backtrack after

the bus driver forgot to let them off at their requested stop.

For blind persons who have a personal GPS device and good cane skills, missing their

stop might only be an annoying inconvenience. However, for many others, being

dropped off unexpectedly in unfamiliar surroundings can pose a significant concern.

The uncertainty and risk of the “ask the driver” approach means that many visually-

impaired people do not see public transit as a viable transportation option. They are

forced to rely on restrictive HandyDART service or costly taxis. Every HandyDART trip

costs the public many times more than the same trip taken on regular public transit.

Another problem with the “ask the driver” approach is that it eliminates options and

opportunities for the blind who have been driven off the buses because they cannot

count on receiving reliable information. For example, a sighted transit user can accept

a job that entails on-call work or can decide at the last minute to participate in a

community activity across town. These opportunities do not exist for disabled people

who rely on HandyDART.

When there are three buses at a multi-bus stop, sighted transit riders can easily

determine which is the one they want to take. At any time, sighted transit riders can

look out the window and determine where the bus is and the distance to their

destination. They decide when it’s time to ring the bell and exit the bus.

An automated call-out system gives visually-impaired transit users similar options,

controls and independence. Numbers are announced outside of the bus, so blind

transit riders do not need to ask for help to find the bus they want to take. An

automated call-out means that they can determine where they are along the route and

they don’t need to ask the bus driver to remember their stop.

They also can have a much less anxiety-producing trip because they are in control and

don’t need to worry that the driver might forget.




Automated systems are being used in cities and towns throughout the world and low-

cost options are available to B.C. Transit. In fact, some systems will pay for themselves

through increased advertising revenue.

For more than 20 years, we have lobbied B.C. Transit to implement an automated call-

out system to make public transit more accessible for the blind, but the corporation has

deemed this to be a low priority. Blind transit users in Ottawa filed a human-rights

complaint and the Ontario Transit Authority was directed to accommodate their needs

by providing a call-out system.

Bolstered by the Ontario decision, the Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB) filed a

similar human-rights complaint against B.C. Transit. In response, B.C. Transit agreed

to provide a call-out system in Victoria. Unfortunately, rather than follow Ontario’s lead

and implement an automated system, B.C. Transit chose to direct its drivers to start

calling out all of the stops.

Transit’s directive upset many drivers who agree with CFB that blind passengers have

an undeniable right to information, but believe it is the responsibility of B.C. Transit to

provide an automated system, because that is the most consistent and reliable means

of solving the problem. Transit and the union are wrangling while blind passengers

continue to be poorly served.

The new requirements for drivers have been in place since last April (2014), but little

has changed for the blind. An informal survey last December (2014) by CFB members

found that about 80 per cent of drivers did not call out the stops, even when they knew

there was a visually-impaired passenger on the bus.

The blind are not the only group who will benefit from an automated call-out system.

Visitors, infrequent transit users and thousands of seniors with compromised vision will

also find it easier to navigate the local bus system if the stops are announced.

Back to top




Transit Resolution Seems to be on Track

Excerpt from a CFB listserv email, July 6, 2015, by Frederick Driver

From the editor: What Rick says is right on. B.C. Transit accepted bids up until May 5,

2015 from suppliers of automated annunciation systems. Transit says they’ll choose

and trial a system over this summer in Victoria, B.C. for implementation on buses this

fall.
see. If all goes as it should, a celebration is soon in big order.

We’ll

The whole thing has been a long and bumpy road.

So the conclusion and resolution are bound to be bumpy too.

But let’s remember, the main thing is, the resolution looks now to be on track and

inevitable. There WILL be automated stop calling on B.C. buses. Soon!

That is a huge achievement for the rights and equality of blind citizens. All thanks to the

Canadian Federation of the Blind, and the years-long efforts and steadfast dedication

of members like Oriano Belusic, Graeme McCreath, our president, Mary Ellen Gabias,

and others.

Thanks and congratulations on a job well done.

Back to top




B.C. Transit Will Trial New Call-Out System on Buses

Helping Riders Locate Streets and Stops

By Doris Belusic

Editor’s Note: This is the most recent B.C. Transit development at the time of this

publication.

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.”

~ Earl Nightingale

On Friday, July 17, 2015, Victoria members of the Canadian Federation of the Blind

(CFB), a grass-roots advocacy organization of blind people, along with B.C. Transit

personnel, rode around town on a bus equipped with the latest GPS Trekker Breeze. It

is being trialled by B.C. Transit as an automated annunciation system. It will call out

streets travelled, all cross streets and be modified to call out points of interest, such as

Craigdarroch Castle or Mayfair and Hillside Malls. In August, B.C. Transit plans to install it on 25 Victoria buses. If the trial period is successful, it will be rolled out onto

the rest of Victoria’s fleet in September; then later in B.C.’s smaller communities.

After more than 15 persistent years of advocacy by CFB members, including a recent

human rights tribunal, to get an automated annunciation system onto buses, this is a

major accomplishment. Blind transit riders, tourists, seniors and others will now be able

to know where the bus is along a route and when to exit independently. No more

relying on drivers’ memories and missing stops.

B.C. Transit sought bids until May 5 from companies for automated annunciation

systems. According to David Guthrie, B.C. Transit
,

’s General Manager of Operations

the bids were either too expensive or not in trial-ready working order. B.C. Transit

decided to retry CFB’s original suggestion of several years ago. They teamed up with

Humanware, a Canadian company which makes Trekker Breeze, originally a

blindness-specific GPS system. Today, the updated Trekker Breeze is much advanced

and there are now 12 tracking satellites, so the system appears to work very well, even

between taller buildings. Guthrie says this lower cost, simpler, more informative system

is the first of its kind on buses anywhere.

“It could be revolutionary,” says Oriano Belusic, CFB’s first vice president. “This system

is B.C. Transit’s answer to provide blind people with necessary information so they can

use public transit independently until such time they install the much more complex

and costly smart bus AVL technology.”

The Trekker Breeze will be hardwired to the PA system, which includes at least six

speakers from front to back inside each bus. Guthrie says the Trekker Breeze will be

encased in plastic and will automatically turn on when the bus is started. The driver

needs little or no training and only has to adjust volume. Call-outs should easily be able

to be heard (they must be heard) over ambient noise of air conditioners and people’s

voices.

“There will undoubtedly be wrinkles to iron out,” says Mary Ellen Gabias, CFB

president. “One thing is completely clear to everyone: Blind people have a right to

information. We are no longer relegated to the fringes of transit planning.”

“Members of the Canadian Federation of the Blind are very pleased that B.C. Transit is

taking concrete steps to equip our buses with automated GPS stop annunciation

devices,” says Belusic. “Five of us had an opportunity to test drive a demonstration bus

that worked very well and with some fine tuning the new system will definitely make

public transit more accessible for blind riders and many others.”

CFB will certainly keep a check on progress, but if the system works well in day-to-day

general transit use, as it appears it should, CFB would like to commend B.C. Transit for

stepping up to the plate and doing the right thing. Soon blind and visually impaired

people will also be able to travel with dignity and confidence.

Back to top




Photo of Nancy Gill
Nancy GIll
Credit: Rattan Mall

Visually Impaired Nancy Gill Organizes Fundraiser for Program That

Would Help Her Be Employed Once Again

By Rattan Mall

The Indo.Canadian Voice, voiceonline.com, April 17, 2015

Excerpt reprinted with permission

From the editor: CFB has been working hard to publicize the

need for government funded and accountable blindness skills

training for blind British Columbians. Presently, there is no

adequate training for blind adults who want it. Nancy Gill asked;

the government told her “no”. Here’s what she’s been doing to

help herself. Perhaps
who read the following article will

some

be outraged that a woman has to beg in the newspaper for

funds that should be available to any blind person who needs

them.

We all hope Nancy succeeds in raising funds to go to the

Louisiana Center for the Blind, one of three world-renowned

blindness skills intensive training centres in the U.S. We’re all

determined that other blind individuals will not have to go

through this process.

Nancy Gill is vivacious and positive with a great sense of humour.

And the Burnaby resident is determined not to let anything in life get her down.

But she needs your help.

That’s because Nancy is legally blind due to a condition known as Usher`s Syndrome

that causes gradual, but inevitable, loss of eyesight which frequently results in near

total blindness. In addition, the condition includes hearing loss. And the multiple effect

of dual sensory loss can be devastating.

“Even so, there are people with the same medical problem as myself working, raising

families, and contributing to our communities due to specialized training at the

Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB),” says Nancy.

Nancy actually had to give up her job at a grocery store because of her worsening

eyesight.

