As heard today on On Point Radio with host Tom Ashbrook
"This hour, On Point: we talk with a roundtable of blind Americans about living and working and leading blind."
Cross-posted on Blog [with]tv
Tag: blind
Today's "Talk of the Nation"
I was fortunate to be asked by National Public Radio to appear as a guest today on their nationwide program "Talk of the Nation". I stress "fortunate" because it’s a privilege to be asked to share with the public ideas about disability in general and blindness in particular.
But I felt a sense of disappointment with the interview today. Today’s host, Lynn Neary asked me questions like explain "how" I (a blind person) could know what a painting by Jackson Pollock might look like. I gave the obvious answer–namely that I have descriptive friends who tell me these things.
Unfortunately, I think we ran out of time before the really important questions could be asked. What I had hoped for was an interview in which I might talk about "why" 70 per cent of the nation’s blind and visually impaired people who are of working age remain unemployed. I wanted to talk about our contemporary inheritance from the Victorians who saw a disabled body as an economic liability in the machine driven world of the Industrial Revolution. I wanted to talk about "why" these outworn ideas persist in the United States–so much so that we continue to stand in amazement when a superbly intellectual and gifted man like Governor David Paterson emerges from the pack.
Instead the interview sputtered badly I’m afraid, though I tried to explain that blind people bring critical thinking and emotional intelligence to their public and professional lives.
The good news is that tomorrow I am scheduled to appear on NPR’s "On Point" program. With any luck, I’ll have an opportunity to discuss some of this then.
S.K.
LINK:
NPR’s Blog of the Nation "Colors and Fog": What It Means to be Blind
On Today’s Op Ed Piece in the NY Times
Good morning. I am privileged to have been asked to write an Op Ed piece for the NY Times concerning the ascendancy of David A. Paterson who will be sworn in as the nation’s first blind governor on Monday. You can follow this link to read the piece.
I wish that the Times hadn’t called the editorial “The Vision Thing” since I hate to be associated with George Herbert Walker Bush or his progeny. But they didn’t ask me.
Still, the success of David Paterson is something that all people with disabilities can celebrate!
S.K.
Professor Stephen Kuusisto
Department of English
The University of Iowa
308 EPB
Iowa City, IA 52242
LINKS:
What It Means to be New York’s First Legally Blind Governor
Who Is David Paterson?
Read All About It! Thanks Blue Girl
The Vision Thing Brigit Abstract
The first legally blind governor Thanks Heather
David Paterson to Become First Legally Blind Governor of NY on Monday Thanks Anne
Rhetoric about blindness begins in paterson coverage Thanks BA Haller
Kuusisto on David Paterson Thanks Ken
Building the Internal World Thanks Jean Marie
Blind elected officials Interesting! Thanks Penny
He’s Blind. I’m Deaf. What Do I Have in Common with New York State Governor David Paterson? Thanks David
NY Times Op Ed on David Paterson Thanks, Ruth
Listen to Steve's Interview on Iowa Public Radio's "The Exchange" with Ben Kieffer
Thank you, Ben Kieffer, for this opportunity!
An interview with University of Iowa Professor Steve Kuusisto. He’s an author, educator and advocate for people with disabilities. Blind since birth he says sometimes even those working to help people with disabilities consign the disabled person to a second-class, defective status. That thinking is something Kuusisto is working to change. |
Make It Strong, Please.
Over breakfast at Guiding Eyes I hear assorted stories about blindness. How often one hears the refrain: "My eye doctor said, well now you’re blind, go home, there’s nothing more we can do for you." I think that the national ophthalmologic societies should be having breakfast at the guide dog school. Blindness isn’t a calamity unless the "professionals" make it so. I drink coffee with people who have recently lost their eye sight and I’m reminded all over again just how clotted and befuddled our "normative" society is when it comes to blindness or disability in general. Good God. You’d think that these ophthalmologists are getting their scripts for communicating with their patients from Victorian novels. "I’m sorry but you’ve been struck blind by a force mightier than humankind. You must now go and wander the forests of Germany."
Thank the Lord there’s strong coffee here at Guiding Eyes.
S.K.
Greetings from Guiding Eyes
After two canceled flights and a long day’s journey I arrived back at Guiding Eyes for the Blind last evening. I’m embarking on a fabulous adventure, training with a brand new guide dog. In twenty minutes I’ll be heading to my first full day of training–a humbling process for although I’ve had two previous guide dogs, the training has evolved and the dogs nowadays are trained to follow some new commands. Can an old blind guy learn new tricks? We shall most certainly find out.
Guiding Eyes is one of the nation’s premier guide dog training schools and my wife Connie and I used to work here before we moved to Ohio and then westward to Iowa City. The school has undergone some significant changes since Con and I were last here in 2000, most notably there’s a brand new student residence and a fabulous new dining hall and a beautiful new multi-purpose room for classes and events.
There’s also the "march of time" because of course the new guide dog trainers are ever younger. And they have new training techniques and I already feel like a slightly disreputable uncle whose manners need to be seriously improved.
As always, the other students come from every corner of the United States and they are made up of new guide dog users and old timers; young folks and those of us who are middling old. There’s a nice camaraderie and I know I’ll be hearing all kinds of disability related stories over the next 10 days. I’m immediately reminded that disability is entirely democratic in its discriminations: we are a diverse group from all kinds of backgrounds and we have only blindness in common. And soon we shall have dogs in common and that’s a beautiful fact. We will get our new guide dogs on Wednesday.
I got my first dog "Corky" when I was 39 and now I’m 52 and the veteran staff keep telling me that I look good and haven’t changed and aside from the decency of that premise, maybe in a small way I’m lucky to have had two good dogs to work with and travel alongside as a principle means both of being safe and staying young. Dogs after all are important for human physical and emotional well being.
I must go now into the busy day with its lessons and unimagined astonishments. Here’s to the good dogs and their human pals.
S.K.
Photo description: Black & white of Steve and yellow Labrador "Corky". This is the photo that was used on the cover of Steve’s memoir: Planet of the Blind. While we only see this "headshot", Steve is actually lying on his left side with his face propped against his left hand. He’s wearing tinted glasses. Corky is sitting next to him in such a way that we see her profile, and because her head is higher than Steve’s because of their positioning, it almost looks as if she could be resting her head on top of Steve’s. Many have said that Steve looks like a young Paul McCartney in this photo. Photo Credit: Marion Ettlinger
Today is White Cane Safety Day
White Cane Safety Day, 2007: Proclamation by the President of the United States
Our country upholds the value of every person, and all Americans deserve an opportunity to realize the American dream. Many citizens who are blind or visually impaired use white canes to achieve greater independence and increase mobility and productivity. On White Cane Safety Day, we celebrate the symbolism of the white cane, and we underscore our dedication to ensuring more individuals have the ability to lead active lives and achieve their personal and professional goals.
My Administration is committed to helping Americans with disabilities live and work with greater freedom. Through the New Freedom Initiative, we are building on the progress of the Americans with Disabilities Act and helping our citizens who are blind or visually impaired gain greater access to the workplace, school, and community life. By working to tear down barriers, we are creating a society where all people are encouraged to reach their full potential and where the promise of our great Nation is accessible for everyone.
The Congress, by joint resolution (Public Law 88-628) approved on October 6, 1964, as amended, has designated October 15 of each year as "White Cane Safety Day."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 15, 2007, as White Cane Safety Day. I call upon public officials, business leaders, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Cross-posted on [with]tv
Thank you, Scott Lissner, ADA Coordinator, The Ohio State University for bringing this to our attention.
Planet of the Blind 