SNL's Crime Against the Blind Community

On December 14th Saturday Night Live crossed the line. During their Weekend Update skit they decided to make fun of David Paterson, New York's visually impaired governor. Instead of only making fun of his past drug use and extra marrital affairs, they instead decided that it would be okay to make fun of the fact that he has very little vision. The SNL cast member who portrayed him became a modern Mr. Magoo portraying the governor as dissoriented and not capable of presenting himself properly. This "humor" isn't funny and it only further ingrains the bad stereotypes that many Americans have towards the disabled community. NBC refuses to make a statement, and it is unlikely that the disabled community will ever receive an apology.

In response to this writing that was in bad taste, Governor Paterson came out and told NBC how disappointed he was. His main message was that he was concerned that this portrayal would only make it harder for people with disabilities, and that in a country where only 30% of disabled adults work, this is the last thing they need. To read more about his response and the response of the blind community please go to this link.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/No-One-Laughing-SNLs-Skit/story.aspx?guid=%7B2CDA4730-F871-44D0-957B-DB75BC554567%7D

To read a visually impaired writer's response go to this link.

http://www.progressive.org/mp/wolfe121808.html

As someone who has lived with a disability my whole life I too am disgusted by SNl's lack of respect. I have a sense of humor when it comes to my disability, but only if it isn't used against me. The Governor and anyone who achieves success with a disability should be reveared and respected. Clearly SNL's writers have a lot of growing up to do, and until that happens I hope all of my readers will refrain from watching this show.

One of my biggest frustrations about being blind is people's stereotypes. Apparently I don't "act" blind, so often times strangers think that my guide dog is in training rather than working. I still don't really know what people think it means to be blind, but here are some myths about blindness debunked.

Blindness does not:

* Cause one's hearing to diminish
* Cause one's hearing to improve
* Give one the innate ability to identify objects tactually
* Give one the innate ability to recognize people by their voices
* Mean that one does not dream
* Mean that one isn't interested in how things look
* Mean that one doesn't care how others look
* Mean that one does not want to have relationships with sighted people
* Mean that one is patient all the time
* Mean that one is good all the time
* Mean that one knows sign language
* Mean that one has innate musical ability
* Mean that one is instinctively good with computers
* Mean that one is instinctively good with one's hands
* Mean that one is not normal
* Mean that one knows all or most other blind people who live in the same neighborhood or city
* Mean that one lives in "the blind world"
* Mean that one is always ready and willing to tell any stranger everything they want to know about blindness and her or his personal medical condition
* Mean that one has a poor sense of balance and is prone to falling easily

Blindness is an attribute... the person is who he or she is.

Adapted from materials provided by the American Foundation For the Blind training workshop, Bridging the Gap: Best Practices for Instructing Adults Who Are Visually Impaired and Have Low Literacy Skills, with additions and modifications by Robby Barnes, Sylvie Kashdan and Cecilia Erin Walsh.

Here is another great link debunking myths.
http://www.blindawareness.com/spreadingtheword/blindmyth.php#content

I hope that everyone learns something from this post and that in the future blind citizens will be shown in the media as capable human beings rather than disoriented and helpless.

Evidence that Movie Theaters and Zoos Can Be Made More Enjoyable For People with Disabilities

While looking through the news today, I read two articles that make me hopeful that one day places of entertainment and learning will be as enjoyable to me as they are for my sighted counterparts.

As you all may guess, going to see a movie in theaters can be tricky and frustrating for those with visual and hearing impairments. For us blindies if the movie is action packed, or has numerous scenes with no dialogue, we won't know what's going on unless someone tells us. Even if they do tell us we still may miss critical parts of the film. For people with hearing impairments, if the movie isn't captioned then they will probably not understand the dialogued parts of the film. Both of these problems have simple solutions though, and a theater in Jonston Iowa has implemented both of them.

The theater is using discriptive video and rear window captioning for their films. The best part is that it doesn't interfear with the experience of the sighted viewers. The sight impaired movie goers are given headphones to hear the discriptive audio, and the hearing impaired movie goers read their captions with the use of reflectors that fit into their cup holders. The cost of the rennavations were $11,000. This sounds like a lot, but if communities got together and raised the money, and large theater companies pitched in then there is no reason why these changes couldn't become universal. Read more about this at this link.

http://www.kcci.com/news/18249931/detail.html

The other article was about how a Zoo in Nashville Tennessee has made their giraffe and elephant exhibits more user friendly for their blind patrons. Both exhibits are looking at the difference between animals and humans and they use models that can be touched to demonstrate this. The models also have descriptions accompanying them that are in braille. Again the changes were small, but now someone who is blind might actually have an interest in going to the zoo. Read more about it at this link.

http://www.zandavisitor.com/newsarticle-728-Nashville_Zoo_Has_Established_A_Tactile_Safari_For_The_Visually_Impaired

These are just two examples of how communities are coming together to make their town's more accessible and enjoyable to people with disabilities. If you have any others that you know of please share them in the comments section.

A possible solution to the whole touch screen cell phone issue

While checking the news yesterday I came across something really cool. Designer "Bruno Fosi" has come up with a concept product that will allow a blind/visually impaired person to use an IPhone. The device is a silicon sleeve that would cover the phone and provide tactual feedback when buttons are pushed. The sleeve would be paired with a speech output program on the phone. Here is a link to the article I found.

http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2008/12/02/apple-iphone-case-silicon-touch-for-visually-impaired/

I am hoping that this is a concept that comes to market. Apple is not the only company creating touch screen phones, and I get the feeling that touch screens are the way of the future. If they are, then there needs to be a solution for people who don't have enough vision to use them. My husband has an IPhone and I can't even answer the phone for him. If this sleeve could be paired with voice over the IPhone could become a device that almost anyone could use. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.