The Louisiana Center for the Blind is one of three premier programs in the world

operated in conjunction with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in the United

States. Louisiana Center graduates have gone on to excel in a wide variety of

professions. Between 60 and 85 per cent of LCB graduates go on to find competitive

employment.




“Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB) has evaluated me and they firmly believe that

the Louisiana Center for the Blind program offers me significant potential for retaining

my independence. Unfortunately, the training is not available in Canada and is not

funded by government,” says Nancy.

For this reason, Nancy hopes to raise the $40,000 needed to access this program. The

amount includes costs for tuition and personal living expenses.

At the end of the intensive nine-month training program, she would have been trained

in Braille, independent travel with the long white cane, home management, industrial

arts and home repair.

“Most importantly, by the end of the training, I expect to be fully equipped to go on to

various kinds of further education and / or job training or to seek employment,” says

Nancy.

(Nancy held a fundraiser April 25th at Village Pub in Vancouver, B.C., with a live band,

door prizes and a silent auction.)

“I am asking for donations…to help me raise the money I need to learn how to be blind

successfully. Any assistance you can provide will greatly enhance my opportunity for

independent living, productive participation in my community and an opportunity for a

quality of life,” says Nancy.

If you require additional information, feel free to contact Nancy at (604) 431-5095 or by

email at burnabyblindconnections@gmail.com.

You can donate to “Nancy Gill Blind Event” account 00320-5192356 at Royal Bank.

Or you can go to http://dm2.gofund.me/Blind-Nancy-Gill

The full article can be read at:

http://www.voiceonline.com/visually-impaired-nancy-gill-organizes-fundraiser-for-

program-that-would-help-her-be-employed-once-again/

Back to top




***

More information on intensive blindness skills rehab training may be

read in previous issues of The Blind Canadian

(also found at
under publications):

www.cfb.ca

July 2014 issue:

-Blind Woman Fights for a Chance at an Independent Life

-In Canada: The Blind Left Behind

-Blind Turned Away by B.C. MLAs

-National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Training Centers

-Ode to a Philanthropic Investor

October 2013 issue:

-An Absence of Intensive Blindness Skills Training and Rehabilitation for Blind People

in Canada

-A Blind Woman’s Letter to Government Requesting Intensive Blindness Skills

Rehabilitation Training

-Rehabilitation Re-Affirmation Resolution 2013-2

-The Official Position Statement of the CFB Concerning the Rehabilitation of Blind

Canadians

April 2013 issue:

-It’s Been Two Years Since Rally

-The Link Between Proper Blindness Skills Training and Opportunity

-British Columbians Demand Publicly Funded and Publicly Accountable Training at

Budget Consultation Hearing

July 2012 issue:

-The Sorry State of Blindness Training in Canada

-The Official CFB Position Statement Concerning the Rehabilitation of Blind Canadians

-Rally for Change and Choice

-My Journey at the Louisiana Center for the Blind

-My Experiences at the Colorado Center for the Blind

May 2008 issue:

-Being an Informed Rehabilitation Customer – Making Wise Choices

-What is Good Rehabilitation?

-NFB-Style Rehabilitation for the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in the U.S. has extensive information and

personal testimonials about intensive rehabilitation. Please visi
to learn

t www.nfb.org

more.

Thank you to our supporters.
Thank you to our supporters.

Back to top



National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Training Centers

Presently, intensive blindness skills rehabilitation training is only available at these

three centres:

BLIND, Incorporated (Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions,

Incorporated)

Shawn Mayo, Director

100 East 22nd Street South

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404

Phone: 612-872-0100

Toll-Free: 800-597-9558

Fax: 612-872-9358

E-mail: info@blindinc.org

Web site: http://www.blindinc.org

Colorado Center for the Blind

Julie Deden, Director

2233 West Shepperd Avenue

Littleton, Colorado 80120

Phone: 303-778-1130

Toll-Free: 800-401-4632

Fax: 303-778-1598

E-mail: jdeden@cocenter.org

Web site: http://www.cocenter.org/

Louisiana Center for the Blind

Pam Allen, Director

101 South Trenton Street

Ruston, Louisiana 71270

Phone: 318-251-2891

Toll-Free: 800-234-4166

E-mail: pallen@lcb-ruston.com

Web site: http://www.lcb-ruston.com

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Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB)

Members Elect New Executive Board 2015 – 16

The Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB) elected a new executive board at its

annual general meeting on June 27, 2015. All members of the executive are blind and

serve without compensation.

Thank you to Heidi Propp for her service in the position of Secretary for the past year.

And, a huge thank you to Dr. Paul Gabias for his many years of dedicated service on

the CFB executive board, the most recent position having been Second Vice President.

Members re-elected:

Oriano Belusic, First Vice President

Donna Hudon, Member at Large

Members elected:

Elizabeth Lalonde, Secretary

Members are grateful to Mary Ellen Gabias, President and Graeme McCreath,

Treasurer, for their continued hard work and service.

The position of Second Vice President at present is vacant.

Congratulations and thank you to the new executive board.

The Canadian Federation of the Blind is an organization of blind people committed to

the equality and empowerment of blind Canadians. Through advocacy, public

education and mentoring, members work for change, promote a positive perspective

on blindness and together gain confidence and skills.

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Congratulations are in Order

Some of our CFB members have

accomplished significant milestones

this year. Congratulations to you all.

Dr. Paul Gabias,
, a

PhD, LLD

psychology professor at the University

of British Columbia Okanagan was

honoured this April at a long service

dinner for his 25 years of dedicated

service to post-secondary education

at UBC Okanagan. Dr. Gabias is

CFB’s founder.

Dr. Paul Gabias (far right) at long service ceremony along with fellow honourees. Credit: UBC Okanagan
Dr. Paul Gabias (far right) at long service ceremony
along with fellow honourees.
Credit: UBC Okanagan
Oriano Belusic (left) receives Lions Clubs International Melvin Jones Fellowship Award from Lions District Governor Georgia Medwedrich. Credit: Don Jones
Oriano Belusic (left) receives Lions
Clubs International Melvin Jones
Fellowship Award from Lions
District Governor Georgia
Medwedrich.
Credit: Don Jones
Graeme McCreath (left) with running guide, Carlos Castillo, at TC10K. Credit: Sarah Tiffin, Saanich News, 2013
Graeme McCreath (left) with running guide, Carlos Castillo, at
TC10K.
Credit: Sarah Tiffin, Saanich News, 2013

Oriano Belusic, CFB’s first vice president, has

been a member of the Victoria Imperial Lions

Club for over 25 years and this February received

the Lions Clubs International Melvin Jones

Fellowship Award for his dedicated service.

Erin Lacharity, a participant in the Blind People in

Charge program at the Pacific Training Centre for

the Blind (PTCB) graduated from the program this

March.

Graeme McCreath, CFB’s treasurer, received his amateur

(ham) radio operator’s licence this April. His call sign is

V 7 AGM. Graeme, who is 68, also ran in the Victoria

A

Times Colonist TC10K run this April. He ran it in 56

minutes.

.

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Boston From My Perspective

by Gaston Bedard

From the Running Room e-magazine, July August 2015.

/

Reprinted with permission

From the editor: Gaston Bedard, 62, is a competitive
runner and ran this year’s Boston

Marathon. It is his 16th full marathon, his first was in 1979. A retired elementary school

teacher, Gaston is deafblind from Usher’s syndrome with retinitis pigmentosa, which

he’s had since childhood. He removes his two hearing aids before each run.

Gaston caught the running bug during the excitement of the 1976 Montreal Olympics

and started with a pair of $4 running shoes. The Boston marathon is 42.2 km (26.2


miles) and Gaston, with his guides, ran it

in 5.26 hours, despite bad weather and a

sore knee.

Congratulations Gaston! A super

accomplishment.

I am a deaf, blind runner from Aylmer,

Quebec. I ran and completed the Boston

Marathon on April 20th.

It was a super team effort led by Team

With a Vision, a group of blind and

sighted athletes who run the Boston

Marathon every year to raise funds and

awareness for the Massachusetts

Association for the Blind and Visually

Impaired.

Running Boston is everything they say it

is. I’m told there were a lot of very fit-

looking runners in and around our hotel.

You could feel the energy, the

excitement in the air everywhere.

At the start in Hopkinton, it took nine minutes just

to cross the start line.

It was wet, cold, and windy most of the way. My two guides, Christopher Yule and

Melany Gauvin, did a great job and kept me going. I feel we ran quite well through the

Newton hills. When things got really tough in the last 12 kilometres, the knowledge that

my son Marc would be at the finish line kept me focussed. We crossed the finish line

as a team, holding hands, with arms raised.

Marc was super helpful the whole weekend. He took photos of us around Boston. This

was a special father-son adventure, and we pulled it off really well. I like to say, “When

you have good people around you, it is amazing what you can do.”

