By John Bailey
“Would you go to a blind doctor?", was the first of many challenging questions asked by Trisha Kurkarni At the February leadership seminar cohosted by the National Association of Blind Students in Falls Church, Virginia.
Trisha, one of the leaders in the organization, asked several challenging questions of her large audience of blind participants. Participants were asked to move to the right side of the room (facing the front) if they agreed and to the left side if they did not agree. By voice vote, a majority of the people said they would visit a blind doctor. Surprisingly, when the question was rephrased to “Would you go to a blind surgeon?”, many of those who said they agreed moved to the opposite side of the room.
Trisha followed up her original challenging question with two additional questions and noted the responses. The questions were “Would you only date a sighted person?” and “Do you believe in taking the $500 tax deduction for just being legally blind?” The responses and reasons from the participants were varied.
When asked about only dating a sighted person, those who disagreed mentioned that it is helpful to be dating someone who can drive. An opposing response to the same question was that sharing the experiences of being blind made for a stronger foundation for a relationship.
For the question of if others should take the tax deduction, one participant who agreed said that he had recently purchased a piece of adaptive equipment that cost over $3000 and that insurance would not cover it because it was not considered a health related cost. Someone who disagreed said that if we want to be treated equally, we should not have any ‘special’ privileges.
Trisha told the audience that there were no right or wrong answers. The philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind is that the challenges of blindness can be reduced to a nuisance given the right skills and attitudes. The exercise sparked much soul searching and conversation.
What is your position on these issues?