You're Advocating?...Really?...No Seriously?
When working heavily in the realm of increasing awareness for blind people, one must ask the question, "How much advocating and education of sighted people do any of the big blind support/advocate groups really do?" This of course varies from organization to organization, but it is safe to say, for the most part, not very much.
I think to better answer this question we must have a clear definition of what such terms as, "advocating for the blind" and "increasing awareness about blind people" really mean. To me, these terms mean going out and teaching or educating the average Joe Sighty about the realities of blindness. Yes, this definition does exclude valuable and important parts of increasing awareness such as providing information to politicians, governments, companies etc. but I do think the main focus should be educating the average person. For the most part, large companies, corporations, governments etc. do tend to be better educated on the requirements of disabled people in general, while the individual person on the street does not, hence focusing more energy on educating them rather than large organizations.
So if "increasing awareness" and "advocating for the blind" mean educating the public on the various aspects of blindness, then why do the major blind groups promote advocacy when they spend most of their time acting as support groups rather than education? I think there needs to be a clearer boundary between support, and working towards increasing awareness. I do find it rather frustrating that many of the groups out there call what they do advocacy when their main focus is assisting blind people.
What bothers me most of all however, is those organizations who say they advocate for visually impaired people but end up causing more harm than good. A good example of one such organization is the Canadian National Institute for the blind, or the CNIB. Two recent public service announcements produced by the CNIB contain the sentence, "Not everyone who looks blind is totally blind." As a blind person I am disappointed that a national blind organization used the phrase "looks blind". To me, this implies one of the oldest and most frustrating blind stereotypes, that blind people some how look or appear different than anyone else may be true. As my country's official blind organization, I feel the CNIB should know better than to say anything that could perpetuate such a myth, particularly when many of the staff members are themselves blind or low vision.
For anyone who may be interested, you can find both public service announcements on the CNIB's website, free for download.
Now, I should mention one important thing with these ads, in order to show that the CNIB is at least making an attempt at positive action for the blind community. One of them shows a sighted man waving his hands around in a blind man's face, which most if not all low vision and blind people find extremely annoying. The blind man responds by waving his hands back at the sighted person, which is something I feel more blind people should do when placed in the same or similar situations. So, I do give the CNIB some brownie points for showing how foolish waving one's hands around in anyone's face, blind or sighted, looks. This is a step in the right direction, but I still strongly dislike the "looks blind" phrase.
Unfortunately, national organizations other than the CNIB, such as the Royal National Institute of the Blind, or RNIB and others are guilty of similar "offences". The RNIB's website, for example, states that the term visual impairment is no longer politically correct, and those people who are blind or low vision should be referred to as persons with sight problems. I hate to nit pick, but the term "sight problems" makes blindness sound negative, and really is no better than previous PC terms like visually impaired, sight deficient etc.
Equally as frustrating are those individuals among the blind community who start private companies that manufacture and distribute special clothing and clothing accessories for blind and low vision people, so that sighted people are immediately alerted to their disability. Two great examples are Blindwear, a line of baseball caps, t-shirts, sweaters etc. sporting brightly coloured sayings such as "I'm blind, please lend a helping hand," and Checkered Eye, a line of special pins intended to indicate that the person wearing them is low vision.
I could go on all day as to why organizations or companies like these are generally viewed by the blind and low vision communities as detrimental to the cause of increasing awareness. Put simply, most of us abhor announcing our disabilities to the world. People often act strangely or differently towards a disabled person, so we like to be able to have the opportunity for those around us to realize we are normal and intelligent individuals, just like everyone else. I don't know any "nondisabled" people who'd think it a good idea to walk around wearing signs or symbols announcing to everyone that they are Diabetic, or allergic to peanuts, so how did it become a good idea for blind people to do the same? Further more, it is a fairly commonly held myth that most if not all blind people like everyone to know immediately that they are blind, and half the battle in educating people on disability is dispelling the myths.
Of course, it’s easy to complain, and point out problems with various blind related organizations, but in order for their to be positive change, members of the blind community need to make suggestions of how to fix said problems. I must admit I do like the idea of public service announcements such as the ones the CNIB has released. However, I think they need to have a different approach. I'd show blind people doing everyday things such as cooking, cleaning etc. Its important too to put a positive spin on blindness and disability in general so that people understand we have normal and happy lives like everyone else. As well, I think that all members of the blind and low vision communities should take a more active role in increasing awareness. It doesn't have to be much, but every bit helps.