This was my 16th marathon. I would love to run Boston again. I am now looking for

sighted guides to train with and to run the next Boston in 2016.

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/37f5d06c#/37f5d06c/58

Gaston Bedard (centre) with running guides, Christopher Yule (left) and Melany Gauvin (right) at finish line of 2015 Boston Marathon. Credit: Marc Bedard
Gaston Bedard (centre) with running
guides, Christopher Yule (left) and
Melany Gauvin (right) at finish line of
2015 Boston Marathon.
Credit: Marc Bedard

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Back to Notre Dame 28 Years Later

By Dr. Paul Gabias, PhD, LLD

Editor’s note: The excerpts used below are from the banquet address, ‘Back to Notre

Dame’, delivered 28 years ago at the 1987 National Federation of the Blind (NFB)

convention, held in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the first banquet speech delivered by the

then new president of the NFB, Dr. Marc Maurer. Last year, in 2014, after 28 years of

dedicated service as NFB president, Dr. Maurer retired from the position.

Dr. Paul Gabias casually reflects back to that 1987 speech and notes that, although

many things for the blind have improved over the past 28 years, in part due to

technological advances, certain problems seem like they are inherent and will always

be with us.

In 1987, Dr. Maurer said, “Despite the progress we have made (and we have made a

great deal of it), regressive attitudes about blindness are unfortunately still the norm.”

In 2015, it seems we can still say the exact same thing.

‘Back to Notre Dame’ tells us what Marc Maurer considered important back in 1987.

Has much changed since then?

The speech asks us to look at our lives organizationally, but even more importantly,

personally. After all, we don’t have a Federation just for the sake of having a

Federation. We have a Federation so that it can help us lead our lives as blind people

more effectively.

In 1987, at the time that speech was delivered, I was interviewing for the job of visiting

Assistant Professor of Psychology, with a specialty in Perception, at the University of

Nevada-Reno (UNR). I went to Reno for the job interview during the convention in

Phoenix, and I returned to the convention afterwards.

At that time, we were in the middle of dealing with the airlines and their exit row

discrimination against blind people, which had reached, it seemed, a crisis proportion,

and naturally, I had problems with the airline on my way back to the convention. The

airline treated me with condescension, right in front of a member of the Psychology

Department of UNR, my potential employer. “Does ‘he’ need help going down the

stairs?” the desk agent wanted to know, not directing the question to me. Despite this, I

did obtain the job. At that time, I was also finishing my PhD thesis with the help of my

mother.

In July 1987, my beautiful golden retriever guide dog, Viva, was one-and-a-half years

old. I had trained her from a puppy and she had attended the Kansas City NFB

convention the previous year with me at seven months old. She worked beautifully at

that convention. Diane McGeorge, a well-known leader in the NFB, will always

remember Viva’s impeccable work and behaviour.




In July 1987, I had just finished a one year position as a lecturer in Psychology at the

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. It was my first year of teaching Intro Psych to 300

students per class, and Graduate Statistics. My graduation ceremony from New York

University had not happened yet. It would happen in the summer of 1988. That

ceremony was also a first date for Mary Ellen and I.

At Reno, I taught Intro and Research Methods in the first semester. In the second

semester, I taught Intro, Perception and a graduate course in Form and

Representation, a course I devised myself based on my graduate work. I was also

finishing up my thesis.

In 1988, I took a new position at the University of Southern Colorado, again as a

visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology. There, I had a very high teaching load with

Intro, Research Methods, Perception, and Psychology and Life – four courses per

semester.

With respect to my involvement in the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), at that

time, the airline exit row crisis was raging strong and it seemed that blind people were

being pulled off planes left and right for all kinds of reasons: for not wanting to move

from exit row seats to which they had been assigned by the airline; for not wanting to

move from exit row seats that had been designated as open seating for the public; for

not wanting to hear individualized imposed special debriefing instructions for the blind

before takeoff; for not wanting to give up their long rigid white canes; for not wanting to

sit on special urinating blankets in case they could not get to the bathroom; or for not

wanting to agree to comply with special pre-boarding and deplaning instructions. In

short, for not wanting to be treated like morons and for just wanting to be treated like

everybody else. For guide dog users, there was also the bulk head seat issue, where

the airlines would try to force guide dog users to sit in bulk head seats. The bulk head

seats can be inconvenient because the dog takes up room in front of passengers’ feet,

leaving no room for luggage. Most adept guide dog handlers can get the dog to back

under most airline seats, with the dog lying comfortably under the seat, facing forward.

This still leaves room for luggage to go under the front seat ahead. So, having been

pulled off planes myself, I was motivated to help how I could.

I attended my first leadership seminar at the NFB National Center for the Blind in

Baltimore, MD, in March 1988, where I was impressed with Mary Ellen, who was

working there. We were married in January 1989. We moved to St. Thomas University

in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in August 1989, and Viva died unexpectedly during the

move. She developed a spinal embolism which prevented her from moving her hind

quarters and she had to be euthanized.

Male golden retriever puppy, Schubert, arrived in Fredericton from Long Island, New

York, in September 1989. His breeders aptly named him the Rambo puppy, which he

absolutely was. He had the same mother as Viva, and he was the last one, so I took

him. I set about training him that year, and he was my guide dog for about 12 years.

In Fredericton, I was teaching Intro Psych, Research Methods and Perception. I think

the courses lasted all year there, each two semesters long. Right away, in Fredericton,

Mary Ellen and I got busy planning to start the Federation in Canada.




Why? For many reasons, but the basic reason is easiest to understand if we go back to

Notre Dame, as it were, with Dr. Maurer’s 1987 banquet speech. He writes: “On Saturday,

May 23rd of this year, I did not physically leave Baltimore—but on that day (as I have so

often done) I went back to Notre Dame. I was in a clothing store, trying on the very suit I am

wearing tonight. At a critical juncture in the fitting, the salesman said to the sighted person

who was with me: ‘Can you take off his shoes?’ I suppose I don’t need to tell you that I did

not walk barefooted to Notre Dame. I removed my own shoes.”

So, from the airport, to the airplane, to the department store – when will it ever stop? How

many blind people go through this degrading situation on a daily basis? I am sure this kind

of dehumanizing situation happens to every blind person thousands of times over a

lifetime. This is why we need the Federation, not so much to help the sighted understand,

but to help the blind understand! We, the blind, can be the best support for each other in

these kinds of frustrating situations.

As blind people, how are we to react to being continuously belittled for inane reasons,

sometimes on more than one occasion during the day, day after day? My own experience

is that it takes very high self-esteem, understanding, patience, and dogged determination

to try to stamp it out.

Certainly, collective action on the part of the organized blind, the cooperation of sighted

people who are willing to learn, and an invincible belief that blindness is part of the

normalcy of people. There is really nothing particularly special about it. Give a person

Braille, a white cane, and adaptive technology, and things will be made easier for blind

people, but my experience of blindness, and that of countless others, suggests that

blindness has been a normal characteristic of people since the beginning of time,

regardless of what has been thought about it through the millennia. What I am saying is

that blindness need not affect the normal function and feeling of a person any more than

any other superficial characteristic.

All of our members in the Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB) are also members of the

National Federation of the Blind (NFB) because, as it says on the NFB website

(
):

www.nfb.org

“The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that

defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people,

because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You

can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.”

In keeping with this dictum, I finally took up a tenure track position in 1990 at

Okanagan College in Kelowna, B.C., where I taught two sections of Intro and

Perception. Joanne, our daughter, was born in February of 1990. We now have four

children, the youngest is 16 years old.

I would now like to deal with a very important statement that President Maurer made in

his first presidential banquet speech, ‘Back To Notre Dame’:

“Discrimination is not necessarily confined to the job interview or the entry level. It can

also happen after employment is permanent and safe.”




Let’s look at his employment experience, from his speech, to see what he means:

“After college I did graduate work, and in 1977 I finished law school. In 1978, with the help

of Federation members, I got a job in the office of the General Counsel at the Civil

Aeronautics Board. With my philosophy and idealism in hand, I went to that job willing and

anxious to work. I wanted to give of my time, my effort, and my energy. I wanted to advance

myself and the cause of the blind. The Civil Aeronautics Board made United States civil

aviation policy. Here, I thought, is an opportunity for me to do something really useful.

However, I soon discovered that a pattern existed–a pattern which reminded me of the

professor who told me that I was courageous, and promised me a good grade. I felt right at

home. It was just like being back at Notre Dame.

“My assignments were almost always routine. If there was a trip to London for an

international negotiation, somebody else was asked to go. If a hearing officer needed to

take testimony in a small town to determine the feasibility of air service, I was never sent.

These assignments (calculated to vary the routine) were highly prized and much sought

after. Others went while I stayed home—and was courageous. Sometimes there was not

enough routine work to fill my day. So I was left to occupy my time as I chose. My superiors

would have been content if I had spent my time listening to the radio or reading. They

would have been content—but I would not have been content. I did not want the rest of my

life to be a sham and a deception, a guaranteed succession of endless raises and lack of

meaningful work. Discrimination is not necessarily confined to the job interview or the

entry level. It can also happen after employment is permanent and safe.

“My job with the federal government was absolutely secure. It would have lasted until

retirement through a long and rustful life. There was something else: we all tend to be

conditioned by our environment. I knew that if I stayed long enough and my salary became

high enough, I might begin to succumb to temptation and rationalize. I might become

accustomed to the lack of useful activity and gradually lose my initiative, my sense of

values, my perspective, my willingness to leave, and my soul.

“Not only had the Federation taught me about blindness but also about self-examination,

objectivity, and perspective. In 1981 I left the Civil Aeronautics Board to start my own law

practice. I knew that I might starve, but I also knew that if I starved, it would be a starvation

of the body and not of the soul. I knew that I would be free, and not a token or a cipher.

Slavery does not have to be a matter of chains and whips. It can also be a captivity of the

mind and a shackling of the spirit. Every person in this room can give testimony to that. We

in the Federation have cut our teeth on it, and we never stop learning it. On a daily basis we

continue to teach it to ourselves and each other, and we give it in strong doses to new

recruits. This is why some, who do not understand our philosophy, call us militant.

“In the practice of law, my dream that I might do something worthwhile and useful came

true. Again, Federation members and leaders helped and encouraged me. As part of my

practice I frequently found myself representing blind persons. The textbooks tell us that

American law is based on fairness and justice regardless of who is involved or what the

circumstances may be. My job was to help make this principle applicable to the blind as

well as the sighted.




“When I represented blind people, my opponents were often major employers, airlines,

departments of government, or agencies doing work with the blind. Although the

approaches of these different entities might vary, their opinions about blindness usually

did not. Whether it was an airline, an employer, a department of government, or a service

agency for the blind, what they said about blindness was always just about the same. I felt

right at home. It was exactly like being back at Notre Dame. The blind are courageous;

they will get a good grade; no need to work; and plenty of meaningless assignments. Of

course, when I insisted on equal treatment for my clients, attitudes hardened. Those

across the table now thought the blind (and that included me) were ungrateful,

unreasonable, and unrealistic—not courageous at all but just plain radical and militant.

“If (after my experiences at Notre Dame and the Civil Aeronautics Board) anything else

was needed to confirm me in my opinion that the National Federation of the Blind was not

only needed but necessary, I found it in the practice of law. It is not that people mean to be

unreasonable or that they are deliberately cruel. Rather, it is that they have the ancient

fear of the dark and that they equate blindness with darkness, and darkness with evil and

lack of ability to perform. Despite the progress we have made (and we have made a great

deal of it), regressive attitudes about blindness are unfortunately still the norm.”

So, today, in 2015, are regressive attitudes about blindness unfortunately still the norm?

My opinion is that this answer still has to be a qualified yes. This kind of a statement is best

examined in terms of our own lives, and our experience of them on a daily basis. Just

yesterday, a student from my latest Intro class at UBC-Okanagan, where I have worked

since its inception, said that he had seen me around campus but that he had thought that I

was also a student. I said that students don’t usually dress the way I do, with a suit and tie.

He said that he thought that I had just wanted to look respectable. He said that he was

totally surprised to see me take my position at the head of the class on the first day of class.

He now wants to look at the kind of research I do, for potential collaboration.

I am sure that this realization, that blind people can be in positions of authority and power

has occurred to thousands of students by now, after my 28 year of teaching. I don’t think

th

that it has occurred yet to university personnel, in terms of the hierarchy of power at the

University. I have not been asked to be Department Head, for example, or Associate

Dean, or Dean. I had, once upon a time, looked admiringly at those positions for myself.

But that time is no more. I now want to be a Royal Ambassador with Nikken. That goal is in

my control, attainable, and nobody can stop me.

Some people might argue: “But what about the people who wonder if we can take off our

shoes? They’re not likely to want to have anything to do with us in business.” My answer is:

“As a blind person, I have reached the level of Gold in Nikken, and I am not stopping until I

reach my goal, and help others reach their goals too. When I was looking for jobs, each

year, I applied to 100 places, just to get a few job interviews. I am used to prospecting for

what I want until I succeed. I believe there will always be people who think I am worth

following in business and who are looking for what network marketing and the products

have to offer.”

Living and working and raising a family in Kelowna, B.C., Mary Ellen and I as a blind

couple, have dealt with our four children’s teachers and school administrators, at one time




or another for 22 years. We have dealt with all manner of stores and businesses, service

providers, and government and religious organizations. Plus, our children have countless

friends, and they have held or hold positions of employment with their own required

contact with the public. People talk, and blindness does come up, in positive terms.

Also, my Nikken business requires me to make contacts with new people and their people,

and their people, all of the time. So, in terms of people’s attitudes about blindness, I have

experienced great improvements in my own lifetime. Yes, there are still people who

wonder how I take off my shoes, but they do seem to be fewer.

To continue to focus on the employment issue, let us go back to Dr. Maurer’s work

experience again. Remember, he had just graduated with a law degree and some

graduate school. As a consequence of the negative attitudes about blindness, embodied

in the ‘shoe’ problem that we all have experienced with varying frequency over the years,

Dr. Maurer wrote:

“My assignments were almost always routine. If there was a trip to London for an

international negotiation, somebody else was asked to go. If a hearing officer needed to

take testimony in a small town to determine the feasibility of air service, I was never sent.

These assignments (calculated to vary the routine) were highly prized and much sought

after. Others went while I stayed home—and was courageous. Sometimes there was not

enough routine work to fill my day. So I was left to occupy my time as I chose. My superiors

would have been content if I had spent my time listening to the radio or reading.…..My job

with the federal government was absolutely secure. It would have lasted until retirement

through a long and rustful life.”

As Dr. Maurer said in his speech, negative attitudes about blindness is one of the reasons

why he left his job in the office of the General Counsel at the Civil Aeronautics Board to

start his own law practice, before becoming President of the National Federation of the

Blind.

At my job as an Associate Professor, I am never left with nothing to do. The discrimination

for me is much more subtle. Our job as Professors at UBC comprises three components:

teaching, research and service. Ideally, Professors’ workloads should be balanced in

these three areas for them to excel. Discrimination has to be examined in terms of

opportunities for promotion and recognition. The ‘shoe’ problem for University Professors,

University Administrators and students is never very far away if you look beneath the

surface.

Right now, my job is just the way I want it, in terms of the balance of these three areas, but

along the way, I was and still am very conscious of potential pitfalls for discrimination. It

would be completely naïve to think otherwise.

In 1987, at work, I thought I hadn’t had direct experience in dealing with this kind of

discrimination on the job. Now, I feel differently. In 1987, I wasn’t accessing the computer

screen on my own. Now, I can. In 1987, we didn’t have talking smart phones. Now, we do.

In 1987, we couldn’t put 20 or more books on a memory stick. Now, we can. In 1987, I

hadn’t owned a home. Now, we have owned two homes, sequentially. In 1987, I hadn’t




bought and owned cars or boats, or had to teach children how to drive them. Now, there

are two cars and a boat in our family, and three children can drive them.

In 2015, the economic prospects of blind people have to be examined in the light of the

economic prospects for sighted people. And, of course, there is still and there will always

be, for blind people, the ‘shoe’ problem.

And where does the ‘shoe’ problem come from? Dr. Maurer writes in his speech:

“It is not that people mean to be unreasonable or that they are deliberately cruel. Rather, it

is that they have the ancient fear of the dark and that they equate blindness with darkness,

and darkness with evil and lack of ability to perform.”

My belief is that these beliefs are innate, and each generation of blind people will have to

tackle them, no matter what technologies we have to help blind people compete on terms

of equality.

My family, my friends, my job, my work in the Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB), and

my work with Nikken all give me great joy and fulfilment! Fulfilment! Isn’t that what life is

supposed to be about? That’s what we, in the Canadian Federation of the Blind, work to

help each other achieve.

To read or listen to Dr. Maurer’s speech ‘Back To Notre Dame’, please go to the links

below:

Back to Notre Dame (Phoenix, 1987)

Back to Notre Dame (Audio)

https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/convent/banque87.htm

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Judging From Some Reviews, The Film Blind Is Way Off Base

t

By Frederick Driver

When I learned of the 2014 Norwegian film about a blind woman, entitled “Blind”,

which was receiving some attention, I wanted to know more. After looking at a number

of reviews, I was dismayed by what I found.

Numbered below are seven reasons for my dismay, each followed by quotes from the

reviews. Sources are referenced in brackets after each, with links at the end.

1. Deliberate association of blindness with fear.

[quote:] Her alone time already allows her mind to wander, but it also comes with …

the distinct sound of breathing in the apartment when she should be alone. (1)




[quote:] Ingrid retreats to her apartment, but cannot escape her fear. “Blind” reflects

this fear. (2)

[quote:] We first meet her in darkness with only her voice to guide us … as light begins

to fill the screen we see only her hands moving over objects and textures. Soon the

breathing starts behind her, someone’s eyes take her in, and while she suspects it’s

Morten, there’s no answer when she calls out his name. (3)

2. The bogus idea that, in order to be able to continue to perceive the world, she must

desperately try to retain her memory of vision–the underlying assumption being that

perceiving the world WITHOUT vision is neither valid nor possible.

The truth is quite the opposite of course. Perceiving the world without vision is perfectly

possible and valid. And hanging on to vision, residual or the memory of it, is an

impediment to perception and adaptation to blindness. Hence the effectiveness of

sleepshades in blindness skills training for those with some residual vision.

[quote:] She says she has to constantly picture her memories and surroundings as

otherwise they’ll fade without the benefit of new visual stimuli and triggers. (4)

[quote, from the blind character in the film:] It’s not important what’s real as long as I

can visualize it. (5)

[quote, apparently the filmmaker’s own words from an interview:] She has to create a

new reality for herself based on the memories she has of seeing. (6)

3. The filmmaker’s so-called research consisted of: visiting doctors; and taking the

views and feelings of ONE blind woman he got to know and applying them to blind

people generally.

Isn’t that called prejudice?

He may or may not be representing the views of that one blind woman accurately. But

even if he is, he talked to ONE blind person, and some doctors, and now he knows

what it’s like to be blind? Fear, and sadness at not being able to see loved ones or

children’s smiles?

As if the absence of vision meant the inability to give and receive love, the inability to

perceive your children’s happiness. That is complete nonsense of course.

[quote, apparently the filmmaker’s own words from an interview:] I visited doctors for

research, but my main source was a blind woman that I got to know and who opened

herself up to me. Thanks to her, I began to understand issues such as not being able

to see your loved ones with your own eyes or your children smiling. (7)




4. Prurient, titillating, invasive. And for some reason the blind person is supposed to

be embarrassed and ashamed. But isn’t even aware enough to be so.

[quote:] The movie presents an intimate look into a life, the likes of which most of us

will never know first-hand. It’s as if we’re peeking behind the curtain of someone’s

unaware mind, and they don’t know enough to be embarrassed, ashamed, or upset.

(8)

5. Many have complained about the negative and unrealistic effect of blindness

simulations/ blindfolding for supposed awareness-building for sighted people; that is,

leaving the uninformed with the impression that blindness is hard, and blind people

can’t really do much.

Well, here it is again:

[quote:] Being blind is hard, seems to be the message here. Also, a blind person’s

apartment is no place for pasta. (9)

6. The blind woman is vicious and paranoid, and everyone’s lives become entangled

in lies and shame. And it’s the blind woman who has created this world. Shades of

Saramago’s movie “Blindness”?

[quote:] She can be vicious and obsessively paranoid in the world she’s created,

where everyone’s lives become entangled in lies and shame. (10)

7. So the archetypal blind person is supposed to be: sitting in a chair, by a window,

thinking, doing nothing, with nothing happening. And this is assumed to be when it gets

closest to what being blind must actually be like?

This is obviously an ignorant and pernicious fabrication by someone who knows

nothing about blindness but stereotypes and misconceptions, and who is unfortunately

disseminating them.

[quote:] Ingrid’s daily routine is to sit in a chair by the window and think. (11)

[quote:] The film is at its best with Ingrid just alone, in her flat, with nothing happening.

At these moments, the film shows an interest in what living with blindness might

actually be like. (12)

This film may be subtler, less over-the-top than the one based on Saramago’s

“Blindness”. But perhaps that makes it even more treacherous. From what I’ve read in

these reviews, it strikes me as just as false, perverse, and outrageous in its

misrepresentation of blindness.




SOURCES:

(1) http://filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/blind-norway.php

(2) http://www.na-weekly.com/arts/haugesund-honors-the-years-top-films/

(3) http://filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/blind-norway.php

(4) http://filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/blind-norway.php

(5) http://www.variety.com/2014/film/reviews/sundance-film-review-blind-1201063430/#

(6) http://grapevine.is/culture/movies-theatre/2015/02/26/norway-after-breivik-eskil-

vogt-and-his-movie-blind/ (via Google cache)

(7) http://grapevine.is/culture/movies-theatre/2015/02/26/norway-after-breivik-eskil-

vogt-and-his-movie-blind/ (via Google cache)

(8) http://filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/blind-norway.php

(9) http://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/2014/02/blind-review-berlinale-delightful-norwegian-

mindfck/

(10) http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=27087

(11) http://filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/blind-norway.php

(12) http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/26/blind-review

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Bill 17 Barking Up the Wrong Tree

By Mary Ellen Gabias, President

Editor’s Note: This is a CFB press release of March 2015. It is in response to B.C.

government’s newly amended Guide Dog and Service Dog Act. The final reading is still

pending. The act is set to take effect later this year.

Bill 17 as currently written would shift the focus from protecting access rights for people

using guide dogs to catching impostors at the expense of law-abiding blind individuals,

according to the Canadian Federation of the Blind.

“Taxis often won’t take us,” says Graeme McCreath of Victoria, who has frequently

been refused service because he is accompanied by his guide dog Adrienne. “We

wanted the province to clarify and strengthen enforcement of our access rights.

Instead, they’re forcing us to jump through more bureaucratic hoops and creating the

false presumption that we are perpetrating fraud until we prove otherwise.

Oriano Belusic, first vice-president of the Canadian Federation of the Blind and a guide

dog user for more than 30 years, is waiting to see what the legislature does before

deciding whether to replace his dog, Hillie, who recently died. “I love the speed and

ease of movement I have always had with my dogs, but it’s not worth it if every

shopkeeper, restauranteur and cab driver can demand to see my credentials. Current

law presumes I have a right to go about my business. Bill 17 will force me to prove,

over and over again, that I have rights. Proponents say certification is like a driver’s




license, but it’s not; the police only ask to see a license when a driver appears to be

doing something illegal. This bill would mean that anybody could demand to see my

certification before they even let me in the door.”

The Federation estimates there are approximately 80 guide dogs in the province. “We

haven’t encountered problems with people pretending to be blind in order to bring

phony guide dogs into public places,” Belusic states. “For guide dog users, this

proposal is a draconian solution to a nonexistent problem.”

Dr. Paul Gabias, a blind university professor in Kelowna who has trained six guide

dogs, knows certification offers no protection for the public against badly behaved

dogs. “Certification only proves that a team worked correctly on the day the certification

was issued. I’ve seen people from fully accredited schools who have ruined dogs. I’ve

seen dogs whose work has deteriorated because of trauma. I’ve also seen privately

trained dogs that have worked beautifully. The law already requires that dogs be kept

under control at all times and permits any business to remove a badly behaved guide

dog.”

“Why is the province punishing us for the behaviour of impostors without disabilities?”

asks McCreath. “Why not make it an offense to misrepresent a pet as a service dog,

require community service for violators, and leave our access rights intact? That’s

simpler, much cheaper, and far more just than creating a new bureaucracy.”

Gabias agrees. “People determined to commit fraud will find ways to fake certification

documents,” he says. “I would much rather tolerate a few bad actors than impinge

upon access rights.”

“There are some very fine access improvements in Bill 17,” says Belusic. “Even so, if

the focus isn’t changed from catching phonies to protecting blind people, we’ll be better

off if it does not pass.”

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A Letter to B.C. Government Regarding Proposed Bill 17

April 1, 2015

Honourable Suzanne Anton

Attorney General and Minister of Justice

P.O. Box 944 Stn Prov Govt

Victoria, B.C., V8W 9E2

Dear Minister Anton:

Re: Proposed new Bill 17: Guide Dog & Service Dog Act

I am writing you to bring some extremely worrisome issues presently in the proposed

Act to your attention. I have had three very faithful, long-serving guide dogs over the

last 30 years and have firsthand experience in the failings of the old Act. Unfortunately,

the new Act fails to resolve two major deficits of the old Act and creates a serious new

problem.

The new serious problem that this Bill 17 creates is that it’s very likely unconstitutional,

as it requires a blind British Columbian to get his or her guide dog through a “certified

organization” which in all instances are charities. Blind people must have the right to

acquire and train their own guide dogs, if they wish, whether that involves the training

of one’s own guide dog or having someone else train the dog for their use. The right of

blind people to use a dog as a guide is ancient, and independent of any bureaucratic

regulation. Any new legislation must not interfere with that right. For legislation to

require that one only get a guide dog through a charity is contrary to everything this

country should stand for. In the event that these certified charitable organizations

cease to exist, due to poor business practices or any possible other reasons, one must

always have the right of self-reliance and be able to look after one’s own mobility

needs. Whatever else it seeks to accomplish, the new Act must do two things:

1. Entrench and protect the equal access and freedom of movement of blind

citizens in any and all public places and conveyances; and

2. Entrench and protect the long-established, independent, and ancient right of

blind people to use a dog as a guide. That private charities or any other entities

are seeking to interfere with these long-established rights and freedoms of blind

citizens is unacceptable.




As to the old problems that the Act fails to resolve:

1. Over my 30 years, I experienced numerous, very unpleasant, humiliating, and

demeaning taxi discrimination incidents, and there was no functional and just

way to deal with such frequent violations. If the new Bill is to be of any

measurable improvement to blind guide dog users, language needs to be

inserted in the Act that specifically prohibits taxi discrimination for any reason.

Additionally, enabling the local taxi bylaw police officer to levy an immediate fine

would work wonders by sending a message to the taxi industry that

discrimination will not be tolerated in B.C. The old way of requiring blind guide

dog users to file a human rights complaint simply did not work, as most blind

individuals chose to mediate their cases, rather than proceed to a lengthy,

onerous public tribunal hearing in order to do some public good, through a

favourable ruling.

2. Guide dogs deserve protection from serious injury resulting from ignorant or

deliberate negligence of other dog owners. My last guide dog was seriously

injured by two pitbulls and there were no consequences for the negligent dog

owner. At the very least, our guide dogs should receive the same protection as

do police dogs in our province.

I offer my input with the sincere hope that the government truly desires to improve

access rights of blind British Columbians that use a guide dog. Thank you in advance

for addressing and updating the Guide Dog & Service Dog Act.

Sincerely,

Oriano Belusic

cc:

Lana Popham, MLA, Saanich South

Leonard Krog, MLA, Nanaimo

Linda Reid, MLA, Richmond East

Scott Hamilton, MLA, Delta North

Toby Louie, Executive Director, Corporate Policy and Planning Office, Ministry of

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Help Blind Canadians by Donating Aeroplan Miles

The Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB) will use donated miles to fly blind

Canadians to the upcoming NFB Blindness Convention. This unique week-long

gathering of over 3,000 blind people from around the world is an exceptional

educational and mentoring experience. There is no comparable opportunity that offers

the blind so much in such an intensive and compact session. Those who have had a

chance to attend in the past consider it life-changing.

Many blind Canadians are isolated and do not come in contact with other blind people

in their daily lives. What’s more, many blind people lack confidence, blindness-specific

skills and information. To meet and be mentored by blind people who are positive,

capable and successful is the best way for any blind person to learn about blindness

and one’s own potential.

In addition, numerous blindness-related supports are offered, including hands-on

demonstrations of the latest blindness technologies, resources and aids. Blind

speakers hold talks on topics of accomplishments, education and rehabilitation, Braille,

employment, cane travel, independence, advocacy and inspiration.

The convention is held annually in a large North American city. The most favorable

accommodation rates are provided, along with good transportation links to enable as

many blind participants as possible to attend.

The Canadian Federation of the Blind is truly trying to change what it means to be

blind. We feel strongly that enabling blind people to participate in this extraordinarily

positive and inspirational convention is the best way to maximize their chance for a

better life.

Please help us raise the miles necessary so that more blind Canadians may benefit.

Also, if you know of anyone who may be interested in contributing to this cause, please

let them know about this Aeroplan charitable pooling initiative. Thank you for your

support!

http://beyondmiles.aeroplan.com/eng/partners/546

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Gifts to the Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB)

Thank you for your interest and your support of the Canadian Federation of the Blind.

By donating to the Canadian Federation of the Blind, you can help make a significant

difference in the lives of blind people across the country.

Donate Today and Help Change What it Means to be Blind! Together We Can

Create a Positive Future for All Blind People.

General Donations:

General donations are a great way to contribute to CFB programs and support on-

going efforts to improve equality
for the blind. Donations can be made

and opportunity

online
.or by mail

1) Online:

The CFB accepts online donations through Canada Helps, enabling you to contribute

by credit card, Interac, or Paypal. Please go to: https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/17020

2) By Mail:

Please make cheque payable to Canadian Federation of the Blind, and send to:

Canadian Federation of the Blind

P.O. Box 8007

Victoria, BC, V8W 3R7

Bequests and Planned Giving Programs:

Please write or email us at info@cfb.ca to receive tax-saving information.

Your donations are tax-deductable.

Registered Charitable Tax Number: 864997291 R 0001R

Aeroplan Miles

Please see information on page 33 in this issue for details, or go to:

Http://beyondmiles.aeroplan.com/eng/partners/546

We thank you for your consideration and generosity.

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All Praise to the Humble Slate and Stylus!

By Rebecca Blaevoet

Poste
, National Braille Press blog.

d June 25, 2014

Reprinted with permission.

Editor’s note: National Braille Press, located in Boston, MA, has a blog on all things

Braille. Their website i
It’s a valuable company and website to get to

s www.nbp.org.

know.

A little information from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) website

www.nfb.org:

The slate and stylus have long been and continue to be valuable tools for writing

Braille.

The slate and stylus is the only Braille-writing device that has the same portability,

flexibility and affordability as a pen and pencil. From labelling your can goods to jotting

down a phone number, the uses and advantages of the slate and stylus to the blind are

as varied as those of the pencil or pen to the sighted.

Thirty years ago when computer technology came to the fore, the thinking was that it

would liberate the heretofore Braille-bound reader from the shackles of outmoded,

bulky, and pedestrian forms of reading and writing — especially that lowly-of-low slate

and stylus. What? Learn to write Braille BACKWARDS?

Well, I’m as computer-literate as the next person, but I still keep my secret stash of

slates. Indeed, I keep adding to it, covertly, clandestinely, cryptically. As a co-owner of

Tactile Vision Graphics, my slate and stylus remain essential business tools. It’s no

lower than a pen and paper, which I notice people still carry around, and for the same

purposes:




It identifies business cards

Labels file folders

Jots down phone numbers and addresses on the run

Makes an excellent signature guide

Brailles Welsh flash cards for my evening classes

Takes notes when the Braille Note Apex isn’t handy

Marks a conference leaflet for future reference

Sends Braille notes to vision-impaired customers.

So, I say: All praise to the lowly metal or plastic “pencil and paper for the

blind”! No technology has yet come close to matching its versatility or

universality—and it never requires beta-testers or a software update!

Rebecca Blaevoet and her husband, Emmanuel, co-ow
in

n Tactile Vision Graphics

Ontario, Canada.

Jen Goulden, of Ottawa, comments on CFB’s listserv about this post:

I couldn’t agree with Rebecca more.

When I first learned Braille I was taught to use a Perkins Brailler. Then I was introduced

to the slate and stylus. I resisted it passionately and stubbornly. No amount of pressure

from my parents and teachers could convince me of the value of this “pen and paper

for the blind”.

Then I started high school. I was used to carrying a Brailler around, but one day I

simply decided boys might think I was geeky if I had it with me all the time at school.

Bear with me, I was fourteen at the time! I thought I would seem less “different” from

my peers if I had a slate and stylus instead. To be honest, my notes from my first

semester were atrocious, but I used a slate and stylus all through high school and

university. I started using regular paper instead of Braille paper, as it’s much easier on

the wrist.

Like Rebecca, I have a collection of slates and styluses, and still use them regularly.




Mary Ellen Gabias, of Kelowna, B.C., comments on CFB’s listserv about this post:

My history is so similar to Jen’s that it’s almost scary! I learned the slate in grade 1, a

little later than I learned the Perkins Brailler. Like Jen, I resisted it ferociously until I was

forced to use it in grade 6 for spelling tests.

I went to an all girls school, so I didn’t have social reasons not to carry the Brailler

around with me. It was just too noisy and got heavy at the end of a long day. It stayed

in my locker unless I had a long assignment.

Four or five years ago we were cleaning out the clutter in our garage. In one box I

found several spiral notebooks with university notes. Even thirty years after the fact, I

could feel the dots. Reading my shorthand after so long was quite another story!

I love my Braille Edge, particularly because it makes editing easy and is quieter than

either the Perkins Brailler or the slate. I never buy a purse that’s too small to hold my

slate because I take one with me wherever I go.

Far too many people still believe it’s obsolete.

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Thinking Over People First Language

irs ’

By Mary Ellen Gabias

In English, adjectives generally precede the nouns they modify: “I have a red book.” In

French, it’s the opposite: “I have a book, red.”

If you’re going to twist the normal flow of English, you pay the price of sounding

awkward. If I say I’m a “blind person,” I’m following generally accepted English

language conventions. If I say I’m a “person who is blind,” I sound a bit stilted, thereby

bringing attention to the very adjective I’m trying to place in a less important light.

If I win the lottery, I don’t object to being called “a wealthy woman.” I do not insist on

being called “a woman who has acquired wealth.” Why the difference? Because being

wealthy is generally perceived to be a positive thing. Being blind is not generally

perceived as positively.

If I go out of my way to distance myself from the word “blind,” I’m subtly agreeing with

the notion that “blind” isn’t a very good thing. But I’m somehow not like those

stereotypes. It’s harder, but I believe better in the long run, to face down the

stereotyped thinking directly: “Yes, I am blind. No, I don’t fit the stereotype (whatever

that may be in an individual’s thinking.) Rather than thinking of distancing me from that

stereotyping, maybe it’s time to rethink the stereotype.”

I don’t object to other people using “people first” language. It’s all about what’s

comfortable for the person I’m talking to. Unfortunately, all the fuss about language has




increased the general level of discomfort. If someone wants to call me blind, or

sightless, or vision impaired, or optically defunct, that’s their choice because I know

we’ll eventually get to the point where they call me Mary Ellen. I feel sorry for people

who are so afraid of getting the words wrong that they become tongue-tied. They

generally get over it when I smile and say, “It’s okay; say whatever makes you most

comfortable. I use blind because my eyesight doesn’t improve with each additional

syllable.”

I wholeheartedly approve of part of the underlying concept behind people first

language. The more individuals can begin to perceive one another as complex and

interesting people rather than caricatures of the first trait we notice about them, the

more positive and effective the interaction. Making my blindness just one of my

characteristics is fine; attempting to verbally separate me from it, as if it is somehow

undesirable, is not.

stylus
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Revisiting the ‘Blindness: Concepts and Misconceptions’ Speech

By Dr. Paul Gabias

Editor’s note: This article is reprinted from CFB’s listserv. The speech referred to in this

article was by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, a past longtime president of the U.S. National

Federation of the Blind (NFB). He dedicated his life’s work to blindness advocacy.

A conversation I was having with somebody gave me the idea to go back to the earliest

speech of Dr. Jernigan that I could find. I scrolled up the list of speeches on the

National Federation of the Blind (NFB) website (www.nfb.org) until I came to this one.

“Ah!” I said to myself. “This is the one!”

When we consider how we feel about how we are being treated by others, on any

given day, we must always keep in mind the possible attitudes about blindness that

might be swimming around in people’s heads and the effects that these attitudes may

have on their particular behaviors and beliefs in their interactions toward us. Armed

with this knowledge, it is easier not to take their treatment personally. We can say to

ourselves: “They are acting negatively toward blindness, pure and simple.”

Of course, blindness is part of us, but it is comforting to know that other blind people

have successfully dealt with the exact same negative attitudes that we are confronting.

It is much easier for us to say to ourselves: “I am not the problem. They are the

problem.” Once a problem becomes external to ourselves, it is much easier to deal

with it dispassionately and objectively.

In 2015, concepts and misconceptions about blindness still very much run deep in our

society, because they are so deep rooted. The comforting thing is that more blind

people are functioning today, in our present-day society, than ever before, despite

these very negative and pervasive deep-rooted concepts that still operate in our time. I

believe that we, as individuals, can take credit for that. Collectively, it is also certainly

fair to say that our participation in the NFB and the CFB is the most important single

social force specifically addressing negative attitudes about blindness today.

To hear about the pervasiveness and the deep-rootedness of these negative attitudes

in our society, even in our times, where talking about them seems to have been

pushed underground with political correctness and blindness euphemisms, I refer you

to a speech delivered by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, in 1965:

Blindness: Concepts and Misconceptions (Washington, 1965)

Blindness: Concepts and Misconceptions (Audio)

https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/convent/blndnesc.htm

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Confidence and Trust: My Training at the

Louisiana Center for the Blind

By Kayleigh Joiner

Reprinted from ‘Future Reflections’, Volume 30, Number 2. ‘Future Reflections’ is a

magazine for parents and teachers of blind children published by the American Action

Fundfor BlindChildrenandAdultsinpartnershipwiththeNationalOrganizationofParents

of Blind Children (NOPBC), a division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). To

learnmoreaboutNOPBC,pleasevisithttps://nfb.org/parents-and-teachers

Editor’s note: Here is another testimonial as to the value of intensive blindness skills

rehabilitation trainingat a NFB trainingcentre,this one about the Louisiana Center for the

Blind(LCB).Thisisthequality trainingweneedinCanada.

As I approached the Louisiana Center for the Blind, housed in a square, two-story, French

colonial building, I felt a rush of anticipation. This was the place where I would spend the

next six months. I could hear traffic whizzing past on the nearby street, and every few

hours the loud whistle of a train.

Every student attended five classes: Braille, computer, cane travel, industrial arts (shop),

and kitchen/home management. Classes were held Monday through Friday from eight to

five. People who had some residual vision were required to wear sleep shades in order to

learn how to do things without relying on their vision. The idea was that when the student

removed the sleep shade, he or she would be able to use a combination of vision and

alternative techniques to accomplish tasks.

During the first few days at the center we were assessed on our knowledge so the

instructors would know where to begin. Each of us had our own individual schedule. My

day began with Braille from eight to nine. Then I went to a computer class from nine to ten.

Following computer I had cane travel from ten to noon. We had an hour lunch break. From

one to three I had industrial arts class, and I ended the day with kitchen/home

management from three to five.

WalkingAlone

All of us students lived in apartments. The apartment complex was about a mile away from

the center. This was my first experience living in an apartment and having to buy and cook

my own food. It took some getting used to, but eventually I got into a routine. Students

usually walked to and from the center every morning and evening.




My cane travel instructor was Mrs. Arlene. She was about five feet tall, had long white hair

and talked with a northern accent. The first thing she went over with me was how to use my

cane properly. We worked on my cane technique for about a week. Then I moved on to

learn the route back and forth to my apartment. For several weeks I worked with Mrs.

Arlene out in the hot sun. At first I walked very slowly and cautiously when I traveled

outside with my cane. As we walked the route I explained to Mrs. Arlene what street came

next and when I needed to turn.

Soon enough Mrs. Arlene announced that today I would be doing the route independently.

I was quite nervous and frightened. I recall tearing up because I was so afraid. My previous

cane instructor, who taught me in grade school and high school, had always followed

behind me when I did assignments for her. She had me rely on my residual vision when I

crossed streets or found house addresses. I had never done anything completely on my

own before, and the idea was very frightening. I didn’t have the confidence to believe that I

could complete the route successfully on my own.

With the route mapped out in my mind, I set off on the journey. At first I got a little bit off

track, but I listened to the traffic around me and was able to get back to where I needed to

be. When I returned to Mrs.Arlene, I felt accomplished and proud. I had really done it. This

was my first step toward gaining confidence in myself.

Getting up to Speed

Mr. Whittle, my Braille instructor, talked with a southern accent. He had a round stomach

and short gray hair. During my assessment he timed my Braille reading at forty words per

minute. Since I had not grown up reading Braille and was largely self-taught, this wasn’t

too bad. However, I knew there was room for improvement.After timing my reading speed,

Mr. Whittle had me write with a slate and stylus so he could get an idea how well I wrote in

Braille. For a Braille user, a slate and stylus is equivalent to writing with a pencil and paper.

As my Braille classes continued, I read aloud every morning. Mr. Whittle occasionally

timed me to check my speed.

Josh Boudreaux, my computer instructor, talked with a Cajun accent. During the first few

months he had me practice navigating the Internet using a screen reader (a program that

spoke aloud the information on the screen). In kitchen class I worked on preparing simple

foods such as muffins, pizza, and cookies from scratch.

A Leap offthePlatform

In September all of the students and staff at the center took a trip to Tennessee. On the first

day of the trip we had the opportunity to go on a zip line. I was quite nervous about zip

lining. I had done this kind of activity before and am normally not afraid of heights.

However, this time I felt different, as I would be under sleep shades. With the

encouragement of my peers and instructors, I took the leap off the platform and enjoyed

the ride down. I felt the wind blowing as I sped down the cable.




The following day we took a trip to Rock City. There we walked along a trail where we could

touch and smell a variety of flowers and plants. We also walked through various caves.

One in particular was very narrow. In one section crystals had formed on the rocks, and we

examined them by touch. There was a long, narrow suspension bridge that squeaked

when people walked on it. If someone was jumping on it I felt it swaying from side to side.

On the last day of our trip we went whitewater rafting. When we were on the river I could

hear the roar of the rapids. Occasionally I received the paddle splashes of a water fight

being conducted by another rafting group.

In October we went toArkansas. For the next three days we rotated between hiking, rock-

climbing, and horseback riding. With the exception of the whitewater rafting, we did all of

these activities under sleep shades to help us build confidence.

When we went hiking I used my cane in one hand and a trekking pole in the other.

Occasionally I had to climb over wobbly rocks. I found that I could easily feel the loose

rocks beneath my feet.

At the rock-climbing site we all suited up into our harnesses and helmets. Some of the

rocks felt rough and others felt smooth. The rocks in general were about fifty feet high.

When I was about halfway up the first rock, my legs began to tremble. I wanted to go back

down, but my peers and instructors kept giving me words of encouragement that helped

me make it to the top.

When it was time to go horseback riding, I was quite anxious. I am not much of an animal

person, and I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily I got a horse that was very gentle. As I

rode I heard the clopping of the horse’s hooves on the trail. I also heard the guides giving

us verbal directions on which way to turn.

MeasureTwice,Cut Once!

The Monday after we returned from Arkansas, I was in shop class about to cut another

piece of stock using the table saw. Shop class was not intended to teach woodworking as a

trade but as a confidence builder. I had prepared the machine and started to cut my piece

of stock when I realized that something was wrong.

“What did you forget?” asked JD, the shop instructor.

“My measurement must be off,” I mumbled.

“You haven’t measured anything yet,” JD reminded me.

I began to mutter about other things I might have done wrong.

“What did you forget to do?” JD pressed.




“My fence isn’t over far enough,” I replied.

I started the table saw again and cut my stock. I then measured it to see if it was 44/16ths

inches, as it was supposed to be.

“It’s too wide,” I said.

“What’s one step that you forgot?” JD asked again, waiting for me to realize my mistake.

I was silent as I adjusted my click ruler, thinking that I had it set incorrectly. A click ruler is a

measuring device for the blind made out of a long metal rod. It has raised indentations

every half inch and smaller ridges measuring sixteenth-inches.

“You had your click ruler set correctly,” JD informed me.

I went through the steps out loud. “I never measured,” I said with sudden realization.

“You never set the saw up to cut 44/16ths,” Said JD in a matter-of-fact tone.

After I set up my saw to cut 44/16ths of an inch, I prepared to make the cut.

“How do you find your right hand safety?” JD asked.

I was silent as I moved my hands to what I thought was the correct position.

“Where are your reference points? How do you know that you are safe?” JD urged.

I was silent once more.

“There is no law out there that prevents you from saying you don’t know. Not everybody

knows everything,” JD said. I thought he sounded pretty knowledgeable himself.

“I don’t remember,” I said meekly.

JD proceeded to show me where the reference points are, and I began to cut my board.

Then I measured and found that I had cut my board to exactly 44/16ths. I learned a very

important lesson that day. It is okay to admit that you don’t know or remember something.

Drop-off

In mid-November I was a month away from graduating from the adult program at the

Louisiana Center. One day in Braille class Mr. Whittle timed me at sixty words per minute. I

felt frustrated that I wasn’t getting any faster. I had been in the sixties for at least a month. I

was reading the number of pages he wished me to read, and I couldn’t understand why I

wasn’t progressing more quickly. I didn’t feel like it was very respectable to be reading at




that rate. Mr. Whittle assured me that in fact it was very respectable, especially since I had

learned Braille as an adult and not as a young child.

Near the end of our time at the Louisiana Center, all of us in the Adult Program were

expected to do a “drop-off.” The drop-off was one of the greatest challenges in the

program. Under sleep shades, each of us was driven to an unknown location and dropped

off, with no information about where we were. We were expected to use the techniques we

had learned in order to figure out how to get back.

As I listened to the van drive away I drew a deep breath. This was the final test of all the

knowledge I had gained from my cane travel instruction. I listened carefully, and when I

heard the sound of traffic I headed in that direction. I felt the sun’s rays on my left cheek,

and I knew that because of the time of day the sun was to the southeast. I heard a lot of cars

traveling in one direction–south. Based on this information I deduced that I was more than

likely on Trenton Street.

If I had followed my instincts I would have returned to the center a lot sooner than I did.

Because I didn’t listen to my instincts and trust what my environment was telling me, I

ended up taking four hours to return. That day I learned that my instincts are usually right

and that I should trust more than doubt.

Graduation Day

At last it was December 17, 2010, my graduation day. PamAllen, the director of the center,

began the ceremony by talking about some of my accomplishments. When she finished

she opened the floor for my instructors, family, and friends to speak. I was deeply touched

as I listened to the things everyone was saying about my achievements. I realized how far I

had come in the past six months. I was more confident and had a new belief in myself. I had

managed to double my Braille reading speed to eighty words a minute, and I had learned

that I could trust myself. Confidence and trust are the biggest things that I gained at the

center. Wherever I am, I am able to put them into place.

At the end of the ceremony, each graduate received a silver bell with an eagle on top. The

eagle represented the graduate’s freedom to go out into the world with the skills that he or

she had gained. The bell was inscribed with the graduate’s name, the date, and the motto

of the Louisiana Center for the Blind: “Together we are changing what it means to be blind.”

My months at the Louisiana Center for the Blind changed my life forever. The Braille and

computer skills I learned are a tremendous help now that I have entered college. Using my

long white cane, I travel wherever I want to go. Because of my training, I now go out with

my friends at night, something I never would have done in the past. I know that with

confidence and a positive philosophy about blindness, blind people can accomplish

anything.

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RECIPES!

Shepherd’s Pie

This recipe is from CFB supporting member, Thelma Fayle, Victoria, B.C. It is her

favourite thing to eat.

Chop one onion and fry in a frying pan.

Add some ground beef or turkey and cook.

When meat is done, drain off the excess grease.

Then, add a little water and a spoonful of Bisto gravy powder.

Place the meat mixture into a pyrex casserole dish.

On top, add a layer of canned cream corn.

Then, add a layer of mashed potatoes.

Place a few dabs of butter on top.

Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Dairy-free Shortcrust Pastry and Fresh Mango Pie

This delicious recipe is also from Thelma Fayle, Victoria, B.C. This crust recipe is a

healthy choice, but you can use your own favourite recipe as well.

Crust (single layer; for a double crust, double the recipe):

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sesame seeds

2 1/4 fluid ounces of olive oil

2 fluid ounces of cold water

Mix flours and seeds.

Add olive oil and mix with a butter knife till crumbly.

Add water and form into a ball. The pastry is ready to use.

Line a 9 inch pie plate with the pastry. (It may be easier to just press the pastry into the

pan, rather than roll it.) If you’d like to ensure a crispy bottom crust, prebake it for 10

minutes at 400 degrees, then let it cool before adding the filling.




Mango Filling:

Peel and chop 3 large mangoes and put in a bowl. Squeeze half a lemon over the fruit.

Mix 3 tablespoons flour and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over fruit..

Pour mixture into pie shell. If desired, place top crust or lattice on top of the filling.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Eat warm or cold with whip

cream.

Nanaimo Bars

This recipe comes from Doris Belusic, Victoria, B.C. It is a recipe she learned in high

school many years ago and is sooo delicious.

First Layer:

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 or 2 c. Graham wafer crumbs

1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

4 or 5 Tbsp. powdered cocoa

Put butter, sugar, vanilla and egg into the top of a double boiler pot. Stir until

ingredients are melted.

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to the ingredients in the double boiler

pot. Stir together, then mix with hands. Pat into an 8 x 8 inch pan.

2nd Layer:

1/4 c. butter

3 Tbsp. milk

2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder or 1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. powdered icing sugar

Cream butter and stir in the vanilla. Add icing sugar and milk alternately, mixing until

smooth. Spread over 1st layer in pan.

3rd Layer:

2 or 3 chunky squares (1 oz or 28 gr. each); or 8 or 12 flat squares – (new-style box)

Baker’s unsweetened chocolate

1 1/2 or 2 tsp. butter

Melt chocolate and butter together and spread over 2nd layer in pan.

Place into refrigerator and chill until chocolate topping sets. Cut into bars and enjoy.

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